Nintendophiles - Review: Digimon Battle Spirits

Gameplay
Digimon Battle Spirits is a very unique fighting game, but it unfortunately is very easy and has very little playability for its intended audience. Because it is a port of a two-year-old Wonderswan game, there is a constant feeling that the game is not quit current. Digimon Battle Spirits allows the player to interact with the environment much more than in other fighters. A good example of this type of gameplay is Super Smash Brothers, which pulls it off perfectly. Players can choose between seven different Digimon and more are unlockable; however, you cannot play as any of the Digimon trainers. The game is based on the early years of the Digimon Television show but none of that story is borrowed for the plot-less fighting incarnation. The game�s simplicity is brought into full-view when you notice that you have only a few moves and a throw ability for each Digimon.

Some of the powerups include clock, which stops your enemy�s movement for a few seconds, fire to burn your adversary Digimon, baseball to throw at your enemy and a few others. Some of the environmental elements that affect gameplay are slippery ice, quicksand, and lighting to name a few. When there is less than a minute to go, Culumon will fly around, and whoever touches it first will Digivolve and get an unfair advantage for the majority of the remaining match. By Digivolving, your Digimon increases both in size and power. Every move your Digimon lands on the opposing party will net you more orbs. One detracting aspect of Digivolving is the fact that while digivolved you can not be hit. This makes for a very bland remainder of the fight. Not too long in, you will be confronted by a super-easy final boss which is hardly worthy of the title. Due to the overly-simplistic gameplay, you can breeze through this in no time.

Audio
The sound in this game is by far its worst aspect. The game has NES quality music and its even lower-end NES sound for that matter. Really, it�s surprising there�s even in-game music. There is sound for every attack or reaction you can think of for a fighting game, which in this games' case is bad for the listener. The background music for battle scenes have awful music tunes too. Everything in the audio department is poorly done, partly due to its age.

Final Thoughts
Digimon Battle Spirits is a very simple and mediocre fighting game. The unique battle system simply does not make up for the short and simple gameplay. Although the game is fun for a short while, it will undoubtedly disappoint all but younger audiences. Don�t expect a bestseller like Street Fighter when you buy this game, as you�re getting something infinitely more lackluster.