0 to Z of Playstation 1 Games - Bloody Roar
Bloody Roar is an
action fighting game developed by Raizing for the games Arcade and Playstation release. Hudson Soft published the
Japanese release of the game, while Virgin Interactive would publish the game in
Europe and SCEA in North America.
The game released
first in Arcades in Japan on the 7th of July 1997, the games Playstation release came first in
Japan on the 6th of November 1997, the North American release of the game
would come in January of 1998 with a March 1998 release for PAL regions.
Notable people who
worked on this game, Kenji Fukuya worked on the whole Blood Roar series up until the final
release in the series in 2003 with Bloody Roar Extreme and Bloody Roar 4.
Fukuya worked as Production Director on Bloody Roar as well as Bloody Roar II,
and worked as Design Director on all of the Bloody Roar titles.
Basic movement for your fighter in the ring is
done with the D-Pad using left or right, you can both jump and crouch with your
character using up on the D-Pad to jump and down on the D-Pad to crouch. One of
the key mechanics in the game is the Beast mode, this is activated using the
Circle face button.
Standard moves are also done with the face
buttons, to punch an opponent the Square button Is used, a kick is done with
the X button. Combining the two buttons will allow you to throw your opponant,
you can also throw a crouching opponent by pressing down on the D-Pad plus the
Punch and Kick buttons.
The beast mode cannot be used at any time,
instead a bar underneath the characters health bar will slowly fill as the
match progresses, once this bar has been filled and the B begins to flash then
you can hit the circle button to enter your characters beast mode.
When you transform your character into their
beast mode a small amount of health is restored around 20% of your total
health. As you attack while in beast mode you beast gauge will slowly decrease,
eventually turning a red colour when nearly empty, once empty the beast mode
ends and the character returns to normal.
Also in beast mode the rave button becomes
available, this can be activated or deactivated on the games main menu screen.
This mode of beast form is activated using the Triangle button, this mode is an
early version of the hyper beast form that would appear in later games in the
series.
When you hit the triangle button in beast mode,
the recovery time between combos is eliminated, giving the fighter ten times
the speed they would normally have, this is at the cost of your beast gauge
however, when the beast bar runs out when in rave mode one hit could be enough
to end the beast transformation. Also when your opponent is down on the ground
and you are in beast mode you can pounce on them.
The game allows you to dash both forwards and
backwards, this is done by tapping either forward or back on the D-Pad twice.
You can also run but only forwards, this is one by tapping forwards on the
D-Pad then pressing and holding the forwards.
You can also perform air attacks, these include
a mid air slam, which can be done by pressing forwards ad punch or back and
punch. Another one of these air attacks is the rushing low punch, this is done
just before your opponant lands by pressing down and holding the Punch button.
Each character has eight separate move
sections, these range from your standard moves, to the beast mode moves as well
as special moves, rushing attacks and combos as well as others. In order to
perform one of your characters special moves you will need to perform either a
quarter circle forwards or a quarter circle backwards.
To perform a quarter circle forwards, on the
D-Pad you press down, then down/forward followed by forward. After pressing
this combination using the punch or kick button will allow you to perform one
of your characters special moves.
The game offers three main modes of play, the
first is your standard arcade mode, this mode has the player choosing from one
of the available eight characters. After choosing their character they will
have to face off against the other fighters over eight stages, with fighting
being best of three. Once you have defeated the other fighters the final fight
of the Arcade mode is against Uriko, a victim of experiments and brainwashing
by Tylon.
The second mode of play on offer is the Versus
mode, this mode allows you to either take on the computer in a one on one
match, or another human player. The game also has an extra mode, this mode has
three additional sub modes, these are time attack, survival and a practice mode.
In the late 20th century, the
rapidly burgeoning population and rapid technological developments have changed
the Earth environment n many way, as a result of the carelessness of the human
race the Earth and humanity are facing an environmental disaster.
