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The Digimon TV series has held a steady popularity in the states. When that happens it’s a certainty that a videogame will capitalize on the action. Digimon Rumble Arena takes the most popular digital monsters and throws out the typical card based strategy of monster fighting for an all-out brawl. The fighter is elementary and good for it’s young target audience, but not anyone else. DRA features characters from all three seasons of Digimon: Digital Monsters. From the get go you can choose from Agumon, Gabumon, Patamon, Gatoman, Veemon, Wormmon, Guilmon, Terriermon, Renamon, and finally, Impmon. More characters are unlocked as you finish the game with each character. The characters are faithfully replicated in 3D with the limited power that the PSone has. The Digivolved modes of each character are also well modeled.
The controls are basic and you’ll be able to start fighting with your favorite character right away. Each character has different attacks and attributes. Digmon are categorized into Fire, Water, and Nature monsters, with each attribute countering the other. The square button is a standard attack, with the triangle and circle buttons are finishing attacks that perform multiple attacks. As you’re attacked the Digivolve meter will build. When it’s full your character can change into a more powerful monster with a different set of moves. The only problem is that Digivolving takes around 7 seconds and pauses all the action. It’s annoying to be in a fight and have to wait and view the Digivolve sequence each time a character does it. The transformation should be instantaneous and not needlessly stop the action. The actual fighting is sub-par. The collision detection isn’t great and you can attack through your opponent. DRA has some great backgrounds to fight in. They’re pretty animated and wide open for battle. One stage is a cube-shaped room that rotates each minute or so and mixes up the placement of each character. Another stage is a garbage recycling center where a pit will open at random times, allowing each character to fall in. Each character has ample room to jump and escape if they’re being pummeled by attacks. In various parts of each stage there are special power-ups that can be nabbed for an extra powerful hit. The sound in DRA isn't great. Each character’s voice is faithful to the show, but all the voices are muffled and the music is standard BGM fare. The attack sounds are mild and don’t give you much impact, though there’s an option to vibrate the controller to give each attack more punch. If you’re not a die-hard Digimon fan, Digimon Rumble Arena isn’t for you. The fighting is average and won’t hold your interest. But if you’re a fan and looking for a bargain fighting title, this is it.
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