Draglade

Dance-mat inspired, brilliantly soundtracked 2D fighters involving rhythm-based combos rarely come on the market these days, but when they do, it’s worth paying attention.

Crossover titles such as Draglade occupy a murky and somewhat dangerous space, usually sacrificing the best bits of the genres they seek to amalgamate. The ensuing mess consequently neither creates its own category, nor does it belong with any of the genres from which it spouted.

Beginning with the story mode, players assume the role of Guy, "the hero of lightning". He, the manual tells me, is not only fighting with the bad guys, he is also "fighting with his past".

A character with such apparent depth of emotion would appeal to the inner emo in any fourteen-year boy, a demographic the people at Banpresto and 505 Games are clearly aware of. The story mode is an adequate introduction to "grapping", and takes you through the four basic techniques you will need to master in order to become a successful "grapper" (Ed - does grapping involve the use of lubricant?).

These techniques are basic light and hard attacks, blocking, using bullets and, most importantly, "beat combos". To enter into a beat combo you press L and then Y in time to the beat, which is displayed in the bottom of the screen in an uncomplicated scrolling Guitar Hero fashion.

In order to use either Beat Combos or Bullets you must have enough momentum, which can be increased by landing either light or hard attacks (you cannot simply fireball your way to victory). You are also given the option to create your own beat combos and this is definitely recommended. Scoring original beats makes it possible to create a beat with which you are familiar (no extra marks for syncopation or complicated rhythms here), but perhaps more importantly you can also change the pitch and length of the notes. The theme from Eastenders was a personal weapon of choice.

As with many hastily arranged "Story Modes", in-game dialogue is sometimes long-winded and at all times pointless (NPCs never provide you with any worthwhile information or secret missions). Take a quick trip to the G-Center, however, and you will be given the opportunity to take on quests for money, whereby the game transforms into a side scrolling platformer in which you are faced with a few simple monsters and machines to defeat.

If you complete the quest your financial reward depends on how well you timed your attacks and how quickly you completed the mission. Whatever money you do get you can use to buy the latest Beat Combos and Bullets, and you will keep the bullets you found in the quest along with your increased attack power (AP) and armour.

With a hundred bullets varying from throwing what seems to be a fish at your opponents to a football-style dive (pretending to fall over to recover health), you will not be disappointed by the variation of attacks that can be used in battle. The better you do in story mode, the better your level will become when you decide to take your fresh beats global and get yourself online for some Wi-Fi action.

In online play you have three choices. Either fight a friend, anyone who’s a similar level to you, or just take on anyone who's up for it. The quality of online play is naturally reliant on connection speed and, if lag is to be avoided, minimum bandwidth requirements are quite high.

This resulted in some infuriating gaming experiences in which opponents frustratingly danced around my lagged player, hit me a couple of times and then kept running away which I suppose is the Draglade equivalent of playing it to the corners. That aside, when the connection is fast enough online play is brilliant, especially when a fight is over and you are given your national rank.

Draglade errs on the side of caution, providing the traditional 2D fighter-gamer with enough non-rhythm-based attacks to fight adequately against the computer "grappers" without really mastering the timing. Inadvertently this helps to level the playing field if playing against inexperienced friends via download play.

As with many 2D fighters, button-bashing, if not the order of the day, is definitely on the menu. Although the story mode is not exactly gripping, the actual fighting is immensely enjoyable. The multiplayer is as fun as any fighter currently available on the DS and the visuals are decent. Whilst it is unlikely that Draglade will spawn a range of games catering to the 2D fighting Guitar Hero fan audience, it certainly stands its ground well as a slightly oddball beat 'em up.

7.5/10

Mark Burton