Animal, I Have Become! - Bloody Roar 2 Review.
Developed by Hudson Soft.
Published by Sony Interactive Entertainment.
Playstation[PS3 used to capture footage].
Released April 30th, 1999.
Purchased copy.
Let Them Fight.
The STORY mode debuts as a modified ARCADE mode, where the player has to clear 8 increasingly difficult stages, rewarding the player with an ending.
Before and after each fight, the player is filled in on the story through a combination of illustrations and reading text, with the ending being a depiction of each character in an epilogue, after the events of the story.
The player is finally given context for the action taking place, the only glimpse of a story were the ARCADE endings of the first game, so Bloody Roar 2 fills in a gap from the first game.
Bloody Roar 1 dealt with a highly unethical genetics research corporation attempting to experiment and profit off of zoanthropes(people who turn into half human, half animal hybrids).
This corporation is destroyed, but one of the remnants a scientist, hatches a plan to take over the world on their own, in secret.
Larval Stage.
The basics of combat remain, 2 fighters face each other in a 1 v. 1 match consisting of 1-4 rounds; the goal is to reduce the other fighter’s health, have more health after the clock runs out, or launching the other fighter out of the arena.
Though movement of both characters is bound on a 2D plane, where the player always sees both fighter’s profile, both fighters can utilize 3D space, weaving over and around their opponent to avoid damage, or getting around the opponent’s defenses.
It’s atypical for a 3D fighting game to allow for the player to leap over their opponent, but this means both fighters can always approach from a few more angles than their other 3D peers.
Aside from positioning the player must combine D-Pad/Joy-Stick motions with face-buttons in combination to preform actions; everything from punches and kicks to throws and side-steps.
These are good fighting fundamentals that are easy to learn, and there’s enough to discover to keep the player engaged.
Improving Form.
Bloody Roar had a very simple button layout, it only used 2, maybe 3 attack buttons and a D-Pad/Joystick.
Bloody Roar 2 took advantage of this and assigned all the remaining buttons some new functions.
This gives the roster a whole new set of tools to work with.
The player now has a dedicated Heavy Guard button, which can block just about anything, dependent only the positioning of the player’s character.
A standing heavy guard will block High/Mid Attacks, a ducking/kneeling guard will block low attacks.
Holding the D-Pad away from the opponent preforms a Light Guard, and these attacks are easier to guard break, and don’t guarantee that the player will avoid taking damage.
As long as a fighter isn’t spinning in mid-air, they can press [Punch + Kick] together to preform an Air Recovery.
The air recovery can save the player from being juggled, and reorient them by placing them in a standing/upright position.
The player can guard one attack in mid-air, the block stun can often save the player from being juggled, but after one successful block, the opponent can continue their assault, so a fighter can be trapped in an endless loop of;
“attacked-recover-block-attacked-recover-and-so-on.”.
This move is optimal when knocked away from the other fighter in the air, otherwise it might put a fighter in an even worse position.
On top of the original [Punch + Kick] input for a fighter’s basic grab, Bloody Roar 2 added a dedicated grab button that accomplishes the exact same thing.
Grabs can also be preformed through more complicated inputs, and as part of combos.
The RAVE function, which gave a beast-form fighter a stat-boost has been retooled, and give a more useful function, but there still exists an alternate method to execute this simple move.
One thing I’ve always wanted in a 3D fighting game, is a dedicated dodge button, it makes sense for this sub-genre to have a button that’s only use is allowing the player to easily move around in 3D space.
Bloody Roar 2 has two dedicated side-step buttons, each causing a fighter to dodge left OR right.
The lack of buttons from the first game, opened up the opportunity to implement a feature like this; the player can get out of so many jams by circling around an opponent.
The player can’t haphazardly spam this move, there’s a bit of cool-down after each use, but the player can quickly launch into a combo on their opponents side or back.
It’s a good thing this move requires good timing, because it causes a great deal of panic, where the camera needs to re-position itself, and the back-facing fighter has to scramble to turn around.
This is the best feature in any 3D fighting game, this alone elevates this game, and maybe this series, into becoming my favorite 3D fighter of all time!
Of course the side-step button is quarantined off into the CUSTOM MODE, and can’t be used anywhere else, and I’m completely ignorant as to the alternate method to pull off a successful side-step.
One of the best features ever, has been fenced into just one game mode, and that’s one of the things that holds this game back!
Secret Ultimate Technique.
The first noticeable change with the beastorize mechanic, is that the Beast Meter is now located on the bottom corners of the screen.
This is all-well-and-good but I prefer the Beast Meter to be located under the Health Meter, to me, it’s visually more convenient during actual play.