Humans, who once gave birth to a flourishing
civilization are heading for collapse, the earth is exposed to serious damage
through the self destructive acts of mankind. All the while Bestial powers lurk
in some of the genes of the population.
Few know of the existence of Zoanthropes, a
race of creatures whose unique physiology allows them to transform from humans
into animals and back again. This mysterious genetic code was discovered when
analyzing the human genome, the gene was considered nothing more than a
background anomaly because it failed to mach any human characteristics.
It was however discovered that if this gene was
stimulated, it would awaken the characteristics and capabilities of other
species, that were latent in the hum body, the resulting beings that were
unleashed by activating this dormant gene possess superhuman physical strength
and agility.
The result A human-beast amalgam and the
development of the Zoanthropic phenomenon, and thus a new sub species of human
that could transform its body and characteristics these sub species begin appearing
all over the world.
A project team from the Tylon Organisation, a
multinational corporation seeks to kidnap, breed and train these Zoanthropes.
Hoping to assemble a nearly indestructible fighting army to take over the
world, while some of the Zoanthropes join willingly, others fight against the
Organization to avenge the deaths and disappearances of their own kind.
Critically the game was well received by many
critics with the game peaking at an impressive 90 along with a good number of
review scores in the 80s range. The majority of the games critic reviews did
not fall below a decent 70, with an above average and a below average review
score at the bottom end of the review scale.
As usual we will start with the best of them,
which comes from Portuguese outlet Mega Score, the reviewer commented on the
game coming from highly creative minds, the review also praised the premise of
the fighters turning into fearsome beasts in their 90 rated review.
We head over to Germany for the next two reviews,
the first of which comes from Mega Fun who rated the game at a very good 87.
the review heaped praise on Hudson Soft for their work on the game, commenting
that the Bomberman inventors have put down such a tester grenade straight away.
They continued by saying, Bloody Roar has all
the ingredients needed for an excellent beat’em up. The reviewer also praised
the transformation mechanic for turning into beasts calling it awesome. They
also praised the gameplay calling it dynamic, simply rousing and enthralling.
Fellow German publication Video Games are next
up with their 86 rated review, with the reviewer praising the first game from
Raizing calling it a remarkable debut. The review also praised the hand drawn
animations of the characters, especially in their monster form.
For the next review we head to France and the
publication Joystick who also rated the game at an 86. The reviewer only
finding one problem with the game, that being the lack of fighters with only 8
in the roster, that being said each one has two forms which puts an end to all
this controversy over the limited number of fighters.
Absolute Playstation are next up with a good 85
review score for the game. the review praised the games excellent visual and
sound effects, but it’s the gameplay that usually lets down most fighting
games, not so in this case.
The reviewer commented that the game plays as
good as It looks and belongs up there with the most prestigious beat’em ups
available on Playstation. Concluding the reviewer said, furthermore the beast
morph allows the game to stand firmly on its own, without being tagged a Soul
Blade or Tekken clone.
PSM magazine were next with with a good solid
80 score for the game, the reviewer saying the following. From excellent
graphics and effects all the way down to the tight playability, Bloody Roar
features everything a fighter needs to be successful.
The only real issue the review had with the
game was the character design, which the reviewer found weak with nothing too
exciting about any of the characters to help distinguish them from the other
fighters. Concluding the reviewer said. Overall Bloody Roar is a quality
fighting game with plenty of depth to warrant your purchase.
Heading to the other end of the ratings scale
we find Gamezilla who rated the game at a respectable 78, the review saying if
you are a die hard fighter fan and must own every fighting game made, you
should be fairly satisfied with this game. they continued by saying, for the
more casual fighting fan, you will find the game entertaining but nothing
revolutionary.
GameSpot are next up with a 77 rated review,
the reviewer calling the game one of the more original and exciting fighting
games to come along this year. They continued by saying, while it probably
won’t compete with the likes of Tekken 3, it is still a solidly fun fighter
with an original take on the genre.
