The controls are fairly basic, which I don't mind. It's easy to execute specials. You have throws, weak, strong attack and specials. I recommend you go through the tutorial mode to go through each lesson so that you are comfortable. It seems you need quick reaction to switch characters without losing the combo and to recover gracefully.

I'm not particularly fond with how you end the battles. There is a concept of stunning the character which occurs when they are at low health, and you MUST finish them with a special. The other thing is the assist special items that you use with the analog stick. These occur when your assist character is in the background and can offer you help. I guess this is what they use to replace in counter situations.

Gameplay is terrible one button crud. Small roster and barely any content. Fighting games are dead or at least buying them at launch makes you a moron.

Story mode is pretty arcade mode with mini-cutscenes between matches. You get a prologue cutscene with the two characters you select, a few solo cutscenes of one of the characters saying something cute or innocent, a pre boss battle (or 'boss scene') of two characters before the final boss fight, then you get end credits cutscene with each of the characters.

The Prolouge and Boss Scene is unique to the two characters selected. There are 14 characters +2 DLC so you get 100+ combination of different dialogue between characters making for repeat playthroughs.

The end credit scene are dozens of still frame 2D anime art for each character showing what happens to them after the come back to their world. There are some cameos of male SNK characters

--Gameplay

Very shallow.

You have 3 bars to focus on: special meter for each character, and a shared health bar.

Goal of each match: Drain opponents health bar to red or close to zero, then use finishing move to complete the match. Very similar to the concept of gaining points in PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale (Sony's Smash clone). Only difference is that this is a traditional 2D fighter layout in terms of movement and attack animation.

Button commands are very basic as it'll auto combo for you, and do special moves with one button press (+ direction). No back forward, or quarter circle motions required.

Options of attack are:

-Weak attack

-Strong attack

-Special attack- will drain special meter each move

-Throw- Break guard

-Guard/shield- guard against finishing moves, specials and physical attacks.

-Tag: Will swap out character. Tagged character will show up same position and will not attack from off screen. Character on standby will auto re-gen special meter

-Finishing move: needed to complete battle. Special meter has to be filled to certain amount to use

-Items. random orbs will appear on screen and you can collect them to use items to buff, debuff, or attack your enemies. Items that come up are heal items, special meter boosts, pans/spring/bombs/status to distract or daze enemies when hit, debuff items include poisoning enemies. Some items effect both you and your opponent.

Seeing the gameplay is super simplified; it does help beginners of 2D fighters with positioning and the block/attack/throw triangle...but they can also button mash not not learn anything and have mindless fun trying to unlock items for their favorite character

Game mode includes:
Story mode.
Versus
Survival
Training mode
Tutorial
Online -net code is very weak. I get laggy match ups all the time.

--Presentation
Art design is good (especially on the 2D artwork), but the in-game graphics are bad. It looks like a up res PSP game.

Voice acting is good. I like how the narrator will voice out key menu selections as you scroll pass them, and tell you in-game when you can use your finishing move on your opponent or when opponent is dazed.

Each character deliver their voice lines well. All in Japanese with various subtitle options

Only 7 stages to choose from. Most of the backgrounds static

--Unlockables

Main draw of the game is that everything you do will net you in-game token or currency which you can spend on:

-Artwork

-Movie cutscenes- I'd save up, and just unlock them through the grind (unless you despise playing a character or don't care to unlock)

-Soundtrack

-Costumes/accessories/voice clips for character. you can unlock 2 additional costumes per character. There are dozens of accessories to choose from.


If I had a choice between this game and BlazBlue Cross Tag, I would buy that game first, and wait for this game to lower in price.

The controls are fairly basic, which I don't mind. It's easy to execute specials. You have throws, weak, strong attack and specials. I recommend you go through the tutorial mode to go through each lesson so that you are comfortable. It seems you need quick reaction to switch characters without losing the combo and to recover gracefully. I'm not particularly fond with how you end the battles. There is a concept of stunning the character which occurs when they are at low health, and you MUST finish them with a special. The other thing is the assist special items that you use with the analog stick. These occur when your assist character is in the background and can offer you help. I guess this is what they use to replace in counter situations. Gameplay is terrible one button crud. Small roster and barely any content. Fighting games are dead or at least buying them at launch makes you a moron. Story mode is pretty arcade mode with mini-cutscenes between matches. You get a prologue cutscene with the two characters you select, a few solo cutscenes of one of the characters saying something cute or innocent, a pre boss battle (or 'boss scene') of two characters before the final boss fight, then you get end credits cutscene with each of the characters. The Prolouge and Boss Scene is unique to the two characters selected. There are 14 characters +2 DLC so you get 100+ combination of different dialogue between characters making for repeat playthroughs. The end credit scene are dozens of still frame 2D anime art for each character showing what happens to them after the come back to their world. There are some cameos of male SNK characters --Gameplay Very shallow. You have 3 bars to focus on: special meter for each character, and a shared health bar. Goal of each match: Drain opponents health bar to red or close to zero, then use finishing move to complete the match. Very similar to the concept of gaining points in PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale (Sony's Smash clone). Only difference is that this is a traditional 2D fighter layout in terms of movement and attack animation. Button commands are very basic as it'll auto combo for you, and do special moves with one button press (+ direction). No back forward, or quarter circle motions required. Options of attack are: -Weak attack -Strong attack -Special attack- will drain special meter each move -Throw- Break guard -Guard/shield- guard against finishing moves, specials and physical attacks. -Tag: Will swap out character. Tagged character will show up same position and will not attack from off screen. Character on standby will auto re-gen special meter -Finishing move: needed to complete battle. Special meter has to be filled to certain amount to use -Items. random orbs will appear on screen and you can collect them to use items to buff, debuff, or attack your enemies. Items that come up are heal items, special meter boosts, pans/spring/bombs/status to distract or daze enemies when hit, debuff items include poisoning enemies. Some items effect both you and your opponent. Seeing the gameplay is super simplified; it does help beginners of 2D fighters with positioning and the block/attack/throw triangle...but they can also button mash not not learn anything and have mindless fun trying to unlock items for their favorite character Game mode includes: Story mode. Versus Survival Training mode Tutorial Online -net code is very weak. I get laggy match ups all the time. --Presentation Art design is good (especially on the 2D artwork), but the in-game graphics are bad. It looks like a up res PSP game. Voice acting is good. I like how the narrator will voice out key menu selections as you scroll pass them, and tell you in-game when you can use your finishing move on your opponent or when opponent is dazed. Each character deliver their voice lines well. All in Japanese with various subtitle options Only 7 stages to choose from. Most of the backgrounds static --Unlockables Main draw of the game is that everything you do will net you in-game token or currency which you can spend on: -Artwork -Movie cutscenes- I'd save up, and just unlock them through the grind (unless you despise playing a character or don't care to unlock) -Soundtrack -Costumes/accessories/voice clips for character. you can unlock 2 additional costumes per character. There are dozens of accessories to choose from. If I had a choice between this game and BlazBlue Cross Tag, I would buy that game first, and wait for this game to lower in price.