Fighting

Toshinden is the ultimate battle of the underworld. Some have come to fight for glory, others for more personal reasons, but they all have come to see who is the best. In Battle Arena Toshinden the odds are against you, but with time and practice you too can rule the underworld.

The overall look and feel of fighting games is changing, and Toshinden is just another example of the evolution of video games. This game takes 3D fighting to the next level with the addition of lateral movements around a 3D field. What this means is that when you press one of the top left or right buttons your character spins in the appropriate direction to either side of your opponent. This enables you to avoid ANY attacks if you time your movements perfectly.

Toshinden is a benchmark in fighting games not only because it excels in graphics and sound but in play control as well. Battle Arena Toshinden’s use of over 90,000 polygons not only shows off the PlayStation’s graphic capabilities, but reminds us what 32-bit gaming is all about – fun and entertainment. The true name of the game.

The announcement last year that Square’s first game for the PlayStation was going to be a fighting game rocked the video game world. And if you’re going to do a fighting game you might as well do it right. In Square’s usual fashion, they came back with the best. Square created the company Dream Factory. This band of fighting junkies is headed by Seiichi Ishii, who has had a hand in creating such games as Virtua Fighter, Virtua Racing (Arcade), Tekken, and Tekken 2. While this may read like a who’s who of fighting games, this is Ishii-san’s first game for Square and he had to do it right.

And we think you’ll agree with us when we say that this game is truly revolutionary. It is the world’s first fighting game to incorporate a 3D Quest mode; and if that’s not enough, it’s also the first console game to maneuver (not roll) in 3D space. So in actuality, this game is like two games in one – the standard fighting game, and the quest mode. Dream Factory was able to incorporate these two game modes by creating the entire game in polygons. While there are a couple of textures on some of the characters and backgrounds, most of the graphics are displayed with standard gouraud-shaded polygons (…lots of them). While the graphics may look somewhat plain to the unskilled eye, they are quite the opposite. Tobal utilizes the PlayStation’s hi-res mode to display the game in 640 x 480, while pumping out polys at 60 frames per second. This creates ultra smooth animation that must be seen to be believed.

Tournament Mode

The Tournament Mode pits eight of the greatest fighters in the galaxy in a showdown for both pride and greed. The king of Tobal holds this tournament every year, and gives the winner the honor of being the strongest fighter in the galaxy (as well as huge cash prize). Like any fighting game, you must work your way through each of the fighters (and your double) before you can face Tobal’s three boss characters: Mufu, Nork the Mysterious, and Emperor Udan.

Each of the characters in Tobal No. 1 can do a number of combos, juggles, holds, reversals, and throws. While there are no magical attacks like fireballs, there are lots of tricky moves. Tobal utilizes a special grappling system that allows you to push your opponent around while setting them up for different throws. You can grab your opponent by the body, arm, or head. Once they’re are in your grasp you can do a number of different throws and attacks, but there’s a catch; any of the throws or holds can be reversed. While a reversal is difficult to do, it does make for some interesting fighting and some excellent animation. Characters slide out of holds, reverse grabs, and basically grapple to gain position. And you can throw a reversal on a reversal. The game’s producer, Darren Yager, stated that the office record at Sony is eight reversals in a row. So, as you can you can probably guess by now, grappling adds a whole new dimension to the fighting.

The combos and special attacks in Tobal Number 1 are a mix of Virtua Fighter and Tekken, in that button sequences and certain combinations of buttons and the d-pad create each attack. Since the d-pad is primary used to move your characters around in 3D space, block and jump have been moved to the top right and left button, respectively. Punches and kicks are translated through a three button system of a low, medium, and upper attack; however, since Tobal is 3D you can attack your opponent from any direction.

To move in 3D space you simply push the control pad in the direction you wish the character to go. Tap the d-pad twice and the characters will hop in that direction, hold it and the character will run. This is especially useful when it comes to avoiding a ring out, and surprisingly, it doesn’t interrupt controller motions for special attacks (since the d-pad is secondary to the execution of moves). Tobal also offers a couple of different play options in Tournament Mode, including a Survival mode (where you only get one life bar per continue), and a practice mode (for practicing, obviously).

The Quest Mode

Tobal’s Quest Mode is truly unique. You can play this mode as any character, and you can use any of their moves from the Tournament Mode. To make the Quest Mode into an adventure, the Dream factory had to figure out how to incorporate all the classic elements of an adventure game with a classic fighter. To do this, they added the ability for your character to pick-up, drop, and throw items that you find throughout the levels. There are crystals (money), potions, food, 1-ups, and power-ups placed throughout the game. You can eat the food, throw poison at the enemies, and even buy and sell items.

You move around in dungeons just as you would in the tournament mode, except this time from a view just behind the character. As you explore each level you’ll come across enemies that you must fight. At this point, the game slides back into a classic fighter allowing you to use all your moves and combos.

Inside Tobal’s four dungeons you’ll encounter all kinds of new nasties. There are moles, mad rats, and ghouls that you must defeat. Of course, a quest game is worthless unless you have a goal, but Tobal’s got that covered too. Your prize for solving each dungeon’s maze is a bonus character that you can use in both the Quest and Tournament Modes. The first three dungeons enable you to play as the boss characters, and the fourth enables…well, if we told we’d have to kill you. Actually, that’s not true. At the time we went to press, we were unable to defeat the final dungeon. It’s tough. It features over thirty levels of random (yes, we said random) mazes that you must battle your way through. We know for a fact that it enables another character; however, we are uncertain of his identity. Presumably, you get to take control of Toriyama Robo, a character from Dragon Ball Z.

Tobal is an impressive fighter that brings many new elements to fighting. From the innovative play control to the ground-breaking quest mode, Tobal has a lot to offer fighting fanatics. While it does suffer from a rather short list of playable characters, it more than makes up for it with a Quest that not only entertains, but rewards. Watch for Tobal No.1 this November from two great companies that taste great together, Square and Sony.