Transformation can be preformed by using one of two buttons, both transform the fighter’s Beast Form, then gain a whole new function after transforming.
The dedicated 3rd attack button opens up a few new moves for each fighter, allowing the player to preform even more moves, or extending already existing combos.
Every match starts with the Beast Meter being half-full, allowing either fighter to immediately transform, but with less meter to spend.
Meter can be earned through either dealing/taking damage; obviously dealing damage fills the meter faster, but the less skilled player is still thrown a bone, and can get out of a jam by transforming.
While in Beast Form, taking damage drains the Beast Meter, if a fighter takes a hard hit while their transformed meter is empty, that fighter will revert back to their human form.
Another benefit of Beastorizing is that the Beast Form is constantly regenerating its health, up to a certain point.
The transformation knocks the other fighter back if they’re too close, a fighter can use this to regain some health at a safe difference, and reset the positions of both fighters.
Additionally a human will take Blocking Damage when dodging certain attacks from Beasts, but two Beasts can block anything an opposing Beast’s attacks.
The health regeneration might not fully heal a Beast, but this effect lasts until that fighter is bitch-slapped out of their transformation, so the non-beast player is forced to smash through the Beast’s defenses, and play extra aggressively.
The player can gamble their entire Beast Meter on one powerful ultimate attack, by inputting a certain command or pressing on the Transformation buttons.
In either case, the player has to land this attack, because once it’s launched the Beast Meter is spent regardless.
Each one has an initial starting attack, and the opposing fighter can easily punish a Beast Drive user.
It has so many drawbacks because its guaranteed to deal 60%-80% of a fighters health.
The character roster falls into two categories in my book; those that benefit accumulatively from their Beast Form, and those that unlock the 2nd half of their movesets.
No matter how one looks at it, there are so many benefits aside from extra moves, that the player is always thinking about how it will be used in a fight.
There’s clearly a lot of thought put into Beastorizing, and it’s one of the best features in the game!
Strength & Mobility.
The developers super charged the speed of the gameplay, whereas the original game favored more defensive play and planning, Bloody Roar 2 rewards more aggressive play.
The input lag seems to be completely gone, and the player can input commands much faster.
Overall the actual fighting has been speed up and there’s an overall smoother feel to everything: It’s a massive step forward.
The graphics were also given a huge upgrade, with smoother textures, and character models that look more human, and less like Duplo Blocks!
All these upgrades come at the cost of more frequent loading times, and a few things that can’t be skipped like the Company Logos when booting up the game.
It comes with the territory in the 5th generation, but it can sting following loss after loss.
It’s good to see the increased production values, even if players have to suffer more loading, but almost everything on offer outshines the original Bloody Roar.
I’ve Broken Through the Super Saiyan Barrier!
Because Bloody Roar 2 has given the player more tools and the skill floor has been raised, it appears that the developers have more confidence in what the player is capable of.
Earning all the extras, additional modes, and new unlockable fighters, is a grueling ordeal.
The A.I. Is brutal and the boss characters can deal 80% of a fighter’s health with just a few hits: This barrier forces the player to improve if they want to be rewarded.
Improving in this game is rewarding in the long run, and there’s no greater feeling than finally obliterating a tough boss/opponent.
Faces, New & Old.
The returning fighters aren’t as good as they were in the original game, but that is due to the different tactics required in that game.
While the returning combatants don’t live up to the new faces, they still benefit from all the extra tools granted to the entire roster.
The new characters are so much more fun to play, and they were designed to take advantage of the new fighting engine.
Each of them brings so much variety to the table, on top of being just as easy to learn as the roster in Bloody Roar 1.
It’s sad to see any characters from the first game omitted here, even if they make no sense story wise, Hudson could’ve had them in as bonuses, and just given them ARCADE endings.
I wish more fighting game franchises would include older characters on the roster, even if they’re absent in the story, just so those of us who liked those characters, can still play them.
Two bosses replace the bullshit boss from the original Bloody Roar, now they might be tough, but they each have their own weaknesses, so beating them is more plausible.
These two bosses can be unlocked through merciless trials that require the player to win 9-16 bouts without suffering a single loss, and the A.I. gets tougher as the player gets closer to achieving this.
So, these two characters better be worth it.
Gado the Lion returns from the original game, with his original moveset intact, and although his damage output is greater, his height makes it easy to get under his defenses; he’ll always keep the other fighter on their toes.
Shenlong is an evil clone of Long from the first game, he has 99% of Long’s moves and even his transformations, but he has a few extra moves, and can dish out even more damage.
