GameCube

Digimon Rumble Arena 2

Digimon Rumble Arena 2 is a perfect example of turning something underrated into a great game. Its also embarrasses Pokemon Colosseum and its fuddy-duddy turn based approach, flaunting a more hands on approach. If Pokemon took a leaf out of Digimon's book for a change they too could have a great game on their hands. It's not perfect - the multiplayer could be more customisable and a few more modes would have helped - but as it stands, this is a solid fighting game with a deep evolving system and some unique level design. There's plenty to unlock and a lot here to keep you entertained. Not everyone will appreciate that this has been released at a budget price, but I do - I cherish my money and I count all my pennies before I go to sleep! And regardless of whether you're a fan of Digimon or not, this game is most definitely worth the money.

The moral of this story is that this game is less about strategy than SSBM and more about having a good time. Skill means less, meaning that this game is more accessible. I know that I, being fairly proficient at SSBM, got creamed at this game by people that I am used to creaming at that game. The game does have four player capability like SSBM, so, like SSBM, it makes a good party game if people are willing to overlook the fact that it is a Digimon game.

Loin d'être une pâle copie du Super Smash Bros de Nintendo, Digimon Rumble Arena tient plutôt bien la route en proposant un véritable divertissement à plusieurs. Même en solo, on s'amuse d'autant plus que les arènes sont intelligemment pensées et les challenges originaux. A ne pas manquer si vous appréciez l'univers de la série animée.

It's hard to appreciate the craze that is Pokemon, Digimon, and Let's-capture-some-intelligent-and-seemingly-precious-animals-and-make-them-fight-to-the-death-mon. As far as the Saturday morning cartoon tainted hand sees things, there are a lot of cute critters that battle one another and the forces of evil. The other hand that still lives somewhere on Earth is a bit more practical; it sees animal cruelty. Wouldn't Psyduck and the gang be much happier if children didn't imprison them in magical balls and force them to combat others of their kind for the sake of some ridiculous tournament? Shouldn't Pikachu be set free and allowed to roam the grasslands of Nebraska without having to worry about what bloody dragon his punk-ass kid of a tyrannical master forces him to face next?

Nope, not very good. It would just be average were it not for how painful it is to look at and listen to. There is nothing original to be found within and certainly nothing that even borders on the word 'fun'. A real shame as the GameCube lacks really good fighters of any mould. Avoid like you would John Prescott at a buffet...