Developer: Takara Publisher: SCEA Release: 09/09/95 Genre: Fighting
Hype. At one point in time or another most of us have fall victim to it. Nowhere is it more evident than at a new system launch. With new technology comes the promise of fresh gaming experiences and this was especially true for the fifth generation. The move to 3d was a whole new dimension (heh) for the industry and unfortunately it came with many bumps. Few launch titles have had the insane hype the Battle Arena Toshinden garnered. It was the flagship title for the then brand new PlayStation. Sadly Toshinden is an absolute dog of a game that is only remembered for its at the time insane visuals. Someone should have spent time on the gameplay.
An organization known only as the Secret Society is hosting the Battle Arena Toshinden, a legendary tournament known only to those familiar with the underground. 8 fighters have stepped up to participate with their own reasons for doing so. Family, honor, glory, everything is on the line as they compete to see who will win.
My description sounds a lot cooler than it actually is. At the very first E3 in 1995 Toshinden was a showstopper and proved that Sony were serious about their entry into the console business. For its time the game was comparable to high end arcade games which was insane for a home console. The coverage and reviews in the various publications painted it as a revolutionary title and one of the best fighting games ever. Only half of that is somewhat true. While it has a few features that would become standard in 3d fighting games ultimately Toshinden is simply a bad game.
The roster is incredibly diverse despite its size. While some characters fill certain archetypes (Eiji and Kayin are essentially Ken and Ryu) it is not so cut and dried for the rest. As the first weapons based 3d fighting game their weapons do a great job distinguishing each character due to their speed and reach. Rungo is the slow bruiser of the bunch but has some surprisingly mobile special moves. Mondo has insane reach with his spear and the most combo potential. Sofia is the femme fatal whose special moves can cause an unfortunate ring out. Unfortunately there are only 8 characters with 2 more unlockable. It’s a pretty noticeable oversight as games like Mortal Kombat 3 and Tekken raised the bar in that regard.
The best way to describe the gameplay is clumsy. Fighters feel sluggish in their movements and their reactions vary wildly. There is no feeling of weight as some hits send opponents flying while others will leave them spinning their heels. It isn’t consistent and means any combo potential is limited at best. Jumps are floaty and near useless. Most fighting games orient players so that they are almost always facing each other. Toshinden does not and watching the characters slowly lumbar around to reorient themselves is comical. Trying to lineup special attacks is difficult as they usually send you flying, and with what I just outlined makes certain characters like Ellis more trouble to learn than it is worth. Even something as simple as button mashing does not feel good, that is how much Toshinden fails.
For all of its issues Toshinden did introduce a key feature for the genre. The sidestep allows players to dodge attacks and move around in 3d. Many attacks have long animations and dodging allows you to punish careless players. The camera is very cinematic and will shift to highlight cool actions. Sometimes it can get in the way as it is slow to reorient itself but the combat options it opens up makes it worth it. This move is extremely cool and its adoption and iteration in subsequent fighting games shows how impactful it was.
So if the gameplay is so mediocre why did everyone pay attention to Toshinden? Because of its graphics. I cannot say it enough; at its release Toshinden was a revelation. Fully texture mapped characters with copious light source shading and transparent effects made the game look absolutely nuts compared to Virtua Fighter. While the comparison was not fair considering that game hit arcades in 1993 to those of us looking to buy a new system it was inevitable. Toshinden made Virtua Fighter look old. There are plenty of subtle effects that look extremely cool, from the TV broadcasting the current match live in Kayin’s stage to the warping tile effect in Gaia’s background. Couple that with a great soundtrack and you have a game that made everyone overlook its flaws, at least initially.
In Closing
Battle Arena Toshinden is an average game propped up by its high production values. While it was an important evolutionary step for the genre in 3d there is no reason to play it today. All of its innovations have been appropriated in much better titles. Leave this one as a footnote in history.
