Warrior Roar of Bloody

Players will find 10 computer controlled opponents to battle

Most folks will go straight to the traditional Arcade mode and just get it on. Here, players will find 10 computer controlled opponents to battle, and at the end of the final one, a new move will appear as a reward. A live opponent can join in at any time for a live tete-a-tete. Those of you (and I hope most) who like to brawl against live opponents, will find that the Vs mode serves the ultimate in real fighting.

But it's the added modes, such as Story, Survival, Watch, and Custom that add loving replay value to the once simple Roar of Bloody format. The Story mode unravels the origin of each transforming creature-human and brings each into contact with the other as rivals or allies. And of course, players will fight all 10 of them. Survival is not a new idea, but it's still enjoyable and challenging. Players will take on every single other fighter with one health bar! Yes folks, training is a smart idea prior to entering Survival mode. The Watch mode is self-explanatory: Players pick two characters to fight and they sit down and watch them. Wooo-hooo! It's actually cool because new moves are shown, and opponent weaknesses become more obvious.

Custom Mode is probably the most unique of the four. Prior to gameplay, players can customize their characters, with choices from Big Headed characters (Superdeformed), Afterimages (a flashing trail of body images), Kids (super small Superdeformed), Big Arms (just what it sounds like), and Normal. Other choices are Wall Display, Sidestep, and Exit (Heh! Just kidding!). If anything, this mode makes the game just plain fun to tweak and goof around with.

Obviously, the sidestepping function enables full 3D play. When an opponent rolls out his or her combo, just step out of the way, and then drive yours down his throat, or rather, into his back. It's as easy as pressing a shoulder button. For me, this brings the game into the modern world, adding that extra little function to deepen gameplay.