Well, I'm going to try and give this a shot. I will try to take pictures if anyone requests so.
PRINCE OF TENNIS: CRYSTAL DRIVE aka TENNIS NO OUJISAMA: CRYSTAL DRIVE 8/15/06
Note: These are my first impressions after playing for 24 hours straight. I'm sure I will add more to the review along the way. I will try to get screenshots as soon as I can. I don't expect a review of Ouendan to come out soon, this game is too addicting.
EDIT: No pics yet, but here's a horrible clip of me playing. Unfortunately the sound is super off and I wasn't able to do my character's overdrive. Hope you enjoy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdO_epDzAmE
Importability: Surprisingly, little knowledge of Japanese is needed. Much of the menus and options have english subtitles underneath. There are a few exceptions like titles of characters and food names, however, those aren't necessary to pick up the game and start a match.
Again, no Japanese is really needed to unlock characters and coaches, it's really just beating tournaments one after another. However, if you want to beef up your character, you would have to refer to a food guide, for all the food names in the shop are in Japanese. There are two guides on gamefaqs which I highly recommend if you have any trouble in translation. The Food Guide by AcktPoo and the Move List by ShaggyShaggz420. The message board is also an excellent resource for explaining some of the mechanics of the game.
-----
Gameplay: Now what everyone has been waiting for, the gameplay. Trying not to be biased, I'd still have to say this tennis game blows all other portable tennis games out of the water. It is simply an excellent piece of gaming software that has it's own unique feel to it.
If you are unfamiliar to the Prince of Tennis games, they are basically tennis games based on the manga and loosely on the anime. Well, at least the GBA and DS games are tennis games, whereas some found on other systems were basically date simulations for girls - or boys, whatever floats your boat.
The story behind Prince of Tennis revolves around Ryoma Echizen, who has joined the Seigaku school tennis team... Basically, they try to kick as much butt as they can in order to win the Nationals.
In the game there are many schools to play from, about 9. And there are over 60 characters to choose from. Unlike the DBZ Budokai series, each character has his/her own set of special shots. There are no real repeats of moves, they are all different. There are at least three special moves for each character, of course some characters have even more.
Now, for the actual tennis system. If anyone has played the GBA PoT games, you will be quick to note that it is pretty much the same system. The only major difference is that there is only one version of cartridge, instead of two like Pokemon series with Red and Blue versions. Even though it is essentially the same system, there are those small new additions that make this game shine - like a crystal, if you will.
Like all tennis games, there is singles and doubles. however, in PoT there is a Mix mode where you choose a team of four and play a doubles match and two singles matches. If you look further into the Practice mode, there is TR singles which is pretty much a team of three playing a singles match. During anytime in the game, you may change out your character with another - Pokemon style... ok bad joke... There is also SV [survival] which is the same as TR but it's three singles and no character swapping. Before each match there are plenty of options. You get to choose from which surface to play from, how many racquet [lives] there are, games, sets, etc.
What's convenient about this game is that you can save if you want to quit your game and continue another time. Before this was not the case. So there are absolutely no worries when it comes to playing on the go.
Interface, although the game is not incredibley "intuitive" with the stylus, I believe they struck a sweetspot with the mechanics and interface of the game. On the top screen is where all the action happens. On the court is[are] your character and opponent. It contains, the score on the top right. And hugging the left are your gauges. The larger gauge, the C-Gauge, is used for special shots. It is accompanied by small spheres that store already filled C-Gauges. The yellow bar is used for "awakening" mode, which I will talk about later. Moving to the touch screen. At the top, there are immediate stats for you and your opponent, along with how many racquets [lives] you have. These can be touched and expanded one at a time to see the rest of the stats. Below this is the bench where your buddies and teammates stand, however, I believe they do nothing to aid in your game in singles and doubles. On the right side of the bench is your coach. By touching the coach, they can give you advice which usually alters you or your opponents gauges - these come in very handy to control the match. Finally at the bottom is the score and the bench button to look at the other side's bench.
