A comprehensive fighting game experience.

User Rating: 10 | BlazBlue: Continuum Shift PS3
By bubbleboyii | Review Date:
Blazblue: Calamity Trigger remains one of my favorite games. It's fast, flashy, and damned good fun. So it seems natural that Continuum Shift is even better (and it is!). Continuum Shift adds 3 new characters to the roster on the get go, 3 more in DLC form (2 officially announced, 1 expected), and a ton of great content in the form of new modes. There's Legion from Blazblue PSP, a new Challenge mode, and even a tutorial mode for the fighting-genre apprehensive. It is a bit daunting if you've never played any of Aksys Games' fighting games. They're fundamentally different from Capcom's Street Fighter or Namco's Tekken. For starters, it's a VERY fast game. The characters (well, most) move fast, and your hands will have to move faster. There are also tons of mechanics to get used to: rapid cancels, super jumps, jump cancels, barrier bursts to name a few. Should you choose to delve deeper into each character, you'll find that every character probably has a ton of more advanced strategies. And while Blazblue's cast is relatively small (sitting at 16 characters as of August), none of the characters play the same way since each has his own unique Drive move. It takes some getting used to, but it's worth every bit of it.

I want to touch on the Challenge mode, since it's just made it first appearance in Blazblue. It's going to be really tough for beginners, and probably a decent enough challenge for enthusiasts and even veterans. Basically, it presents you with a combo, and you do it. However, Blazblue combos are often 20+ hits, but the screen only displays about 8 commands on the screen before it has to scroll. It's hard to keep up with the scrolling while you're doing the combos, but there's a demonstration mode to give you a rough idea how the attacks play out.

There's also a Beginner mode control scheme which is a button masher's dream. Push button, get combo. It's actually really handy for doing story mode for a character you don't know how to play ~_~

It would be silly not to mention online multiplayer in a fighting game, and here's where Aksys deals in spades. In short, Blazblue has the best netcode ever. You'll probably see a bit of lag right before the match starts while the show the characters and the stage, but once it begins, the online is buttery smooth and has almost no lag unless one of the players has a bad connection. The PS3 version isn't region locked, so if you've got a good connection, some really quick reflexes, and a little bit of courage, you can try your luck with some Japanese players (who are INSANE!).

Really, you can't go wrong with this game. It's got a rocking sound track, great gameplay, awesome online multiplayer, and slick animations. The only thing I can really fault the game at is that players will probably have to invest in a fight stick should they choose to play more seriously, since there are quite a few negative edge characters (attacks come out when you release the button) who are pretty much impossible to play correctly on a gamepad.

Oh. And it's just 40 bucks (or a few more if you plan to get character DLC). So go out and get it.

...I feel obligated to express my opinions on character DLC. Continuum Shift is an arcade port, meaning you get what's on the arcade. Extra characters aren't part of the arcade. Therefore, it seems right that the developers charge for them if you want to play them. ...Anyway, that's my take on it. :|

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