Login
Video games come and go. While some games retain their luster well beyond their initial release, others suffer short, uncelebrated ends. Sometimes the two are one in the same; an acclaimed title devouring a soon-to-be-forgotten relic. Its titles like these that gather dust in our closets and under our beds; it’s one of these titles I’d like to talk about today: Battle Arena Toshinden.
To anyone familiar with one-on-one fighters, the reason for Toshinden’s fall was obvious: superior competition. As a launch title for the PS1 and eventually a system pack-in, Battle Arena Toshinden represented new possibilities. Sure, it wasn’t the first three-dimensional fighter out there but it was responsible for bringing it to a whole new audience. So what went wrong? As bright and shiny as Toshinden was it revolved around the simple exchange of blows and little else. Missing were the combos and juggles that late, two-dimensional fighters thrived on. Such omissions would become detrimental when Tekken and Virtual Fighter 2 showed up while Battle Arena Toshinden 2 hacked away at the same old game. Backed into a corner, could Toshinden evolve and survive?
Yes and no. Battle Arena Toshinden 3 would contain the elements its successor skimped out on, but it was too late; products like Capcom’s Star Gladiator and Namco’s Soul Blade easily eclipsed what it had to offer. Faced with the dire reality, the series would see one last entry in Europe and Japan (there was also a Wii entry released solely in Japan) before fading away. As simple as the story seems, there were other factors involved in Toshinden’s decline. While the game wasn’t a testament to graphical prowess, the first entry actually looked better than its predecessors. The more detailed Toshinden tried to get the uglier it became. Sure, the third game could blaze at sixty frames per second but once your character models start looking like Legos you’re only putting off the inevitable.
Still, in many ways the original Battle Arena Toshinden had more to offer by offering less. Really, can anyone look at Toshinden 3’s extended roster and not laugh at some of those lame abortions called characters? Now reflect back on the original cast from the first game. Looks a lot better in comparison, doesn't it? Okay, so every character from Eiji to Ellis fits into some prefabricated character mold, but at least you can forge some kind of affection for them despite the cliches. As endearing as the roster is, there's another area that has stood the test of time: the music. From the drum rolls heard when battling Kayin to the teasing synthesizers in Duke’s stage, Makato Mukai and Yasuhiro Nakano’s themes do their part in forging the characters personalities, Eiji and Sofia's themes dripping with a favor that is undeniably Toshinden.
As painful as Battle Arena Toshinden’s backwards slide into video game hell was, I’m sure there are those who look back on the original as fondly as I do. While the game proves there is a vast difference between the games that introduce an experience and those that provide one for the ages, it doesn't mean its place in video game history should be ignored. That said, for two dollars and ninety-five cents you could certainly do worse.