Again, each character has a multitude of shots to choose from. Topspin, Backspin, lob, short lob, drop shot, flat, and two handed. There are also varoius types of taunts to alter either your gauges or your opponents gauges. Once these gauges fill up to a certain requirement, each character can execute a special shot. These special shots are impressive and make you feel badass... I'm serious. For example, there is the snake shot which actually curves around the court and net and bounces back into play. Some of these shots can be excecuted anywhere and some are governed by certain situations.
Also, there is the awakening mode, where your character can go into a mode of self-actualization... basically become badass and cool - Super Saiyan for all you DBZ fans. In this mode your character's stats increase overall and during the time the Super gauge is filled, you can do unlimited special shots.
Now if that weren't enough, a new addition to the game are the overdrive moves which are essentially super shots that break the racquets of your opponent. To engage it, all one has to do is go into awakening mode and hit ball with L+R+X under a certain condition and a "Simon-Says" type game will appear on the bottom. You have to press the buttons under the alloted time in the order they appeared to get full efficiency. If done perfectly you may be able to take 2 racquets of your opponent.
Now, it is up to the player when to use these moves, using them at the right time can change the flow of the game and lead to victory. This is a prime example of multi-faceted tennis.
-----
Replayability: If the specials and supers do not hook you. There are many things to unlock. There are over 60 players to unlock - a handfull are given with initial play. Along the way you can unlock Smith's Shop where you can spend your points on trading cards, food to beef up your characters, and sound files. Supposedly there is a mode where you can bet on Tennis matches using your points, however, I have yet to unlock this. I can easily tell that this game would give any player hours upon hours of playing.... and days without showering...
-----
Graphics: Ok, time for graphics. For those concerned with the graphics, this game is not a terribley huge jump from the GBA versions. However, there are many small modifications that make this game looking clean and incredible. Although it's still the GBA system, the sprites look sharper and cleaner. There are your character portraits during your specials, awakenings, and key points that help boast the winning of a point. Also, along with the flashing yellow experienced during awakened mode, there is whirling smoke around the character, which I believe cannot be rendered in GBA. There is also a fluid ball trail that was absent in previous versions. The game does not lag at all and you can experience all the specials and breathtaking overdrives in full speed. [Although one moment I thought it lagged, but it ended up being a character's special move]
Although, the specials and overdrives turn to short cutscenes [more like pics] it only happens for a split second and doesn't hinder the flow of the game at all.
-----
**mini section**
Sound: The music is excellent, the upbeat music takes advantage of the DS sound abilities. And surprisingly all of the voice actors of the anime have lent their helping hand in providing each character a personality. It's subtle but enough to set the right mood.
-----
Multiplayer: This is probably the only section I could complain about. Even though the game was first released in 2004 I believe, there is no WiFi support at all. Also there is no download and play mode, you will unfortunately have to walk around asking people, "Do you gotz PoT on youz?". Though I'm sure the multiplayer would be mountains of fun, it doesn't seem like I'll partake in it anytime soon.
-----
Controls: From what I've played, the controls do not let up and remain responsive. The movement with the d-pad does not provide any problems whatsover and the diagonals are easily picked up. And the addition of the back hop is great, where all that is needed is a quick double tap towards the back of the court. Though it's not as simple as Mario Tennis where all one has to do is double tap the A or B button, the most difficult combination is only three buttons held together. Also the Simon-Says is a great addition to the Super Attacks and adds the right amount of difficulty to pull one off.
The learning curve of this game is extremely small and anyone can pick it up and begin playing. Though in order to use the specials, one would have to make a quick reference to a move list if they are unfamiliar with the PoT series.
-----
Value: This game is definitely one of the better values import-wise. The game was released in 2004 and another version was released this summer, which is the same game but a la "Greatest Hits". You can import this reduced price version from play-asia.com [I checked Lik-Sang, but I couldn't find it on their site] and look for a 5 off 50 coupon to reduce the shipping if you can find a filler. Yes, I know many CAGs would say "30 dollars is still a lot, I want it for -5 dollars." But keep in mind this is an import and that release of this game in the states is almost null. The anime ended a while ago and only OVAs are running, which most likely means there won't be any more iterations of this game. This would be the cheapest you can get, unless you can find someone in Japan who would buy and ship it years from now, assuming, it's still available.
