BlazBlue: Continuum Shift Extend (PS Vita) review

Beyond mastering the Drive technique, there’s a huge range of game mechanics that are unique to the series. New players will want to delve into the tutorial mode before tackling the arcade challenge – each one is incredibly in-depth so by the end you should be ready to take on the CPU or challenge opponents online. If you aren’t interested in playing against other people, there are two story modes and a comprehensive challenge mode to keep you playing long after you’ve mastered a single character. Unlike many fighting games the storyline is surprisingly deep and complex, so you’ll need to pay attention.

This might seem like a lot of hard work, but the gorgeous art direction was more than enough to keep us playing. Each character is beautifully animated, with a vivid colour palette that really pops off the Vita’s OLED screen. Unlike most fighting games released in the west, BlazBlue uses 2D sprites rather than 3D rendered models. Even genre heavyweights such as Street Fighter have shifted to using 3D character models, despite gameplay remaining a strictly two dimensional affair, so it’s refreshing to see lovingly animated sprites take centre stage. The stage backgrounds are fully 3D animated, which creates a delightful mix of old and new graphic styles. A pounding rock soundtrack also helps ramp up the atmosphere during battles, reaching a crescendo during the final few seconds.

BlazBlue is unlikely to achieve the same level of popularity as Street Fighter in the west, simply because it has a multitude of game mechanics that create a mental barrier for new players. With this in mind, we would hesitate to recommend it to anyone other than fans of the fighting game genre. However, the gorgeous sprite-based graphics and hectic yet rewarding gameplay make it an absolute blast to play – whether you know what you’re doing or not.