Game Info
GAME NAME: BlazBlue Clone Phantasma
PLATFORM(S): Nintendo 3DS
GENRE(S): Brawler, fighting game
RELEASE DATE(S): August 21, 2014
I love colorful anime styled games, and when this one popped up I had to review it. I’m a fan of Arc System Works games. BlazBlue Clone Phantasma is a spin off of the original series BlazBlue, but goes in a different direction from the series in a good way. BlazBlue is normally known as a fighting game series and Clone Phantasma is more of an action brawler type of game which is high fun and done in a cool chibi manga art style.
There are a total of 10 playable characters and each has their own special “drive” move. The characters and music in BlazBlue Clone Phantasma will be familiar to those that are fans of the BlazBlue franchise and both the characters and music fit in perfect and feel right at home. Now, this title is an action beat em up type of game with simplified controls. You have your basic attack button, which allows you to pull off small 1-3 hit combos, and you also have your jump attack too. Certain characters will have a Drive attack, think of this as your main special move. One thing to note is when you complete combos and kill a bunch of enemies you gain levels up to level 3 which increases your attack power. If you use your drive too much, your bar will fill up and you’ll stun yourself so watch out and use it sparingly and watch your bar. You have three hearts that represent your health.
Strategy will need to come in play once in a while because you’ll have a lot of clones on you at certain times. I personally like to drive them to the edge and stay on the inside so they don’t knock me off the level. A lot of people argue there isn’t much replay value to this title, but I think there is. Sometimes its just relaxing to start beating up and knocking out clones after a hard day at work, I find this game extremely enjoyable. The difficulty does ramp up the more waves you defeat. There are even boss fights that you’ll encounter which you’ll need to knock the boss off the stage a few times to win. Items come in to play periodically and can either help or hurt you for a short period of time, for example there is a one that gives you infinite drive which means you can super drive attack on spam and you won’t stun yourself. This is particularly fun. Others may slow your character down making it difficult to fight and gives the possibility of getting overrun by clones.
The Recommendation
BlazBlue Clone Phantasma is a simple game but is a lot of fun. The art is fun and great to look at, the AI is mindless at times but can be challenging in large hordes. If you like the BlazBlue universe and want a quick pick me up I highlight recommend checking this out. If beat em up brawlers isn’t your thing then you may not have fun. The only big complaint I have is that I wish there was more content and story, maybe multiplayer story. Either way $5.99 isn’t a bad price to pay for a game you’ll get hours of gameplay out of, so check it out.