I feel that this game would be best suited for fans of the anime/manga, those who enjoy tennis games, and those who liked the Budokai series where specials are the thing. Even if you do not fit this description, I would still think the multitude of options and special subtleties would hook anyone. You don't need to be familiar with the series to enjoy this game a lot, though I'm sure fanboys like myself would just drool all over it. All in all, I would have to say this game is definitely a must import. It is by far the best tennis game for the DS. It simply blows the Mario Tennis series out of the water.
[5 star system]
Importability: 4/5
Gameplay: 5/5
Replayability: 5/5
Graphics: 3/5
Multiplayer: 3/5
Controls: 5/5
Value: 4/5
OVERALL SCORE: 4/5
A definite must-import.
And sorry girls, there is no boy on boy action in this game. I look forward to replies and any questions about this jewel of a game.
==========
==========
BLEACH DS: SOUTEN NI KAKERU UNMEI 8/14/06
Importability: Although the text in the game is all in Japanese kanji/katakana, you can actually navigate through the title screen simply by listening to the voice over when highlighting each option. If you don't want to listen to the Japanese dialogue or need guidance in areas besides the title screen, you can easily look to gamefaqs.com.
The Bleach DS gamefaq by sixfortyfive is an excellent and apparantly the only Bleach DS faq on gamefaqs. It is a must read for it covers translation for all the important things in the game and even includes guides to modes such as the challenge mode, which I will cover later. All in all, the game can be picked up and fiddled around with for immediate battle. However, to actually unlock everything, including characters, pictures, etc. the gamefaq is a must read to squeeze everything out of the game.
-----
Gameplay: A couple of the highlights of the game are the massive combos and the sheer speed of the action. There have been many people claiming it as a faster Street Fighter meets Soul Calibur. I can definitely attest to this.
Despite being an anime based game, the fighting system is balanced and fair. At the same time it is easy to tell an experienced player from someone who has just picked up the game. There are basic combos such as light/medium/heavy up to combos which actually involve advanced techniques such as the Instant Aerial Dash and the Flash Step linked combos that can total up to 120 hits.
Again, the system is balanced out with guard cancels and damage cancels. However, one cannot spam these as they take up two different gauges, one dedicated to Supers and one to Flash Stepping. From the hours of playing time I've had with this game, there seem to be no abusable moves, this goes for both offensive and defensive characteristics of the game.
The interface of the game is very handy. On the top screen there is the actual 2-D field where the fight takes place. Of course there is the life gauge, super meter, and the dash meter. Now on the touch screen are your cards. These cards apply modifiers to your character, such as attack up, healing, and even invisibility. There is a multitude of cards in the game which can be unlocked by playing through the game and by purchasing them from the shop with points earned. There is also a change button on the bottom left to change the touch screen interface. The auxilary interface is simply the card buttons only smaller along with move buttons which can actually perform a reinforced [strong] special attack or the super attacks. This can make chaining combos much easier.
-----
Replayability: There are many modes as seen from the title screen. There is the story mode, which includes basic training. Advanced training, Characters, and other characters' story modes are unlocked from here. There is also your basic arcade mode, vs mode, survival mode, and time attack mode. Challenge mode can be unlocked through completion of the whole story mode. Challenge mode consists of 10 challenges per character, which are basically combos you have to input. It sounds easy, but it becomes much more demanding as you progress. As you start to do challenges 7 and on for each character, it becomes much much more difficult. Like I said before, I spent a long time trying to complete some challenges, one occassion a whole hour just to complete a combo.
Accompanying these modes is the shop, gallery, and deck construction which are all self explanatory.
Through completion of both story mode and challenge mode you can recieve the more costly cards. There are many cards to collect and 4 levels for each one. You can also earn the rest of the cards through points earned from all of the modes. Collecting all the cards, going through story mode and completing all the challenges is quite a handful and would most likely guarantee a good 25 hours minimum, 15 if you don't care about the cards.
