Battle Arena Toshinden 3

Last updated
Battle Arena Toshinden 3
Battle Arena Toshinden 3 Coverart.png
European cover art
Developer(s) Tamsoft/Takara
Publisher(s) Playstation
Playstation Portable/3/Vita
  • JP: Tamsoft
Director(s) Shintarō Nakaoka
Shunichi Ōkusa
Producer(s) Takayuki Nakano
Programmer(s) Tōru Kawashima
Platform(s) PlayStation, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation Vita
ReleasePlaystation
  • JP: December 27, 1996
  • NA: March 31, 1997
  • PAL: March 1997
Playstation Portable/3/Vita
  • JP: 2016-11-22
Genre(s) Fighting
Mode(s) Single-player, multiplayer

Battle Arena Toshinden 3 for PlayStation is a 3D weapons-based fighting game and sequel of Battle Arena Toshinden 2 . Toshinden 3 is the first of the main series not to be ported to other platforms. It is also the only game in the series that has game play differences between the Japanese version and subsequent U.S. and European releases.

Contents

Gameplay

Whereas Toshinden 2 was largely built upon the first game, Toshinden 3 radically changes the series' gameplay. The arenas are now enclosed, allowing players to launch opponents into the walls and ceilings in order to juggle them with further attacks. [1] The combo system has also been reworked, with every character possessing a preset list of combos. As well as the 14 starting fighters, the game also adds 18 unlockable fighters bringing the total to 32, though most of them are largely mirror images of the original 14's fighting styles.

Toshinden 3's Arcade Mode is much different from the previous two. The opponents that the player faces depend on their selected character. If the player chooses one of the 14 starting fighters or "Heroes", then the computer-controlled opponents will eventually be Organization members while choosing an Organization member will have the player facing off against the "Heroes" themselves. Nagisa and Vermilion serve as the first bosses to their opponents' sides while the specific playing character's sub-boss soon appears next. After that, Sho arrives as the third boss (doubling as the final boss for any Organization member) and once he's defeated, the player will then face off against the Organization leader Abel, who serves as the normal final boss of the game. The former leader of the Organization whom Abel imprisoned, Veil, then later Kayin Amoh’s adoptive daughter, Naru can be fought after defeating Abel, if certain conditions met.

The U.S. and European releases of Toshinden 3 feature several game play differences from the original Japanese release including:

Plot

With the Secret Society, the sponsors of the two previous Battle Arena Toshinden tournaments, finally defeated, it would soon transpire and be known that the Secret Society's long-time rival criminal group, the Organization, who have been observing both tournaments from the shadows, are now ready and prepared to make their own move in having to bring forth the destructive fighting god, Agon Teos, into the world.

The Organization's leader, Abel, requires the sacrificial blood of the world's strongest warriors and through the knowledge of his loyal agent, Vermilion, Abel organizes and sponsors a third Battle Arena Toshinden tournament in order to lure Eiji Shinjo and his fellow Toshinden fighters out in the open while pitting them against his own chosen warriors, who have copied and learned their specific targets' respective fighting styles. Furthermore, Abel targets a young English boy named David as he seeks to use him as a potential human vessel for Agon Teos. Managing to escape from the relentless pursuit of the Organization, David is soon saved and rescued by a young Japanese female gambler named Shizuku Fuji and in due time, both David and Shizuku enter the tournament in order to help aid Eiji and the rest of the Toshinden fighters against the Organization.

Eiji and the Toshinden fighters progress through the tournament and defeat their chosen rivals, during which a few storyline developments occur and happen from within the competition, such as Organization members Atahua and Tau forfeiting their matches to both Ellis and Gaia (with Atahua learning and understanding from Tau that the murder of a fighter couldn't justify the means of restoring an ancient empire), Tracy sparing the life of her vengeful older twin sister Rachael, who had refused Tracy's offer of starting over with her and walking away from her to never be seen again, and Organization member Cuiling switching sides in order to help Eiji and the rest of the Toshinden fighters out after killing Bayhou and avenging Fo Fai's past death while also realizing that Abel had to be stopped before he could succeed in bringing Agon Teos to the world. Eiji comes face-to-face once again with Vermilion and overcomes the assassin before finally encountering his long-lost older brother, Sho. The two battle and Eiji wins, with Sho complimenting his brother's skills before leaving. Eiji soon faces and slays Abel in single combat, but at the same time, accidentally frees the Organization's previous leader, Veil, who was betrayed and usurped by Abel long ago. Robbed of his revenge, Veil battles Eiji but is also killed as well.