We head over to Spain for the next review which
comes from Meristation, the reviewer has not had much experience with 3D
fighting games, but the review found that Bloody Roar is one of the best that
has gone through their hands.
The reviewer found the game to be addictive
with action in abundance, the reviewer particularly liked the gore mode in
which characteristic effects represented by stars become jets of red liquid,
the review also liked some of the special effects, they also liked the ease of
making combos in the game.
Official US Playstation Magazine are next up
with their 70 rated review, the reviewer finding that the game sports loads of
interesting options, most notably the ability to transform from human to beast
at will. The reviewer also praised the games quick fighting engine and
intuitive controls.
Concluding however the reviewer found that the
games overall low level of difficulty prevent it from being truly great. They
continued by saying, still it’s a solid and interesting addition to the
Playstation’s stable of fighting games.
The penultimate review comes from The Video
Game Critic, the reviewer found the ability to knock your opponent through the
arena wall to be a nice addition to the game. Overall however they found the
characters to be unbalanced, with one certain character seemingly being
overpowered compared to the rest of the roster. The reviewer did however praise
the games number options and Easter Eggs which adds to the game re-playability.
The final review comes from HonestGamers who
rated the game at a below average 40, the reviewer finding that although the
game has many bright spots, the overall product is weak and does not come recommended.
The reviewer found the gameplay to be flat, with attacks lacking speed and the
breath of techniques paling in comparison to games like Tekken.
This is the part of 0
to Z where is visit four online retailers and see what the availability of the
title is, and what price you would be looking at if you wanted to pick this
title up, the sites that I will be using for this are Amazon.com,
eStarland.com, retrogames.co.uk and Gamedude.com I know the last one is very
location specific, but from a podcast I listen to, I’ve heard they have a huge
stock of older games, Ebay has now been dropped unless the game is unavailable
at other retailers.
So lets get down to
business with Gamedude, where if you are looking to trade in your copy of Bloody
Roar at Gamedude, you will be looking at $10 for your copy of the game. If on
the other hand if you are in the market for a copy, you will be looking at an
outlay of $19.
Heading over to
Retrogames.co.uk next we find that game is not available or even listed, so we
will quickly move on to eStarland.com. At eStarland we find the game listed,
but at the time of writing the game is currently out of stock. When in stock
the game has a usual price of between $12.24 and $25.50.
Also on offer at
eStarland.com we find a trade in for the game, this trade in offers a bonus of
an addition $7.15 on top of the usual trade in price of $13. bringing the trade
in price for a complete copy of the game to $20.15, this price will however
fluctuate depending on the completeness of your copy, with a disc only copy
worth just $7.05 at trade in.
Lastly we move on to
Amazon.com where we find the game is listed, and we find a modest supply of the
game on offer, sadly we find the entire
first page of listings being incomplete or disc only copies of the game so we
will more quickly on to the second page of listings.
The first complete
copy of the North American version of the game on offer we find is in very good
condition and price up at $30, this is shipped by Amazon so comes with free
shipping. Another couple of very good condition and complete copies are
available for $31.99 and $32.50.
If you are looking
for a better condition used copy of the game you will be looking at $54 for the
cheapest like new copy of the game. The second like new copy that is currently
on the market will set you back a steep $133.49.
In addition to the
used copies of the North American version of Bloody Roar, there is one new copy
of the game that is available. This new copy however will set you back a huge
amount of money, with the copy on offer priced at $203.96.
In Addition to the
North American version of the game we find a healthy supply of the Japanese
version of the game, with a good or very good condition of this imported
version available from $8 and upwards, while used prices do continue to rise
steadily they generally remain cheaper than the cheapest complete North
American used version of the game.
In addition to the
used copies of the Japanese version of the game we also find a healthy supply
of new copies of the game available, with prices starting from $27.63, with the
vast majority of copies that are on offer coming with free shipping. Prices for
a new copy of the Japanese version of the game are currently peaking at around
the $55 mark.
Written by
P J Gibbon
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