-----
Graphics: The graphics of this fighter are excellent. Even though it's a 2D fighter, it remains fast throughout the game. Only problems ever were the 2 or 3 times it lagged, but only because all four characters did a super or special attack with projectiles and explosions.
-----
Multiplayer: The multiplayer of this game is just awesome. Up to four players can engage in battle and there is a multitude of stages to choose from and approximately 28 characters to play as. Even if your friends do not have the card, they can download and play. The only gripe about this is the long download times experienced between each battle. This is most likely due to the amount of characters and stages in the game. Even though it's download and play, none of the gameplay is limited and the others get to play the full multiplayer game. There is also wifi play. However, it automatically connects to Japan area, so a wifi battle would most likely be laggy. What is commonly suggested with import games is to find others who have imported the game and exchange friend codes.
-----
Controls: The controls are very responsive. The only lag in the controls is actually just the lag experienced from a move, both the charging up and recovery, but those are necessary to make the game even more balanced. However, my only gripe with this is that the DS has a d-pad and it is fairly difficult to pull off diagonals. Although, the only time that I would need to use the diagonals is to actually perform a diagonal jump which is required for the Instant Aerial Dash technique. Despite this small hinderance, the game has an incredible feel to it. However, it demands much control over your fingers. There have been many instances where I spent long periods of time trying to complete a single challenge.
-----
Value: I bought this at Fry's for little over 50 dollars which included the tax. This is a lot for any gamer, especially for the DS system [a fortune to any CAG I'd think]. It depends on your situation if you would like to purchase this game. You can also take into account that there is a sequel scheduled for this game as well. But I would definitely recommend this game to anyone [who has the moolah] that still enjoys 2D fighters, likes anime, and wants one of the best fighters for the DS system [easily a top 3 in my book]. If this doesn't fit your description, by no means are you obligated to buy this.
-----
[5 star system]
Importability: 4/5
Gameplay: 5/5
Replayability: 4/5
Graphics: 4/5
Multiplayer: 5/5
Controls: 4/5
Value: 3/5
OVERALL SCORE: 4/5
Edit: I put up some pictures. Hopefully this will answer any questions about the game and ease some people debating over whether to import this game. Thanks again for any input, really appreciate it. And feel free to ask any other questions, I'll try to answer to the best of my ability.
PRINCE OF TENNIS: CRYSTAL DRIVE aka TENNIS NO OUJISAMA: CRYSTAL DRIVE 8/15/06
Note: These are my first impressions after playing for 24 hours straight. I'm sure I will add more to the review along the way. I will try to get screenshots as soon as I can. I don't expect a review of Ouendan to come out soon, this game is too addicting.
EDIT: No pics yet, but here's a horrible clip of me playing. Unfortunately the sound is super off and I wasn't able to do my character's overdrive. Hope you enjoy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdO_epDzAmE
Importability: Surprisingly, little knowledge of Japanese is needed. Much of the menus and options have english subtitles underneath. There are a few exceptions like titles of characters and food names, however, those aren't necessary to pick up the game and start a match.
Again, no Japanese is really needed to unlock characters and coaches, it's really just beating tournaments one after another. However, if you want to beef up your character, you would have to refer to a food guide, for all the food names in the shop are in Japanese. There are two guides on gamefaqs which I highly recommend if you have any trouble in translation. The Food Guide by AcktPoo and the Move List by ShaggyShaggz420. The message board is also an excellent resource for explaining some of the mechanics of the game.
-----
Gameplay: Now what everyone has been waiting for, the gameplay. Trying not to be biased, I'd still have to say this tennis game blows all other portable tennis games out of the water. It is simply an excellent piece of gaming software that has it's own unique feel to it.
If you are unfamiliar to the Prince of Tennis games, they are basically tennis games based on the manga and loosely on the anime. Well, at least the GBA and DS games are tennis games, whereas some found on other systems were basically date simulations for girls - or boys, whatever floats your boat.
