Battle Arena Toshinden 2

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Battle Arena Toshinden 2
Developer(s)Tamsoft
Publisher(s)Arcade
Capcom[4]
PlayStation PC
THQ
Platform(s)Arcade, PlayStation, Windows 95, Sega Saturn
ReleaseArcade
November 24, 1995[1]
PlayStation Windows 95
1996
Saturn
September 27, 1996[3]
Genre(s)Fighting game
Mode(s)Single player, 2-player
Arcade systemSony ZN-1

Battle Arena Toshinden 2 is a weapon based 3D fighting game developed by Tamsoft. It was released for the arcades by Capcom,[4] followed by ports to the PlayStation and PC. It is the sequel to Battle Arena Toshinden, and was a departure in that it was developed for the arcades first, whereas the original had been console exclusive.[4]

Battle Arena Toshinden URA (full title Ultimate Revenge Attack) is a Sega Saturn specific sequel to Toshinden Remix (aka Toshinden S).

Gameplay

The core gameplay remains unchanged from the Battle Arena Toshinden but the game includes a simple combo system. The 3D movement was also altered to create slightly better balance in battle; differentiating from the first game, dodge rolling will no longer make the character temporarily immune to the opponent's attack (in the first game, it was possible for a character to dodge straight through even the most deadly attacks). As in the first game, a player falling out of the ring will result in a ring out, only this time, if both players fall out of the ring at the same time, the one who falls out last will be declared the winner.

Plot

Toshinden 2

When the Secret Society discovered that one of their executives, Gaia, had organized the Toshinden tournament behind their backs in order to start a rebellion, he was branded a traitor. Hence a new tournament is organized to lure him to his doom. Meanwhile, one of Gaia's former co-workers, named Uranus, has put the next stage of the organization's plan into action and hopes to not only eliminate Gaia from existence, but also the other nine fighters who participated in the last battle.

Toshinden URA

Sometime after the events of the first Toshinden game, a police scientist named Ronron creates an android fighter intended for law enforcement, its name being the Replicant. To make the android as strong as possible, its fighting abilities are patterned off the world’s greatest fighter, Sho Shinjo. However, the prototype is stolen just before it can be fully completed. Within time, someone begins murdering famous fighters around the world in a surprising yet shocking manner. With no evidence as to who is behind these murders, the Toshinden fighters grow suspicious of each other. Meanwhile, a mysterious man, known only as Ripper, is seeking Sho Shinjo as his sister (believed to have been Cupido) has disappeared without a trace and Ripper himself believes that Sho may have killed her from within the past. However, every lead Ripper finds takes him to the scene of one of these mysterious murders, leading to him becoming the prime suspect in a shrouded conspiracy that seems to be surrounding him and the rest of the Toshinden fighters.

Characters

Main article: List of Battle Arena Toshinden characters

Returning characters:

  • Eiji Shinjo
  • Kayin Amoh
  • Sofia
  • Rungo Iron
  • Fo Fai
  • Mondo
  • Duke B. Rambert
  • Ellis
  • Gaia (absent from URA)
  • Sho Shinjo

New characters:

  • Tracy - A notorious New York police officer who likes to fight against criminals with a reckless manner. She is assigned to look into the activities of the Secret Society.
  • Chaos (absent from URA) - An executive of the Secret Society who unexpectedly lost his memories and went completely insane. He is given the orders to eliminate the organization's traitor Gaia.
  • Ripper (URA only) - A mysterious traveler who happens to be the brother of Cupido. He seeks to find the whereabouts of his missing sister.
  • Ronron (URA only) - A Chinese scientist/teacher who is responsible for the creation of the Repli prototype android. She seeks to find and deactivate her creation.

Unlockable characters:

  • Uranus (absent from URA) - A beautiful angel-like French woman who happens to be the second-in-command of the Secret Society. She seeks to overthrow the organization's current leader so that she can take control. She is a sub-boss in the PlayStation version.
  • Master (absent from URA) - The final boss in the Arcade, PlayStation and PC versions of Battle Arena Toshinden 2. She is a powerful psychic who leads the Secret Society and seeks to destroy anything that stands in the organization's way.
  • Replicant (URA only) - A prototype android created by Ronron. Its original purpose was to be a huge step in the progression of law enforcement. It is the sub-boss of Toshinden URA.
  • Wolf (URA only) - Ronron's superior, who steals her prototype in order to use it for evil deeds. He is the final boss of Toshinden URA.
  • Vermilion - An unknown gunfighter who infiltrates the tournament for a shrouded agenda. He is a secret boss in both Battle Arena Toshinden 2 and Toshinden URA.

