0 to Z of Playstation 1 Games - Bloody Roar 2

     

Bloody Roar 2 also known as Bloody Roar 2 Bringer of the New Age in Europe and Japan, as well as Bloody Roar II The New Breed in the United States. The game is an arcade fighting game developed by Eighting and Raizing, the game was published by Hudson Soft in Japan, with Virgin Interactive publishing the game in Europe, Sony Computer Entertainment America published the game for its North American release.

Like the first game in the Bloody Roar series it released first for the Arcade in 1998, before being ported to the Playstation the following year. With the game releasing on the 28^th of January 1999 in Japan, the North American release cam in late May with July release in Europe. The game would also receive a North American release for the PSP and Playstation 3 on the 8^th of June 2010.

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. Unlike the first game in the series throwing an opponant is no longer done by pressing both the kick and punch buttons.

Triangle is not used to throw your opponant, there are also two alternative button combos for different throws. The first is a high throw, this is done by pressing the square and R1 shoulder button together, alternatively the low throw can be done by pressing down on the D-Pad plus the square and R1 shoulder button. Another addition to the sequel is the heavy guard, this can be done by pressing the R1 shoulder button.

The beast mode which made the original that bit more unique remains in the game, with the Triangle button still used to activate it. Beast mode has however undergone some changes, the standard transformation of being stood still and pressing the beast button still remains, as does the transform while dashing move.

 

You can now attack and transform, using one of the command moves, then pressing the Beast transform button, this can be pretty useful when playing against another human player to throw them off. Another method for transforming is while in a combo, this will only work with certain combos and not all. While stringing together a combo and hitting the beast button half way through and continuing your attack on your opponent.

Beast mode is an important part of Bloody Roar 2, with it giving the player many advantages over their human forms, with attack strength, jumping, wall jumping, temporary health boost, more chance to knock an opponent over or further away and more damage resistance while in beast mode.

In addition to the characters special moves, that were present from the first game, each of the characters has access to a new move, these are called either Beast Rage or Beast Drive. This new move is a highly powerful attack that can cause a huge amount of damage to your opponent if landed.

There are some conditions for using this mode, the obvious one being you must be in beast mode to use it, for a character to block this attack they must be in heavy guard which is the R1 shoulder button. In addition to this when using this attack it will consume your entire Beast gauge, one thing of note, the amount in your beast gauge does not affect the damage that is inflicted.

 

There is obviously a major downside to this move, if you are unlucky and miss your attack you will be wide open to an attack from your opponent, as you transform back into your human form. Each of the characters in the game have their own individual version of this move, take for example the character Yugo Ogami, who’s Beast Rage move is the Spiral Fang, this move is carried out by pressing the following. Down, down left, left, down left, down, down right, right + circle to complete the move.

Moving on to the game modes on offer, as with the previous game the Arcade mode returns as with the Arcade mode from the original game, it will have you facing off against a random 7 opponents from the roster, once you have defeat the seven opponents you will get to face off against Gado.

If you are skilled enough or maybe just lucky and you make it through the eight stages without using a continue, you will have the chance to face off against the games secret boss in Shen Long. This secret boss does not allow continues, so if you are defeated the game will go to the normal game ending, which shows the games 9 characters doing their best combo and juggle during the games credits.

If you are skilled enough and you defeat Shen Long, you will be treated to a different ending, this time the characters are performing their combos while their Beast Drive is active, this special ending will involve all eleven of the games characters performing moves in their beast forms.

 

The game sees the return of the VS mode as well, like the previous game and pretty much every other fighting game, the VS mode allows you to play against another human player, choosing from any of the characters, VS mode also allows you to player one on one against the computer.

Survival mode is for the masochists of the world, this mode has you facing off in a total of 99 battles facing and facing the same characters multiple times. Each following battle will result in the difficulty being nudged up slightly to the previous fight.

To make this even harder there is not guarantee that you will be fighting with a full health bar when you start the next round, with your health determined by how much damage you received in the previous match and how long it took for you to complete the match.

