A Manga Masterpiece in the Ring?
Until recently, I had never heard of Baki Hanma. It turns out, in the process of doing my research for this review, that it started as a manga in 1989 called Baki the Grappler, written by Keisuke Itagaki. Apparently, this is one of the best selling manga series of all time, with over 100 million volumes sold!
With anime and games also being part of the canon, it was perhaps inevitable that it would appear on Microsoft’s big black box, and it has indeed done just that. Going by the name of Baki Hanma: Blood Arena, and coming from developers Purple Tree, the action of the series has appeared, with a distinct vibe of games from earlier years. Does it work, or should we just watch the anime? Seconds out, it’s Round One!
Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out Homage
There doesn’t appear to be much of a story kicking around in Baki Hanma: Blood Arena, something that is common with a lot of fighting games. We play as Baki Hanma, and we have a series of opponents to take down: that’s about as far as it goes. The intros to the fights do hint at things that I assume happen in the story arcs, as each fighter seems to have a bit of history with our Baki, but I’m speculating wildly here. Suffice it to say that we have to fight, even if we aren’t quite sure why.
Moving on to the presentation of the game, and the news here is very good. For those of you in the audience who are advancing in years, much like yours truly, visually Baki Hanma: Blood Arena reminds of Mike Tyson’s Punch Out from 1987. If you’ve played that game, or any of it’s follow ups, you’ll be familiar with the way that Baki Hanma: Blood Arena looks. It takes place and views the action from behind Baki’s back, as he punches his way through a collection of outlandish characters, who all appear much larger than he is.
The design of Baki and his enemies is very well done, with a muscularity to the fighters that make me feel faintly jealous. As the fights wear on, the combatants get increasingly bloodied and start to look battered, and by the time a K.O. is announced (in a weird way, like “K… OH?!”) you’ll be wincing in sympathy. The animation of both protagonists looks great, and all in all it really looks the part.
Sound is also bang on, if you’ll pardon the pun, with meaty sounding thumps and wallops as we go on. All the usual fighting game sound effects are present and correct, with each punch sounding like a hammer hitting a piece of wood, and it all works very well. The countdown when you or your opponent are knocked down, really adds to the tension, and all things considered, I think the presentation can have a tick against it.
The Art of Combat
Now, the gameplay is the next thing to discuss, and again, if you’ve played Punch Out, you’ll be right at home. Baki has a nifty line in attacks, allowing the opportunity to either work the opponent’s body with low blows, or punch them square in the face with high attacks. In addition to these two basic attacks are a variety of power attacks, effected by holding down a shoulder button and then attacking. These attacks can be powered up to two levels, but holding the button for long enough for it to be effective requires pinpoint timing.
The final trick up his sleeve (he doesn’t have any sleeves, but you know what I mean) is a super attack: when the bar on the screen has been filled by attacking, you can hit both shoulder buttons for a devastating attack. However, the timing needs to be bang on again, as the enemy can – and will – block your power attacks, leaving you open for a counter attack.
On the subject of counter attacks, your foes don’t just stand there and let you pummel them. Oh no, they are well up for smacking you back, and here the dodging and blocking comes into play. Baki is quite limber, and can sideslip some attacks, duck others, and even block attacks if you get the timing right. Luckily, the enemies we face have all got various tells that let us know what attack is coming, allowing the time needed to react and avoid getting battered.
A Knockout for Fans of the Genre
Learning the attack patterns of the foes is absolutely vital, even more so than getting the timing of the attacks right: Baki can only be knocked down twice before the next knockdown leads to a K.O. and the loss of the bout. The same goes for our opponents, and when we knock them down we can actually recover health by hammering the A button. The game is hard, make no mistake, but you can see that the more you practice, the more you’ll see results.
With a main story mode and a survival arena to go at, as well as an option on the menu for some DLC to come later, there is quite a lot of content to have a go at in Baki Hanma: Blood Arena. And go at it you will, taking in one long learning curve, as you become fully engaged.
If you like the Baki Hanma series, or Punch Out, then you should come out fighting with Baki Hanma: Blood Arena.
Important Links
Enter the Blood Arena – Our 4/5 Reviewed Baki Hanma Brawler is OUT NOW! – https://www.thexboxhub.com/enter-the-blood-arena-baki-hanma-brawler-is-out-now/
Buy Baki Hanma: Blood Arena on Xbox – https://www.xbox.com/en-gb/games/store/baki-hanma-blood-arena/9p3dvp5xvm5w
