All of the fun carries over into the US release, and I'm hard pressed to come up with another fighter that I enjoy more (yes, even over Tekken DR and Alpha 3) on handhelds.

For those of you not familiar with the anime franchise, Bleach stars a young orange haired man named Ichigo who has the ability to see spirits. He comes into contact with young woman from a spirit realm tasked with hunting down rogue spirits called Hollows, and his adventure spirals out from there. Along the way the cast continues to grow bigger and bigger, and takes on the typical clichés of most Shonen style manga (think Dragon Ball Z or Naruto folks) and definitely appeals to that crowd. I'll admit that I actually enjoy the manga quite a bit, I've followed it from the American released volumes into the stuff that people have translated in the current Japanese chapters, and still enjoy it. The series has always been heavy on the fighting, and that carries over quite well to this title.

The game features a pretty robust selection of characters, and while a lot of characters can seem pretty similar in style at first, there's a lot of depth to be found when it comes to mastering their special move sets. Using the dual screen of the DS, you can either input the moves in the traditional button combo way, or you have the option of pecking at the touch screen to unleash combos. This is a bit unintuitive for most, and I've found that playing the traditional way seems to be more rewarding. Still though, the feature is there if you want to use it, and it isn't forced on you in any way.

The real fun in Bleach: Blade of Fate, comes from the multiplayer modes. You can do download play with your friends, which will allow one person with the cartridge to play with three other users who don't own the game. While the downloading takes a bit of time in between each match, it's a great way to demo the fighter for friends that might be on the fence. Also, the game features an online mode that allows random connections or fights with people on your friends list. The experience is very smooth, and outside of the occasional dropped game everything runs really well.

The visuals consist of pretty 2D sprites, and the fighting fields are filled with interactive elements that can add a bit of strategy to the mix. Also, the playing field is separated into two planes, so you can switch between the foreground and background, which is how the game handles its four player modes. Switching between the two can create some pretty hectic scenarios, and just adds to the over all fun.

The music, on the other hand, is pretty forgettable. There's the occasional sound byte ripped from the show, but outside of that it doesn't showcase anything too impressive in the audio department.

Multiplayer can keep you occupied for quite some time, but even the single player mode is a lot of fun. With all the characters available, you can spend a lot of time getting to know the nuances of each one available, and finding out which character best suits your abilities. The AI can be challenging, and towards the end it does border on cheap at times. However, everything feels pretty well balanced, and when it comes to portable fighters, Bleach definitely sits at the top of the heap. If you've been starving for a fighter on the DS, this is the way to go.