The major mode in Bloody Roar 2 is the games Story mode which allows the player to learn about the characters own individual story lines and their personal interactions with other characters, the story mode plays out with the player completing fights and as you progress information is unlocked about your chosen character.

The player is guided through the characters story with a large number of pictures and illustrations, similar to the Arcade mode if you are successful in beating a story mode without continuing you will receive a different ending.

Watch mode returns as well, this mode allows you to watch two CPU controlled characters go at each other, while in this mode you can remove the on screen display, this removes the characters health and beast mode bars from the top of the screen, the R1 shoulder button changes the camera angle, while the X, Square and Circle buttons will reset the camera.

The events of Bloody Roar 2 are set five years after the first game, Tylon Corporation the antagonists of the first game have fallen, ever since the fall of Tylon the Zoanthropes who were involved in the conflict have gone back to their normal and peaceful lives.

This peace however does not last long, with a new threat soon emerging, due to the revelation of the zoanthropes to the world tensions have been rising between humans and zoanthropes at a rapid and dangerous rate. A new threat to the zoanthropes suddenly appears as well, this new threat is not a human threat but their fellow zoanthropes and the Zoanthrope Liberation Front or the ZLF for short.

This Zoanthrope movement seek to establish the dominance of the Zoanthropes over humanity, the Zoanthropes who stood against the Tylon Corporation once again stand against this new threat, with some old faces taking up the fight once again alongside some new faces as well in a battle that will decided the fate of not only the world but the fates of both humanity and the zoanthrope race as well.

Critically the game was very well received, better so than the first game in the series, with the game receiving two 100 review scores, as well as a 90 rated review, and a good number of reviews in the 80s. Critically the game mostly didn’t fall below a 75 rated review, with the exception of an above average 61, and an average 58 rated review.

As usual though we will start with the best which comes from German publication Video Games who rated the game at a highly impressive 100. The review finding the games vigor and fast moves very similar to that of the Virtua Fighter series.

The reviewer continued by praising the games soundtrack, with it remaining faithful to the original game, they continued by saying. If you are looking for a new 3D fighter, you've come to the right place with Hudson’s Beast sequel, the only weak point the review could find with the game was the small character roster.

Another 100 rating up next, this one comes from GamePro (US), the reviewer saying if you are a fan of the Tekken series and can’t wait for Tekken 4, go out and purchase Bloody Roar II right now. They reviewer continued by saying, this zoo crew of fighters create one of the best fighting games available this season, a welcome addition to any fighters library.

PSX Extreme are next up with a very 90 rated review, the reviewer finding Bloody Roar 2 to be a very well made fighter, but falls short from becoming friends with the mega hits such as Tekken 3, SFA3 and Ehrgeiz. They concluded by saying, if you are a fighting game fan then by all means go pick this one up.

IGN rated the game at an 88, the reviewer who normally just likes to play fighting games found the watch mode to be just plain cool. The reviewer found the games Story Mode to be not quite what they expected, they also found it not to be as deep as a comic book storyline, but it’s still cool just not great. They concluded by saying. But it’s the overall package of Bloody Roar II that attracts me.

Absolute Playstation are next up with an 86 rated review according to the site I use, however using Wayback Machine we find the game actually has two review scores. The first review which appears to be the main review rates the game at an 88, while the second review which looks to be a second option on the game rates it at an 85.

Focussing on the main review of the game, the review found the game to have a pretty darn good fighter buried in it, and enough options to keep you playing for a good long time. The review praised the games simple moves approach with basic moves that anyone can do, as well as the more in depth moves for more experience players.

The reviewer also had plenty of praise for the games graphics, calling the character models stunning, with a nice beefy polygon count and great use of textures. To conclude the reviewer said, definitely another superb fighter to add to that bursting Playstation library of titles.

We head back to Germany for the next review and the publication Video Games this time reviewing the PAL version of the game. With Video Games rating Bloody Roar II at an 84. with the reviewer praising the games animations with lighting fast actions, they also praised the games beast mechanic saying the following.

The ability to transform animals and monsters with the new desperation killer moves is still unique and sets BR2 apart from the bulk of beat'em ups. They were a little critical of the small roster but overall the review said the game is still a must for 3D fighting fans.

