Remember Robo Pit? This is like that, only on Batrachotoxin.
The story is OK. Not like FF or Seven Stars or anything even close, but OK for a fighting game.
Game play: 9/10
It was about time for a series like this to come out by the time this series did. It was a LOOONG time between Virtual-On or Robo Pit and this. This takes the best of both and puts them together. After you beat the main story, the tournaments are hard, but getting a high enough score is nigh impossible. I'll admit: I haven't gotten them all.
Multi-player/Play-back: 10/10
If you're just starting the game out, multi-player matches are gonna be boring. Plain and simple. But once you get enough parts, it's off the hee-zee! (Okay, I'm done.) The possibilities are actually virtually endless. My personal fave: Chickenheart, Needle, Straight X, Satellite, Feather.
Secrets/Unlockables: 9/10 (Possible Spoilers)
Secrets: Getting all the secret parts takes a lot of work, but is usually worth it. And there's quite a few, too.
Unlockables: Plenty. By going through Story Mode, you'll unlock most of it, but a few stages are still to be found…
Graphics: 7/10
The battle graphics are pretty good, but the story mode graphics are poor. The only change in facial expression occurs in the dialogue box, not in the actual sprite.
Sound: 8/10
The music is fine. It doesn't really get annoying. The SFX are what it's really about though. Different weapons will make different sounds so it's not just "Pop!" then "Kaboom!"
Cons:
The difficult tourneys at the end of the game will tend to frustrate.
Total: 7.5/10
My advice: Buy it. Simple as that.
Now you can go look up "Batrachotoxin" on Wikipedia.