With the deaths of both Veil and Abel, the Organization is completely destroyed and the world is miraculously saved from the malevolent wrath of Agon Teos. However, Eiji soon discovers that Vermilion had somehow survived and escaped the Organization's destruction while completely disappearing without a trace. Faced with an enticing offer, Eiji starts his own plan in order to lure Vermilion out for a final battle.

Reception

Jeff Gerstmann, reviewing the game for GameSpot , commented that whereas Toshinden 2 was a simple graphical upgrade which retained the flaws of the original game, Toshinden 3 genuinely advanced the series. He cited the single-round combat, super moves, enclosed arenas, and character unlocking, and concluded, "If you were one of the many who thought Toshinden was neat, but far too dull, this game may have what it takes to turn your viewpoint around." [5] In contrast, Sushi-X of Electronic Gaming Monthly saw Battle Arena Toshinden 3 as a rush-job, noting how quickly it had come out after Toshinden 2. While he agreed that the character unlocking is a good feature, he argued that the enclosed arenas in effect sacrificed the strategic element of ring-outs for the lesser trade-off of improved frame rate. He and his three co-reviewers all commented that the game is flashy but shallow, with unbalanced characters and overly easy-to-execute super moves. [4] Scary Larry of GamePro gave Battle Arena Toshinden 3 a score of 3.5 out of 5 within all four categories (control, sound, graphics, and fun factor), stating that while the game was better than Toshinden 2, "it's still not good enough to be classed with Tekken , Virtua Fighter 2 , or even Tobal No. 1 ." His critiques included the game's simple gameplay, one-button special moves, slowdown which affected the game's continuity, and that "the fighters, although unique in appearance, are too similar in their fighting styles." He concluded that Toshinden 3 wasn't a bad game, but couldn't compete with the other fighting games available for the PlayStation. [6]

Related Research Articles

<i>Art of Fighting</i> Video game series

Art of Fighting is a fighting video game trilogy that were released for the Neo Geo platform in the early 1990s. It was the second fighting game franchise created by SNK, following the Fatal Fury series and is set in the same fictional universe as a prequel to the Fatal Fury series. The original Art of Fighting was released in 1992, followed by two sequels: Art of Fighting 2 in 1994 and Art of Fighting 3: The Path of the Warrior in 1996.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">M. Bison</span> Fictional character in the Street Fighter video game series

M. Bison, also known as the Dictator, is a fictional character created by Capcom. First introduced in Street Fighter II: The World Warrior, he is a recurring character in the Street Fighter series of fighting games, acting as one of the series' main antagonists.

<i>Battle Arena Toshinden</i> 1995 video game

Battle Arena Toshinden is a weapons-based fighting game developed by Tamsoft and published by Takara and Sony Computer Entertainment in 1995 for the PlayStation, followed by 1996 ports for the Sega Saturn, Game Boy and MS-DOS. It was one of the first fighting games to boast polygonal characters in a 3D environment, and features a sidestep maneuver which is credited for taking the genre into "true 3D." The Game Boy version of Battle Arena Toshiden despite sharing the same name as the console & PC counterparts is a different game. It is a 2D weapons based fighter and supports the Super Game Boy cartridge peripheral for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System/Super Famicom to allow the game to be played on a TV with colour palettes and borders.

<i>Dead or Alive 4</i> 2005 video game

Dead or Alive 4 is a 2005 fighting video game developed by Team Ninja and published by Tecmo for the Xbox 360. It is the fourth main entry in the Dead or Alive fighting series.

<i>Kizuna Encounter</i> 1996 video game

Kizuna Encounter is a 1996 fighting game produced by SNK for the Neo Geo arcade and home platform. It is the sequel to Savage Reign. The European Neo-Geo homecart PAL release was rare, with only five known copies, making it a sought-after item in video game collecting.

<i>Battle Arena Toshinden 2</i> 1995 video game

Battle Arena Toshinden 2 is a weapon based 3D fighting game developed by Tamsoft. It was released for the PlayStation and arcades in 1995, with the arcade version published by Capcom, followed by a port to PC. It is the sequel to Battle Arena Toshinden, and was a departure from the usual fighting game formula in that it was developed for home console first, with the arcade version being developed later. In some countries the arcade version was also released after the PlayStation version.