Shenlong has trouble against character of comparable speed, are large foes that can easily block all of his attacks.
These two are neat and I like them above most of the roster, but I don’t main them.
I wanted Uriko to be playable in the first game, and Hudson Soft at least delivered half of my Pizza.
She doesn’t have an unlockable costume that resembles her boss design, and most of her moveset has been retooled for this game, but at least she’s playable.
Not only is she playable, she’s my main, she has by far the best moveset of any of the characters.
Her moves are easy to pull off, she can outspeed almost anyone’s attack, in fact there were many occasions where I could interrupt a stronger fighters best attacks repeatedly due to her speed.
Her beast form doesn’t add much in terms of combos, but she has all the benefits of the transformation.
Her only weakness is that she has to completely rely on a hyper aggressive playstyle, anyone that can throw off her momentum, can easily brute-force past her terrible defenses.
She’s not perfect, but she is the most compatible fighter with my playstyle, and my favorite in Bloody Roar 2’s roster.
This insane flailing weirdo turns out to be the master mind behind the entire plot of Bloody Roar 2.
He’s even easier to use than Uriko, as long as he can gain momentum, he can launch attack strings that deal a massive amount of damage, and can attack at awkward angles, making his flurry hard to defend against.
His Beast Form adds a whole new level of strength, along with even more range, and even the ability to go invisible; his toolset basically doubles along with all the other benefits of Beastorizing.
His weakness is lacking the space to build up momentum in the first place, but his Beast Form negates all of that.
The game isn’t exactly balanced, with match ups favoring speedy characters with long reach, and the entire roster being allergic to low kicks.
The roster might not be balanced but I’m sure skilled players can work around the weaknesses of their preferred combatants.
Sakurai Nerfed Alice.
I hate Alice’s new nurse theme, it just looks stupid; this has nothing to do with her ceasing to be my main, because even if she had her original look, she doesn’t hold a candle to my two favorites.
Alice is pretty decent, I just moved on to better fighters.
I’m just disappointed at how domesticated she looks now.
Their artwork can be found by clicking here.
This artwork fits Alice much better, as I just prefer the punk rock look better than the nurse look.
She looks like someone that shouldn’t be messed with.
The worst part is, all her costumes just reskin her stupid nurse outfit, the player can’t even unlock anything close to her old outfit, and that’s a shame.
2 Opposing Martial Artists.
A great feature added to Bloody Roar 2, is how two different players can have their own, separate button configurations, on two different controllers.
This means one player isn’t subjected to a control scheme they don’t like, so everybody wins!
There’s a VS mode which features standard features that can be tweaked in the options menu, OR the 2 players can duke it out in CUSTOM Mode, for even more fun.
Fighting a real person will always be more enjoyable than competing against an COM opponent, and Bloody Roar 2 is no different.
Phenotypic Traits.
Every aspect of the fighting in Bloody Roar was highly customizable, the player can tweak anything in their favor to more easily earn all the unlockables.
Everything that can be altered has been segreageted from the other game modes, in CUSTOM Mode.
It’s great that they added more character model alterations, such as large heads, limbs, and playing as kids, but it’s a bummer it can’t bleed over into ARCADE or STORY, just for fun.
The Dedicated Side Step Button is Bloody Roar 2’s best feature, but it’s trapped in just one mode, which cripples the overall rating, it could have elevated this game into becoming my absolute favorite fighting game.
What a missed opportunity, oh well.
All the console exclusive staples are here, ARCADE, SURVIVAL, VS, and COM Watch return.
Each of these modes work exactly like one would expect.
The BGM can still be listened to, movies can be unlocked, and illustrations can be viewed after seeing them in STORY mode.
Bloody Roar 2 brings plenty of single-player content to the table, and it really just needed to let the custom features bleed into the other modes to feel more complete.
Till the Blood Drains Dry.
Bloody Roar 2 takes a massive leap forward from the first game, it gives the player plenty of new tools to work with, iterating from a very simple, yet effective fighting system with good fundamentals.
Not only does Beastorizing set Bloody Roar 2 apart from its contemporaries, it also grants each character a whole new set of tools to play with.
The steady increase in the character roster is also a welcome change, featuring a mix of both old and new, but not overwhelming a player with an intimidating amount of choices.
It has the skeleton of what would later become the Licensed Anime Fighter sub-genre; with its emphasis on powering up and simple command inputs.
Bloody Roar 2 is a surprisingly modern-feeling fighting game, which takes into account the shift away from arcades, and into the home.
It comes highly recommended for any fan of 3D fighting games, all it needed was a few tweaks to truly be uplifted higher than its peers.
RATING:
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