Zatch Bell: Mamodo Battles – PS2 – Review

There are
two kinds of fighting games in this world. Those that fail, and those that are
made by Namco, Capcom, Midway or Tecmo. Exceptions occur every once in a blue
moon, but for over 10 years those developers have been the kings of the genre.

It’s a hard
road ahead for anyone who dares enter the genre, including Bandai’s Zatch
Bell! Mamodo Battles. The cutesy characters aren’t going to sway the average
gamer. Having an anime license attached doesn’t help. If you don’t watch the
show it’s unlikely that the brand name and anime characters will mean
anything.

Just one
thing: I said there’s an exception to the rule every once in a blue moon.
Check the sky gamers – it’s happened again.

 

Zatch Bell!
Mamodo Battles is a one- and two-player fighting game with four battling
characters. Fighters are paired up based on their place in the story. Mamodo
are the main playable characters. The others are helpful aids that love to
join in on the fun of beating an adversary. By entering a specific two-button
sequence (usually as easy as pressing up and the X button), the secondary
character will pick up and throw your Mamodo into the air.

No one has
the ability to jump in the game. The stages have more of a round shape to
them, and without a Soul Calibur-style eight-way run in place, there aren’t
many options for adding dimension to the gameplay. Dimension proved to be more
important to them than jumping, and when you start dodging projectiles you’ll
see why. Evading attacks is a cinch when all you have to do is step to the
left or to the right. To the player it looks like the fighter is moving closer
to or further away from the camera. (The view doesn’t change while fighting on
the ground. Launch a fighter into the air and the camera quickly pans out for
an awesome view.)

It takes
time to adjust to not having a jump, but the good is news is that the best
part of any fighting game is learning its mechanics. The bad news is that this
game is very limited in its mechanics and does not have the massive learning
curve of its competitors.

Mamodo
Battles has more in common with Super Smash Bros. than Tekken or Soul Calibur,
or even Mortal Kombat. Standard projectile attacks are automatically executed
by pressing the square button. Simple yet effective. The X button is your
get-in-your-opponent’s-face-and-let-him-have-it attack that kicks, punches,
and/or uppercuts for a series of three to five hits. Opponents may block
mid-combo, bringing about the possibility for countless manual reversals. Turn
the tables just before your last ounce of health is gone, then rock ’em sock ’em
with multiple blasts.

 

The basic
moves are the same for all the characters. To separate each one from the rest
they were given additional projectiles or extra close combat moves. Zatch Bell
is infused with electricity and he’s not afraid to use it. He can perform
three projectile attacks: lighting blast (standard), lightning bolt (stronger,
but has a narrow hit area), and a lightning ball that entraps anyone it
touches. The lightning ball moves pretty slow and is avoided most of the time.
A good strategy is to fire a ball or two, then shoot consecutive lightning
bolts. Inexperienced friends and computer-controlled opponents with little
intelligence fall for that strategy every time. Friends will catch on
eventually, while the AI stays the same.

That’s one
of the areas where Mamodo Battles runs into some problems. Despite not having
more 10 or 12 moves per character (which is way below the average for current
generation fighting games), I became engrossed in the projectile-heavy
gameplay. There’s something special about it, and I think that primarily has
to do with the fact that up until now PlayStation 2 didn’t have anything that
played like Super Smash Bros. No console does. It’s a fighting style that’s
almost like an action/adventure game, except that there are no worlds to get
lost in and no platforms to turn you into a leaping frog.

The downside
is that the story mode, which involves exploring less than a dozen still
images, is very, very short. With the exception of Zatch Bell the game doesn’t
make much of an attempt to develop the characters’ storylines. Fighting games
should focus on the fighting, but this is based on a show, and if I were a fan
I would want more than silly bickering between Tina and Megumi. I’d want to
hear more than arguments, and more than minutes of self-touting.

Since I’m
not a fan of the show I wasn’t annoyed by how much time the characters waste
talking about how they’re going to be the best king ever. I wasn’t bothered by
the repetitive dialogue recited every time I looked at a still (the game calls
these "locations") that was not occupied by an eager fighter.

When the
story mode is complete you can play through it again to continue earning
points. They can be spent on character upgrades or additional still images
(collector’s cards, not new story mode locations).

 

That leaves
two-player versus battles to carry the weight of replay value. There’s a time
attack mode, but the fun of beating your best time doesn’t last. It’s a good
mode for racing games to have, not this genre.

Does it
last? Are the two-player battles enough? Mamodo Battles is shallow, so if time
is limited you won’t be pushing aside your favorite fighting game to play this
one. However, there is enough charm, and with the right opponents (anyone who
likes Smash Bros.) enough replay value, to keep it from falling into fighting
game obscurity.


Review
Scoring Details

for Zatch Bell! Mamodo Battles

Gameplay: 7.1
Among every
simple fighting game on the planet, Mamodo Battles is the most fun. That might
not sound like much, but there have been a lot of games that tried to take the
easy way out. Mamodo Battles is easy. They wanted a game that would
appeal to the show’s core audience, which is mostly made up of gamers that
didn’t grow up on Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat.

So they made
the game simple with attacks that practically execute themselves. They also
managed to hold the interest of a hardcore fighting fan (that would be me) who
has spent the last two years playing Soul Calibur II. If that isn’t an
accomplishment than I don’t know what is.


Graphics: 8.0
Excellent cel-shading
that blasts the screen with the coolest anime effects.


Sound: 6.5
The music isn’t
bad but comes in too quietly during battles. I’m happy to say that the voice
acting did not make me cringe as so many anime games do, but the character
discussions are a bore.


Difficulty: Easy
Master the story
mode in under 90 minutes. That isn’t a dare it’s a fact. Mamodo Battles is one
of the easiest fighting games released in years.


Concept: 6.0
It feels like
there should’ve been more to the story mode. Slight developments, more
arguments, and cut! Roll the credits.


Multiplayer: 7.2
Mamodo Battles’
saving grace. Find a friend who likes Smash Bros. and you’ll have a lot of fun
with this one.


Overall: 7.0
Street Fighter
meets Super Smash Bros. Zatch Bell! Mamodo Battles is a game of one-button
combos and projectile attacks. It’s a turn on and a turn off. I like to see
developers exploring other options for fighting games, but if a sequel is made
I hope they include a stronger combo system.