The story behind Prince of Tennis revolves around Ryoma Echizen, who has joined the Seigaku school tennis team... Basically, they try to kick as much butt as they can in order to win the Nationals.
In the game there are many schools to play from, about 9. And there are over 60 characters to choose from. Unlike the DBZ Budokai series, each character has his/her own set of special shots. There are no real repeats of moves, they are all different. There are at least three special moves for each character, of course some characters have even more.
Now, for the actual tennis system. If anyone has played the GBA PoT games, you will be quick to note that it is pretty much the same system. The only major difference is that there is only one version of cartridge, instead of two like Pokemon series with Red and Blue versions. Even though it is essentially the same system, there are those small new additions that make this game shine - like a crystal, if you will.
Like all tennis games, there is singles and doubles. however, in PoT there is a Mix mode where you choose a team of four and play a doubles match and two singles matches. If you look further into the Practice mode, there is TR singles which is pretty much a team of three playing a singles match. During anytime in the game, you may change out your character with another - Pokemon style... ok bad joke... There is also SV [survival] which is the same as TR but it's three singles and no character swapping. Before each match there are plenty of options. You get to choose from which surface to play from, how many racquet [lives] there are, games, sets, etc.
What's convenient about this game is that you can save if you want to quit your game and continue another time. Before this was not the case. So there are absolutely no worries when it comes to playing on the go.
Interface, although the game is not incredibley "intuitive" with the stylus, I believe they struck a sweetspot with the mechanics and interface of the game. On the top screen is where all the action happens. On the court is[are] your character
Again, each character has a multitude of shots to choose from. Topspin, Backspin, lob, short lob, drop shot, flat, and two handed. There are also varoius types of taunts to alter either your gauges or your opponents gauges. Once these gauges fill up to a certain requirement, each character can execute a special shot. These special shots are impressive and make you feel badass... I'm serious. For example, there is the snake shot which actually curves around the court and net and bounces back into play. Some of these shots can be excecuted anywhere and some are governed by certain situations.
Also, there is the awakening mode, where your character can go into a mode of self-actualization... basically become badass and cool - Super Saiyan for all you DBZ fans. In this mode your character's stats increase overall and during the time the Super gauge is filled, you can do unlimited special shots.
Now if that weren't enough, a new addition to the game are the overdrive moves which are essentially super shots that break the racquets of your opponent. To engage it, all one has to do is go into awakening mode and hit ball with L+R+X under a certain condition and a "Simon-Says" type game will appear on the bottom. You have to press the buttons under the alloted time in the order they appeared to get full efficiency. If done perfectly you may be able to take 2 racquets of your opponent.
Now, it is up to the player when to use these moves, using them at the right time can change the flow of the game and lead to victory. This is a prime example of multi-faceted tennis.
-----
Replayability: If the specials and supers do not hook you. There are many things to unlock. There are over 60 players to unlock - a handfull are given with initial play. Along the way you can unlock Smith's Shop where you can spend your points on trading cards, food to beef up your characters, and sound files. Supposedly there is a mode where you can bet on Tennis matches using your points, however, I have yet to unlock this. I can easily tell that this game would give any player hours upon hours of playing.... and days without showering...
-----
Graphics: Ok, time for graphics. For those concerned with the graphics, this game is not a terribley huge jump from the GBA versions. However, there are many small modifications that make this game looking clean and incredible. Although it's still the GBA system, the sprites look sharper and cleaner. There are your character portraits during your specials, awakenings, and key points that help boast the winning of a point. Also, along with the flashing yellow experienced during awakened mode, there is whirling smoke around the character, which I believe cannot be rendered in GBA. There is also a fluid ball trail that was absent in previous versions. The game does not lag at all and you can experience all the specials and breathtaking overdrives in full speed. [Although one moment I thought it lagged, but it ended up being a character's special move]
Although, the specials and overdrives turn to short cutscenes [more like pics] it only happens for a split second and doesn't hinder the flow of the game at all.
