Though it never quite made headlines, Bloody Roar and its sequel, Bloody Roar II, are imaginative alternatives to reigning champions Tekken and Street Fighter on the PlayStation fighting scene, and what the game lacks in story and originality, it makes up for in depth. With a combo-packed combat system, exquisite graphics, and multiple game modes that most games don’t offer,
Bloody Roar II returns players to the human-animal combat scene with seven new characters, four familiar ones, and a next-gen look and feel that’s hard to beat. While Bloody Roar II and its predecessors were built on an existing combat system (it’s hard not to these days) and were made by a developer (Hudson) better known for Bomberman than brawlers, this new version offers something for both newbies and experienced players. For fighting game players, it’s a deep and rewarding experience with a surprising twist.

After the evil Tyrone Corporation was defeated in Bloody Roar, the genetically modified characters/creatures (created by it) known as Zoanthropes formed an independent evil group to restore dignity to their “race”. (Sounds a bit like it, doesn’t it?) The beastmen organize themselves, Lebanese hey, into the Zebra Liberation Front (ZLF). The ZLF is a secret terrorist group that shows zero tolerance for humans, dissident beastmen, or anyone else. Now it’s up to you (whoever you want to be) to rid the world of “the others.”

Gameplay

Though it never quite made headlines, Bloody Roar and its sequel, Bloody Roar II, are imaginative alternatives to reigning champions Tekken and Street Fighter on the PlayStation fighting scene, and what the game lacks in story and originality, it makes up for in depth. With a combo-packed combat system, exquisite graphics, and multiple game modes that most games don’t offer,
Bloody Roar II returns players to the human-animal combat scene with seven new characters, four familiar ones, and a next-gen look and feel that’s hard to beat. While Bloody Roar II and its predecessors were built on an existing combat system (it’s hard not to these days) and were made by a developer (Hudson) better known for Bomberman than brawlers, this new version offers something for both newbies and experienced players. For fighting game players, it’s a deep and rewarding experience with a surprising twist.

After the evil Tyrone Corporation was defeated in Bloody Roar, the genetically modified characters/creatures (created by it) known as Zoanthropes formed an independent evil group to restore dignity to their “race”. (Sounds a bit like it, doesn’t it?) The beastmen organize themselves, Lebanese hey, into the Zebra Liberation Front (ZLF). The ZLF is a secret terrorist group that shows zero tolerance for humans, dissident beastmen, or anyone else. Now it’s up to you (whoever you want to be) to rid the world of “the others.”

Fighting System

After Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat and Virtua Fighter, combat systems haven’t evolved at all. They may have been improved or taken to a new level, but let’s be honest, they are the building blocks of all other combat systems. Bloody Roar’s system is a combination of them all, simple in some parts, but complex in others. Each character has their own unique move set, and they also share the basic building blocks: punch, push, block, jump. What stands out about Bloody Roar’s combat system is the lateral functionality (available in the first game), where players control their characters and mercilessly juggle them, making them beasts to move.

Of course, the sidestep feature also allows for full 3D gameplay. When your opponent launches a combo, step out of the way and slam your combo into their throat, or rather their back. It’s as easy as pressing a shoulder button. To me, this brings the game into the modern world and adds a little feature that deepens the gameplay.

The amount of juggling in Bloody Roar II has been increased significantly. We’ve seen this happen before, but this time the developers have pushed the limits. Bring on Bakuryu the Mole and use a Swing Punch followed by a Smoke Spiral Kick for a 4-5 hit combo. And that’s just the beginning. Use Watch Mode to learn some intense aerial juggles.

Last but not least, there’s Beast Mode (previously called Rage Mode), which is activated with the circle button and transforms into an animal, monster or insect of the player’s choice. Creatures have increased power, different moves, and a variety of death-defying special moves. Environmental walls break for enhanced effects to highlight special moves that finish off characters. This is a nice touch that returns from last year’s version.

It’s hard to break into the fighting game market these days, as evidenced by the number of flops on the NINTENDO64. Bloody Roar II has delivered a great game to the market, with all the extras that add to and expand the overall value of the game. Overall, the game is very fun and firmly sits at the top level of fighting games for this system.

Graphics

The first thing players notice is the high-resolution graphics that make the polygonal textured characters crisp and crystallized. This puts Bloody Roar II in the top tier of best-looking PlayStation games. While the characters themselves are pretty ordinary (except for the new bat Jenny, who wears a red miniskirt and shows off her long legs), what people really want is the animals. The creatures are all strange, leaning towards a Japanese sensibility, and are intricately designed in both their meticulous programming and texture details, shapes, and movements. Particularly cool in this version are the chameleon Busujima and the insect Stan. My favorite from last year was still Mole Bakuryu. Weird but cool.

In some modes, the player can also choose the background. They all look delicious, but I liked the beach and aquarium levels the best. The latter, with schools of tiny fish swimming around, shows how well the programmers can maintain a high frame rate, high resolution, and great characters all at the same time. Unfortunately, players cannot choose the background in Arcade and Story modes.

The motion capture is excellent, with players generally looking like realistic humans (for their form). It’s consistent and fast, even if it doesn’t look perfect. Response times are better than before, but nothing beats Tekken in the 3D arena.

One of the biggest ripoffs of this game is the technique used by Sega’s Fighting Vipers. The three perspective quick finishers and wall destruction are straight out of Sega’s second tier fighting games that never got the crown like the Virtua Fighter series. It’s still cool and has its place, but it’s worth mentioning.

A few notable additions are the return of the game’s excellent use of light and particle engines. Glowing blue lights flash constantly as characters refill their beast meters, and there are pops of color all over the place with special moves, blocks, spins, transformations, juggles, combos, and more. As I said before, this is truly one of the best looking PlayStation games on the market.

Sound

I’ll keep it short and sweet. The sound effects are great, on par with or better than last year’s game. But the music is like a generic riff straight out of brooding mid-80s heavy metal. Don’t get me wrong, I love Ratt (well, not really), but this music is really uninspired. It pisses me off!

Verdict

In the PlayStation’s final year, the last few fighters that came out on the system were excellent. It feels like the good things just keep getting better, and this is definitely true for Bloody Roar II. It’s a great looking game with a lot of gameplay and a satisfying combat system. If they could bring back last year’s characters and add these new ones, the game would have been even better and had more depth. 11 starting characters is good, but more is always better, right?
Another great thing is the slick looking manual. It’s a modest cover, but the inverted white text on the back and the great choice of fonts and details create the right look and feel for the game.

I usually just like to play, but for some reason the watch mode is cool. I really like him. The story mode is not what I expected, and to be honest it’s not as deep as the manga story. He’s still cool, but not great. Either way, what makes Bloody Roar II so appealing is the overall package.