We next head to the other end of the review scale where we find Adrenaline Vault who rated the game at a good 80. The reviewer finding that in many ways Bloody Roar is an excellent fighting game, with enough little quirks to keep you playing for quite a while.

They continued by saying, but in the end it won’t enrapture your attention in the way Tekken 3 or Virtual Fighter 3 did. They continued by saying Bloody Roar 2 is fun for a week or two, maybe a couple of months if it really tickles your fancy, but there are better fighting games available. To conclude they said the following. Longetivity aside, though, this is a title that all fighting fans should pick up at least once in the lives of their PSX.

Another 80 rated review is up next with Spanish publication Meristation. The reviewer saying that Bloody Roar 2 is a good alternative to games like Rival Schools and Tekken 3, with good graphics and as the main characteristic the enormous brutality.

The next review comes from Israel and the publication Freak, not been able to find a logo for this publication or much information on this review other than the score, which was a decent 79 and a small review blurb saying the following. Those who already have the original Bloody Royar, will lose interest quickly. Those who have not yet experienced the first game can enjoy more here.

The Video Game Critic are next up with a decent 75 rated review, the reviewer found that the analogue and vibration function don’t really add anything to the game. The story mode they found was nothing more than a string of one player battles loosely connected by cheesy cut scenes. Concluding the reviewer said that,Bloody Roar is not as good as Tekken, but it’s a step in the right direction.

We see a significant drop in score to the penultimate review, with GameSpot rating the game at an above average 61. The reviewer saying if you never picked up the first game, Bloody Roar 2 is still a good game, with a much better cast than the first one.

They continued by saying. In contract to the original American version of Bloody Roar, this sequel is only a marginal improvement, that still suffers from second best status, due to the exclusion of integral gameplay elements that should never have been messed with. Concluding the reviewer called the game a major disappointment for such a promising series.

The final review comes from Game Revolution who rated the game at an average 58. with the reviewer finding Bloody Roar 2 a game that you just don’t want to spend that much time with. They continued by saying, it’s find for a try or two and nothing more. Concluding they said, while the game is good enough, Bloody Roar II isn’t anywhere near the best.

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 2 at Gamedude, you will be looking at $12 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 $26.

 

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 North American and imported Japanese versions of the game listed.

The North American version of the game currently has one copy listed on eStarland, the North American version is listed as Bloody Roar II rather than Bloody Roar 2, the single copy that is currently available is complete and priced at $24.50. A trade in is also offered for this game with up to $12 being paid for a complete copy of the game.

This Japanese version is currently out of stock, when in stock the game has a usual price of between $7.67 and $13.95. Also on offer at eStarland is a trade in for this Japanese version of the game, with up to $5.50 paid for a complete copy of the game. This price will fluctuate depending on the completeness of your copy, with a disc only copy worth just $1.92 at trade in.

 

As with the previous entry in the Bloody Roar series, we find both the North American and Japanese on Amazon.com. And as with the previous game the first page of listings for the North American version are either incomplete, or disc only copies of the game.

The first copy that states it comes complete is a good condition copy priced at $29.99, this copy is shipped by Amazon so does come with free shipping. Another good condition copy is also available for $31.99, a very good condition copy and Black Label version of the game is also available for $33.96.

With the exception of the usual overpriced copy which is around the $85 mark, there is one other complete used copy on offer. This copy is in good condition and can be picked up for $40.98. In addition to these few complete used copies of the game there are two new copies on offer, the first of these is priced up at $75.58, the second of these copies is priced up at a steep $99.99.

For the Japanese version of the game a very good condition copy of the game can be picked up for as little as $11.86, with two copies priced at this point, and both coming with free shipping. A good number of good or very good condition copies can also be picked up from this price point up to around the $30 mark.

The Japanese version of the game also has a decent number of new copies on the market as well, the cheapest of those however will set you back $66.44. Prices rise a steady rate from this price point, with the game currently peaking around the $100 mark.

Written by

P J Gibbon