-----
**mini section**
Sound: The music is excellent, the upbeat music takes advantage of the DS sound abilities. And surprisingly all of the voice actors of the anime have lent their helping hand in providing each character a personality. It's subtle but enough to set the right mood.
-----
Multiplayer: This is probably the only section I could complain about. Even though the game was first released in 2004 I believe, there is no WiFi support at all. Also there is no download and play mode, you will unfortunately have to walk around asking people, "Do you gotz PoT on youz?". Though I'm sure the multiplayer would be mountains of fun, it doesn't seem like I'll partake in it anytime soon.
-----
Controls: From what I've played, the controls do not let up and remain responsive. The movement with the d-pad does not provide any problems whatsover and the diagonals are easily picked up. And the addition of the back hop is great, where all that is needed is a quick double tap towards the back of the court. Though it's not as simple as Mario Tennis where all one has to do is double tap the A or B button, the most difficult combination is only three buttons held together. Also the Simon-Says is a great addition to the Super Attacks and adds the right amount of difficulty to pull one off.
The learning curve of this game is extremely small and anyone can pick it up and begin playing. Though in order to use the specials, one would have to make a quick reference to a move list if they are unfamiliar with the PoT series.
-----
Value: This game is definitely one of the better values import-wise. The game was released in 2004 and another version was released this summer, which is the same game but a la "Greatest Hits". You can import this reduced price version from play-asia.com [I checked Lik-Sang, but I couldn't find it on their site] and look for a 5 off 50 coupon to reduce the shipping if you can find a filler. Yes, I know many CAGs would say "30 dollars is still a lot, I want it for -5 dollars." But keep in mind this is an import and that release of this game in the states is almost null. The anime ended a while ago and only OVAs are running, which most likely means there won't be any more iterations of this game. This would be the cheapest you can get, unless you can find someone in Japan who would buy and ship it years from now, assuming, it's still available.
I feel that this game would be best suited for fans of the anime/manga, those who enjoy tennis games, and those who liked the Budokai series where specials are the thing. Even if you do not fit this description, I would still think the multitude of options and special subtleties would hook anyone. You don't need to be familiar with the series to enjoy this game a lot, though I'm sure fanboys like myself would just drool all over it. All in all, I would have to say this game is definitely a must import. It is by far the best tennis game for the DS. It simply blows the Mario Tennis series out of the water.
[5 star system]
Importability: 4/5
Gameplay: 5/5
Replayability: 5/5
Graphics: 3/5
Multiplayer: 3/5
Controls: 5/5
Value: 4/5
OVERALL SCORE: 4/5
A definite must-import.
And sorry girls, there is no boy on boy action in this game. I look forward to replies and any questions about this jewel of a game.
==========
==========
BLEACH DS: SOUTEN NI KAKERU UNMEI 8/14/06
Importability: Although the text in the game is all in Japanese kanji/katakana, you can actually navigate through the title screen simply by listening to the voice over when highlighting each option. If you don't want to listen to the Japanese dialogue or need guidance in areas besides the title screen, you can easily look to gamefaqs.com.
The Bleach DS gamefaq by sixfortyfive is an excellent and apparantly the only Bleach DS faq on gamefaqs. It is a must read for it covers translation for all the important things in the game and even includes guides to modes such as the challenge mode, which I will cover later. All in all, the game can be picked up and fiddled around with for immediate battle. However, to actually unlock everything, including characters, pictures, etc. the gamefaq is a must read to squeeze everything out of the game.
-----
Gameplay: A couple of the highlights of the game are the massive combos and the sheer speed of the action. There have been many people claiming it as a faster Street Fighter meets Soul Calibur. I can definitely attest to this.
Despite being an anime based game, the fighting system is balanced and fair. At the same time it is easy to tell an experienced player from someone who has just picked up the game. There are basic combos such as light/medium/heavy up to combos which actually involve advanced techniques such as the Instant Aerial Dash and the Flash Step linked combos that can total up to 120 hits.
