Bleach DS review

As a long time fan of the long running anime I knew that this game had to be checked out thoroughly. Although it finally made the jump from Japan to the rest of the world concluding with Europe at the end of February 2008, this took a while to happen as the Japanese version was out about two years ago.I do not own the English version of the game as I imported the Japanese version those two years ago and do not regret such a choice. The initial concept of the game is that is a fighter developed by the much praised Treasure inc. This theme fits the game perfectly as the anime itself focuses mainly on the constant fights Ichigo and his friends must endure in order to save the day. With this in mind the game follows the initial storyline arch which covers roughly the sixty four first episodes. In order to not spoil it for anyone I will not go into details of the story in this review.

Rainbox Six Vegas 2 event

With the imminent release of Rainbow six Vegas 2 I was deeply curious by what kind of extras the game would get.  As luck would have it while browsing the official ubisoft forums for answers as to what my newly pre ordered bonus edition from the Ubistore would contain, I was deeply surprised by a certain topic. In it a very kind ubisoft staff member was inviting members to participate in the chance to get an early preview of the game. As I thought that I might as well give it a try and enter I was surprised  a week later by a mysterious email that was in my inbox. It was nothing less than an invite to this preview of the game as it seemed that my entry was worthy enough.

Alone in the Dark event

     On the 21st February 2008 which was a Thursday I was politely invited to the London Atari offices. The reason for this was to get a chance at playing a new game in the company’s cherished Alone in the Dark series. As someone who found the games quite late when A New Nightmare came out and played it on his Dreamcast I was quite curious.

Mario and Sonic DS event

On the Monday 4th January I was a lucky guess at the Mario and Sonic DS community day in the Wii flat. The main premise behind the event was to give everyone coming a DS or just the game for those that brought their own DS to the event. As I got lost and so came about 20 minutes late the event was already in full swing.

As I entered the famous Wii flat and went upstairs I found one of the staff members involved doing a demonstration on a tv screen that had a Ds linked to it with the appropriate kit. What instantly grabbed my attention was how crisp the graphics looked on a DS. This considering the screen was being stretched out on the tv which meant it would look even better on the DS. As the explanation of how the game worked ended we were given the games to play by connecting to each other through the wireless mode.

Mario and Sonic DS event

I started up the game on my Ds and was very impressed by the presentation of the game which was on pair with its Wii brother. I then joined one of the multiplayer groups available and was deeply surprised once again. The reason behind it was that it was very quick and easy to join in a multiplayer session which made it more fun. The way it works is that every player is allowed to have a go at the event without having to wait for the other to finish. In the case of some games where it was in rounds players that lost could also see other matches. The multiplayer allows for every event including the dream events to be played on multiplayer.

While in this multiplayer game I tried out many of the games which involved using mainly the stylus. While most of the games worked fine with the stylus it did require a lot of rubbing back and forth to get the results. The games that I found to be more complicated involved a new event of cycling. This required players to press the R and L triggers in rhythm to move forward while also using the d pad to move left and right. With some practise I am sure that the results would come through but then again that means better replay ability of the game.

While waiting for a tournament to start I decided to try some of the other modes within the game which were exactly what was on the Wii version. I tried out some of the mini games which were different from the Wii version but same concept to get new music when 5 of one type were cleared. I did not venture into any other parts but the menu did mention missions and the circuit mode which the Wii version has. Another feature included was the online lead boards which will keep many hooked for months trying to get into the top.

This game has a few less events than the Wii version which it makes up for in new events exclusive to the DS version. I already mentioned the cycling event but others include a flying dream event that was quite a lot of fun. The fact that so much could be crammed into one tiny DS cart was very impressive. The graphics on the game as mentioned were some of the best on the console. The characters motions were captured in a very lively manner and the stages were re created with much detail. There was no slowdown within the game and the loading was certainly not a problem.

As the competition started on I found myself more interested in keeping on playing the game. But regardless I entered and was quickly beaten in the first round which meant I played quite a bit of the game while it went on. Afterwards the 3 hours allocated for the event were nearly over and it was time to start getting ready to head out. It was a very sad moment when I had to give back my cart as I was already getting attached to the game. In overall it could be seen that this was not a quick replica of the Wii game but something made completely separate from it. With its many different uses of the DS and easy multiplayer access this proves to be one essential purchase for me.

After the event it was time to honour the traditional Sonic community pub visit. It was fantastic to be around all the friends I made from these events again and I hope the feeling was mutual. While there was a quiz with some very tough questions thought out by Kevin went underway. I sadly did not get one question right but it was all great fun. Instead a very drunken old men came up to me asking for a handshake with some rather dirty finger nails, which I politely had to refuse.

As for the event I had an incredible time as always which I will not forget for sure. I would like to thank Kevin and the SEGA staff for making this possible and also all Sonic fans for making me feel so welcome in the event.

Play time at the Wii flat

As for the game it is already out in the rest of the world but it will be out in Europe this Friday the 8th.