<i>Digimon Rumble Arena</i> 2001 video game

Digimon Rumble Arena is a 2001 fighting video game developed and published by Bandai. It is part of a video game series connected to the Digimon franchise and showcases the titular creatures within the context of a fighting video game. The player controls one of several Digimon and engages in combat with other Digimon within a variety of settings. Apart from the central fighting gameplay, a trio of mini-games are available upon the single-player campaign's completion.

<i>ClayFighter 2: Judgment Clay</i> 1995 video game

ClayFighter 2: Judgment Clay is a one-on-one fighting video game released exclusively for the Super NES in 1995. It is Interplay's sequel to their 1993 game ClayFighter. The game's name is a parody of the 1991 film Terminator 2: Judgment Day.

<i>World Heroes 2 Jet</i> 1994 video game

World Heroes 2 Jet is a 1994 fighting arcade game developed and published by ADK with the assistance of SNK. It was originally released for the Neo Geo MVS arcade cabinet on April 26, 1994. It is the sequel to the 1993 fighting arcade game World Heroes 2, as well as the third title of the World Heroes series.

<i>Buriki One</i> 1999 video game

Buriki One: World Grapple Tournament '99 in Tokyo, otherwise known simply as Buriki One, is a 3D competitive fighting game produced by SNK and released as a coin-operated arcade game in 1999. It is the seventh and final game developed for SNK's short-lived Hyper Neo Geo 64 hardware and like most games released for the platform, it has never been officially ported to home consoles. It was planned for release for the PS1 platform but was never officially released.

<i>Battle Arena Toshinden</i> (anime) Two-part original video animation based on the video game series of the same name

Battle Arena Toshinden is a two-part original video animation based on the video game series of the same name. Released in 1996, the film is based primarily on the events of Battle Arena Toshinden 2, but incorporates elements from the first and third games in the series.

<i>Toshinden 4</i> 1999 video game

Toshinden 4 is the fourth and final installment of the fighting game series Battle Arena Toshinden. Unlike previous installments, it only saw release in Japan and the PAL region. It was released a total of three times in Europe; it originally came out on June 30, 2000, and was re-released on the Virgin Interactive white label range on April 12, 2001, and was re-released again by budget label Play It, on November 20, 2003.

<i>Star Gladiator</i> 1996 video game

Star Gladiator - Episode 1: Final Crusade is a 1996 weapon-based 3D fighting game released by Capcom for the PlayStation-based ZN-1 arcade hardware. It was Capcom's first in-house polygonal fighting game. A PlayStation port was released in October 1996. It was followed by a single sequel, Plasma Sword: Nightmare of Bilstein, in 1998.

<i>Tekken</i> (video game) 1994 fighting video game

Tekken (鉄拳) is a fighting game developed and published by Namco. It was originally released for arcades in 1994 and ported to the PlayStation a year later. The game was well-received by critics, and it would serve as the first entry in the popular Tekken series, with a sequel, Tekken 2, being released in 1995.

<i>Battle Arena Nitoshinden</i> 1996 video game

Battle Arena Nitoshinden is a spin-off game from the Battle Arena Toshinden series and was only released in Japan. The game was to be released in the US under the name of Toshinden Kids but was canceled.

<i>Breakers</i> (1996 video game) 1996 video game

Breakers is a competitive fighting game developed by Visco Corporation, which was released for the Neo Geo. It was followed up by Breakers Revenge in 1998.

<i>D-Xhird</i> 1997 fighting video game

D-Xhird is a 3D weapons-based fighting game developed by Nextech and published by Takara, the same companies that created the Battle Arena Toshinden series, which the game is inspired from. The endings for the characters teased a sequel, but it never happened.

References

  1. ↑ "Protos: Toshinden 3". Electronic Gaming Monthly . No. 92. Ziff Davis. March 1997. p. 35.
  2. ↑ "Sneak Previews: Battle Arena Toshinden 3". GamePro . No. 104. IDG. May 1997. p. 52.
  3. ↑ "Battle Arena Toshinden 3 Review Score". Archived from the original on December 5, 2019.
  4. 1 2 "Review Crew: Toshinden 3". Electronic Gaming Monthly . No. 95. Ziff Davis. June 1997. p. 44.
  5. 1 2 Gerstmann, Jeff (March 18, 1997). "Battle Arena Toshinden 3 Review". GameSpot . Retrieved 9 October 2018.
  6. ↑ "ProReview: Battle Arena Toshinden 3". GamePro . No. 105. IDG. June 1997. p. 66.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.