Again, the system is balanced out with guard cancels and damage cancels. However, one cannot spam these as they take up two different gauges, one dedicated to Supers and one to Flash Stepping. From the hours of playing time I've had with this game, there seem to be no abusable moves, this goes for both offensive and defensive characteristics of the game.
The interface of the game is very handy. On the top screen there is the actual 2-D field where the fight takes place. Of course there is the life gauge, super meter, and the dash meter. Now on the touch screen are your cards. These cards apply modifiers to your character, such as attack up, healing, and even invisibility. There is a multitude of cards in the game which can be unlocked by playing through the game and by purchasing them from the shop with points earned. There is also a change button on the bottom left to change the touch screen interface. The auxilary interface is simply the card buttons only smaller along with move buttons which can actually perform a reinforced [strong] special attack or the super attacks. This can make chaining combos much easier.
-----
Replayability: There are many modes as seen from the title screen. There is the story mode, which includes basic training. Advanced training, Characters, and other characters' story modes are unlocked from here. There is also your basic arcade mode, vs mode, survival mode, and time attack mode. Challenge mode can be unlocked through completion of the whole story mode. Challenge mode consists of 10 challenges per character, which are basically combos you have to input. It sounds easy, but it becomes much more demanding as you progress. As you start to do challenges 7 and on for each character, it becomes much much more difficult. Like I said before, I spent a long time trying to complete some challenges, one occassion a whole hour just to complete a combo.
Accompanying these modes is the shop, gallery, and deck construction which are all self explanatory.
Through completion of both story mode and challenge mode you can recieve the more costly cards. There are many cards to collect and 4 levels for each one. You can also earn the rest of the cards through points earned from all of the modes. Collecting all the cards, going through story mode and completing all the challenges is quite a handful and would most likely guarantee a good 25 hours minimum, 15 if you don't care about the cards.
-----
Graphics: The graphics of this fighter are excellent. Even though it's a 2D fighter, it remains fast throughout the game. Only problems ever were the 2 or 3 times it lagged, but only because all four characters did a super or special attack with projectiles and explosions.
-----
Multiplayer: The multiplayer of this game is just awesome. Up to four players can engage in battle and there is a multitude of stages to choose from and approximately 28 characters to play as. Even if your friends do not have the card, they can download and play. The only gripe about this is the long download times experienced between each battle. This is most likely due to the amount of characters and stages in the game. Even though it's download and play, none of the gameplay is limited and the others get to play the full multiplayer game. There is also wifi play. However, it automatically connects to Japan area, so a wifi battle would most likely be laggy. What is commonly suggested with import games is to find others who have imported the game and exchange friend codes.
-----
Controls: The controls are very responsive. The only lag in the controls is actually just the lag experienced from a move, both the charging up and recovery, but those are necessary to make the game even more balanced. However, my only gripe with this is that the DS has a d-pad and it is fairly difficult to pull off diagonals. Although, the only time that I would need to use the diagonals is to actually perform a diagonal jump which is required for the Instant Aerial Dash technique. Despite this small hinderance, the game has an incredible feel to it. However, it demands much control over your fingers. There have been many instances where I spent long periods of time trying to complete a single challenge.
-----
Value: I bought this at Fry's for little over 50 dollars which included the tax. This is a lot for any gamer, especially for the DS system [a fortune to any CAG I'd think]. It depends on your situation if you would like to purchase this game. You can also take into account that there is a sequel scheduled for this game as well. But I would definitely recommend this game to anyone [who has the moolah] that still enjoys 2D fighters, likes anime, and wants one of the best fighters for the DS system [easily a top 3 in my book]. If this doesn't fit your description, by no means are you obligated to buy this.
-----
[5 star system]
Importability: 4/5
Gameplay: 5/5
Replayability: 4/5
Graphics: 4/5
Multiplayer: 5/5
Controls: 4/5
Value: 3/5
OVERALL SCORE: 4/5
Edit: I put up some pictures. Hopefully this will answer any questions about the game and ease some people debating over whether to import this game. Thanks again for any input, really appreciate it. And feel free to ask any other questions, I'll try to answer to the best of my ability.