Release

Though based on the original version of Battle Arena Toshinden 2, Battle Arena Toshinden URA has altered gameplay, making it feel notably different. It also has all new arenas, a new story, a different CG intro and four exclusive new characters (Ripper, Ronron, Replicant and Wolf) that replace four of the original version's characters (Gaia, Chaos, Uranus and Master).

A special edition of Toshinden 2 was later released only in Japan for the PlayStation on The Best range (equivalent to the Greatest Hits and Platinum ranges in North America and Europe). It features notably enhanced graphics, improved control and tweaked CPU AI. It also makes some balancing tweaks to the characters' attacks. An option to save results, option settings and unlocked characters to a memory card was also added.

Toshinden 2 was ported to the PC. It is a Windows port of the PlayStation version with arcade graphical fidelity, the ability to play the game in higher resolutions and some additional options, such as the ability to remap all the controls (the PlayStation version only allowed the remapping of the shoulder buttons). Unlike the original PlayStation port, it also saves unlocked characters, settings and results. However, the introductionary movie was removed for unknown reasons

Reception

Reviews for Battle Arena Toshinden 2 were mediocre, with critics generally commenting that the game is good but shows little improvement over its predecessor and fails to measure up to marketplace competitors like Virtua Fighter 2 and Tekken 2. The four reviewers of Electronic Gaming Monthly had a more positive reaction than most, praising the graphics and the new character Vermillion, though they did remark that the game was not as good as Virtua Fighter 2.[6] Maximum's Rich Leadbetter argued that the changes from the original game, particularly the new characters Chaos and Vermillion, made the game better, but also felt that they were insufficient, particularly in light of the graphical advances PlayStation games had made since the original Toshinden was released. He concluded by advising PlayStation owners to wait for Tekken 2 instead.[12] Major Mike of GamePro similarly described the game as "more of the same." While he stated the graphics are better than the first game, he derided the game's lack of intelligent fighting technique, particularly that combos are very limited and the fights essentially boil down to trading special attacks.[14] IGN stated that the game's animations were not very smooth and the camera made gameplay challenging. Final comments on the game stated that although the game wasn't necessarily bad, it wasn't exactly outstanding either.[10]

References

  1. ^ http://www.famitsu.com/cominy/?m=pc&a=page_h_title&title_id=24568
  2. ^ a b http://www.famitsu.com/cominy/?m=pc&a=page_h_title&title_id=919
  3. ^ http://www.famitsu.com/cominy/?m=pc&a=page_h_title&title_id=918
  4. ^ a b c "Protos: Toshinden 2". Electronic Gaming Monthly (76). Ziff Davis: 218. November 1995.
  5. ^ https://archive.org/stream/Computer_and_Video_Games_Issue_172_1996-03_EMAP_Images_GB#page/n37/mode/2up
  6. ^ a b "Review Crew: Toshinden 2". Electronic Gaming Monthly (83). Ziff Davis: 24. June 1996.
  7. ^ GameFan, volume 4, issue 3 (March 1996), pages 11 & 26-29
  8. ^ http://web.archive.org/web/19970811123736/www.gameinformer.com/mar96/tosh.html
  9. ^ http://web.archive.org/web/19970117184451/www.gameinformer.com/june96/tosh.html
  10. ^ a b "Battle Arena Toshinden 2". IGN. Retrieved 23 October 2015.
  11. ^ http://download.abandonware.org/magazines/Consoles%20Plus/consoleplus_numero053/Consoles%20+%20053%20-%20Page%20144%20(1996-04).jpg
  12. ^ a b Leadbetter, Rich (June 1996). "Maximum Reviews:Battle Arena Toshinden 2". Maximum: The Video Game Magazine (7). Emap International Limited: 121.
  13. ^ https://archive.org/stream/Next-Generation-1996-07/Next%20Generation%201996-07#page/n94/mode/1up
  14. ^ "ProReview: Battle Arena Toshinden 2". GamePro (94). IDG: 60. July 1996.

External links

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