Despite being announced almost a year and a half ago and reviewed by multiple outlets, the Phantom Breaker 2D fighting game has yet to see release in the U.S. But that hasn’t stopped Japanese publisher 5pb from releasing this spinoff on XBLA. With its detailed and smoothly animated sprite visuals, incredibly catchy chiptune soundtrack, and side-scrolling brawler gameplay, Battle Grounds easily draws comparisons to the much-loved Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game.
After choosing one of four pixelly female fighters (with more unlocked through completing levels and DLC), you and up to three pals go on an adventure through bizarro Japan filled with creatures begging to be beat down, including aggressive cat-eared otaku, vicious android models, and giant summoned demons. Combat itself is solid, with two “planes” of field to fight on and a wide variety of attacks that you can strategically chain together. But after the intro stage, your character loses their powers and must gradually earn them back by spending points gained through level-ups to buy stat boosts and skills. It’s a nice way of building a character to your personal playstyle, but it’s extremely annoying that you can’t access these screens in multiplayer mode, making later levels infuriatingly hard if you’re playing in a group with fresh characters.
But that’s not the only element of Battle Grounds that feels like it was done only halfway. Some stages and bosses are well-designed, but others — like a maze level where areas all look alike — are incredibly tedious. (The final stage and boss in particular are hilariously anticlimactic.) Online play was shaky a few days after the game’s release: sometimes we’d have a good connection, but other times players would inexplicably drop. If you can get some pals together, have a stable connection, and don’t mind interrupting your game for a level-up session, you’ll have some fun here, but Battle Grounds still falls short of being the sleeper hit it could have been.
The customization system adds a nice personal touch.PUBLISHER: 5pb • DEVELOPER: Mages • ESRB: Everyone 10+ • MULTIPLAYER: 2–4 cooperative/competitive (locally and over Xbox Live) • ACHIEVEMENTS: Halfway there • COST: 800 Microsoft Points ($10) • RELEASE DATE: Feb 27, 2013
+ Well-drawn, nicely animated retro-style graphics and chiptune music.
+ Fun combat engine that evolves with player-guided level-ups.
– Level-up system is busted in multiplayer; stage design wavers in quality; anticlimactic ending.
? So when does the original Phantom Breaker release? Do we still care?
