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PRE-GAME

The Dark Tournament has arrived, and Team Urameshi are the guests of honor. Participation is NOT an option; do you have what it takes to battle your way to the top of a stadium filled with nasty demons waiting to wipe you out? Take control of Yusuke Urameshi, Kazuma Kuwabara, Kurama, Hiei, and the Masked Fighter as you earn your life in the demon realm’s deadliest competition.

EYE-SPY

THE HOOK: If there’s someone that’s a bigger Yu Yu Hakusho fan than myself, I’ve yet to meet them. Even though the Game Boy Advance game entitled “Yu Yu Hakusho: Spirit Detective” sucked out loud, I had high hopes that Atari and Funimation might turn it around for this game. It didn’t matter either way for me; I just love the anime that much.

HOW IT LOOKS AND FEELS: The cel-shaded graphics offer a cartoon-y feel, and the background has interactivity going on occasionally. However, it’s doubtful you’ll even notice, or if you do, you probably won’t care.  (Example: The stadium arena has a sign with messages such as “Support Team Urameshi” Yes...exciting...)

Controls can be non-responsive and frustrating at times. During training mode, the most difficult combos to pull off are the ones that require you to crouch first and then attack. There are two different controller options for attack, crouch, jump buttons, etc. My advice would be whenever you’re required to pull off a combo that requires you to duck, switch to controller option two, or you’ll see many broken Playstation controllers in your future.

HOW IT SOUNDS: The game features the anime’s original American voice actors who did a great job with the series, but there doesn’t seem to be a lot of original dialog outside the cinematics. Would it kill Atari to have put the series’ original music in the game? The game’s fighting music sound is sub-par at best, which is terrible, since the anime’s soundtrack has a lot of music that would have fit perfectly for an entire fight. Shame on you Atari, that makes me sad.

EXTRAS: There are dozens of new fighters and arenas to unlock through 1 player Dark Tournament mode, everyone from M1 to Chu to Elder Toguro. Plus the Token Game mode offers a soothing relaxing game of tokens bearing different stats with countless ones to collect.

CINEMATIC EXPERIENCE: The cut scenes are pulled straight from the anime word for word. However, some of the scenes are out of order and would be noticeable and irritating to even casual Yu Yu Hakusho watchers who’ve seen the Dark Tournament season. Playing through the events of the tournament is cool, I’ll admit, but when you already own all the DVDs and have watched them countless times, it’s nothing special. On the other end of the scale, if your core isn’t quite so hard for the series, you’ll probably find yourself genuinely confused as to what is going on, considering the scenes are only 20 seconds at the most between missions.

BEST PLAYER: I’m going to have to go with the Younger Toguro brother. He’s got some insane combos that once you pick up, you’ll have no problem knocking the opposing force flat on their tail. He can attack long distance with his Finger Snip Bullets, for those adversaries that keep their distance. It’s not a very rewarding win though, as there are other characters with awesome move sets that are more fun to use, such as Hiei’s Dragon of the Darkness Flame, or Kurama’s ability to turn into Youko.

CHEAT CODE YOU NEED: Unlock all fighters. If you’re a fan of the series, you don’t want to wait to go through and get all 20 additional fighters the hard way.

CHEAT CODE YOU WANT: Unlimited Spirit Energy! Just when you find yourself about to clinch a difficult match, surprise surprise, you’re out of Spirit Energy. So you run in for a final kick...and get your butt handed to you.

OH MAN! MOMENT: Easily the final fight in Dark Tournament mode against the Younger Toguro brother. He’s got a 12-hit combo that can take about 5/6 of your health. Then he’ll flick his finger and finish you off with his bullets. If you manage to avoid his unbelievable power (which can be done by jumping and firing your Spirit Gun mid air, and a little luck) you’ll rejoice that you actually defeated him. Then...he gets a power upgrade, his health fills up completely again...yours doesn’t. This game will most likely makes you say bad words...

GLITCH ITCH: Koto, the game’s fox girl announcer is (if possible) even more annoying in the game than she is in the actual anime. Her commentary is endless, and half the time it’s something degrading about your fighting strategy. It’s as if the game is programmed to comment on something after you perform a certain action, and it gets old...fast.

FAN SERVICE: There are quick little snippets of the boys half dressed (girls rejoice!), but if you’re looking for shirtless, muscle-y bishounen power, just watch the anime.

END GAME:

I like this game in the aspect that you can mix and match characters together once you unlock them into your own personal super team. Matching Kurama and Karasu on a tag team together as opposed to pitting them against each other is a nice touch for fans.

The one player Dark Tournament mode, if you can look past it’s faults, offers up fun to fans, though the learning curve is steep. After you play through all the events, another version of the Tournament opens up, with a few Token games scattered throughout it to offer those plot gaps to loving fans. It would have been cool to hear the characters say something after they win a fight and are doing their victory stances. I guess Atari figured mime is “in” this year. The only original dialogue I’d picked up thus far was a few snippets from Chuck Huber (Voice of Hiei) near the very beginning of the DT mode. It’s HILARIOUS to listen to Hiei yelling at Kuwabara during the fight, you’ll find yourself standing in defense mode with Kuwabara just to hear Hiei go ballistic.

On a huge positive side, all the character’s original move sets are included. Yusuke has everything from the basic Spirit Gun to the Spirit Cuffs used near the anime’s Dark Tournament season end. Hiei’s classic Dragon of the Darkness Flame is always a blast to use, Touya’s Shards of Winter, Jin’s Tornado fist, it’s all here. For whatever reason though, you’re able to block again opponent’s spirit attacks. An opponent should NOT be able to block attacks that left nothing but ashes of characters in the actual anime, it’s just frustrating and irritating.

2 player mode is where this game really shines. There’s nothing more satisfying than facing off against a friend in heated mix-and-match tag team mode. The game features the rarely used R3 button, which can be used by pressing down on the right analog stick, to switch between characters. This mode is addicting, especially if you gather devotees of the game who won’t be confused when you ask them if they’d rather use Rinku or Bui.

Overall, when you look past the disappointing music and lack of voice-overs that could’ve featured potential merciless mocking, you’re left with a game that’s fun to play with friends, and challenging to play on your own. It’s a FAR better game than Yu Yu Hakusho: Spirit Detective, and the Dark Tournament season was pretty sweet, so going through it personally can be a treat. If you’re an intense gamer who doesn’t like to lose, I foresee many broken controllers in your future. The Yu Yu Hakusho games are improving as they go on, maybe we fans will get REALLY lucky when Yu Yu Hakusho: Tournament Tactics hits the GBA in a few months...MAYBE...

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