The original Bloody Roar came completely out of left field for me. Admittedly I wasn’t very interested in fighting games at the time so I wasn’t following it closely. It’s not like Hudson Soft was particularly known for their fighters. My first exposure was via a demo disc, and I instantly fell in love. Years later I finally picked it up, and loved it just as much as I did in the bite sized sample I spent so much time with. It wasn’t until the next generation that I fully jumped in to the franchise. This means I also skipped out on the first sequel, Bloody Roar II. Well I’ve finally righted that wrong and I’m here to tell you that it’s fantastic. Today I’m here to tell you why you need to play Bloody Roar II: The New Breed. Let’s take a look.
Bloody Roar II picks up roughly five years after the last one ended as far as story goes. Within this depiction of modern day society exists humans with extraordinary abilities allowing them to transform into humanoid animals. In this state they become more powerful and take on the characteristics of said beast. These are known as zoanthropes. The fall of the Tylon Corporation at the end of the first game led to a brief period of peace, but now tensions rise between humans and zoanthropes. This has given rise to a terrorist group known as the Zoanthrope Liberation Front. Each character weaves into the story in unique ways though most share the goal of bringing down this shadow organization. I have to give Bloody Roar II a hand for not focusing on a tournament of the strongest fighters or something along that trope, but the story still isn’t particularly gripping.
Unlike most fighting games Bloody Roar II features a story mode. While basic gameplay is the same here you’re treated to story sequences between each fight. Unfortunately these are mostly still images with text. The artwork is nice, and the dialogue is decently written which is a surprise. It’s not going to sell you on this cumbersome narrative, but I did like how it fleshed out some of the characters. The story mode gives some actual personality and character to the roster. I also like how different this can be for each character. Because the fights are pre-determined per the plot you face a separate roster of fighters depending on who you choose. It’s also kind of neat that you can see both sides of the coin because some of these battles are shared between scenarios.
Speaking of characters the roster here is fantastic. One of the main issues I had with the first Bloody Roar was that several fighters were weird and off-putting. Developer Eighting did away with most of these awkard characters such as Mitsuko, Hans and Gregory. I seriously doubt anyone will miss those guys. Returning to the fight are Yugo, Alice, Alan and Long. I think we can all agree these were the most interesting fighters in the first Bloody Roar. Eighting also included seven new ones this time around. They’re all a step up from the aforementioned ones that didn’t make the cut. In particular I liked the designs and play styles for Busuzima, Stun, and Shina. At first I assumed Bakuryu was a returning character but it’s an entirely new design here despite using the same beast transformation. It’s a decision for the best in my opinion.
That’s all fine and dandy, but how does it play? Really well actually. Bloody Roar II is a 3D fighting game and on the surface appears pretty traditional in most respects. You face off against one opponent in a three dimensional arena and your goal is to completely drain their life bar with a series of punches, kicks, throws, and special moves unique to each character. The best two of three matches wins. If that’s you then you simply move on to the next match. Ring outs are present here, but are a bit more complicated than usual. The arenas each have barriers on the outskirts and you have to his them with a powerful enough strike to knock them through it. It’s not as common as in something like Dead or Alive so your best strategy is to focus on eliminating their life bars though.
The main gimmick from Bloody Roar makes it’s triumphant return for the sequel. Each character is a zoanthrope, a human being capable of transforming into a humanoid beast, and can do so during battle. To do so you must charge a meter at the bottom of the screen by striking your foe, but you start out each match with this already half full. This determines the duration for which you can remain in zoanthrope form. While in beast form you are more powerful and have unique special moves at your disposal. Unfortunately this meter drains as you remain in the form, and taking damage expediates this process. Being hit at just the right moment with a strong attack will instantly revert you back into a human as well. The transformation mechanic does give you an edge but it never feels completely unbalanced.
Despite the fantastical premise the fighting engine in Bloody Roar II is more firmly rooted in realism than most fighters. Basically, it’s more similar to Tekken than Street Fighter. There are no projectile attacks and instead you must rely primarily on punches and kicks to win. The throws are really over the top (especially in beast form) but functionally they’re very traditional. Special moves are based more on real fighting than fantasy (for the most part) with specialized strikes like flips and the like. I really like how Buzujima can go invisible temporarily while in Chameleon form. It’s a very unique ability in this series. To get really good at Bloody Roar II you have to memorize distance, strike zones, vulnerabilities, counters, and of course hone your reflexes to block attacks. It’s not the most complicated fighter as far as mechanics but has enough depth to satisfy hardcore fans.
For a fighting game there is quite a lot of content crammed into this disc. On top of the story exposition (which I’ve already covered) you can opt for a more traditional arcade mode, versus play, survival, and training. These aren’t really anything new but their inclusion is welcome. The training mode in particular I found to be really well done. The same goes for survival where you have to face off against endless opponents until you lose. Additionally Bloody Roar II comes packed with options. You can customize a lot of the game’s mechanics and fine tune it to your liking. You also have various cheat codes to unlock the boss characters, enable big head mode, change costumes, etc. Bloody Roar II is a well rounded package and was well worth the full asking price because of it.
While most of the new stuff is great there are a few unwelcome changes. First of all the sidestep from the original game has been nerfed. It’s now more difficult to use and can only be done following a successful block. Personally I’ve long outgrown using sidestep consistently in fighting games. It was a neat mechanic when introduced but often more something I use when I’m not confident in a new game. I don’t mind the change much to be honest. A new addition I wasn’t particularly fond of is the super moves. These beast drives can be used when your power bar reaches a specific level, and are much stronger and cinematic than your normal attacks. I just don’t particularly love the mechanic. On the plus side I do like that it instantly transforms you back into human and the trade-off for risk versus reward is pretty neat.
Bloody Roar II is also one of the most beautiful 3D fighters on the original Playstation. It runs at a silky smooth sixty frames per second without a single hitch. This includes during transformation sequences when a lot of special effects are being used. The character models themselves look really nice as well. These guys are just a little blocky, but that’s par for the course when it comes to games from this generation. I also really liked the animal forms. This could have gone south real fast, but the over-the-top designs look fantastic. You can clearly tell what animal they’re supposed to be, but the art style is far from realistic. The soundtrack is good, but doesn’t fare quite as well. There’s a lot of pop rock and squealing guitars, and I liked it plenty. It’s a real head scratcher that the story sequences aren’t voiced, but that’s minor.
While most gamers prefer the Tekken sequels, or others Dead or Alive, I genuinely think Bloody Roar II is better as a 3D fighter than those. The only game I struggle to put it above would be Tobal. Bear in mind realism doesn’t necessarily mean much if a game is good, and I prefer the animal transformation mechanics to grounded gameplay any day. The gameplay engine is solid, each match is fun, the cast is great, and there’s a load of content packed into this single disc. Bloody Roar II is incredible and well worth playing.
