Most gamers out there who are fans of the 3-D fighting styles live and die by games like Tekken or Soul Calibur. A few years ago, Activision entered the fray with the title “Bloody Roar”, which gave players the ability to fight in a 3-D arena and have the ability to transform into vicious hyper-beasts and slam opponents with heavy hitting swipes and combos. It didn’t meet the same level of hype and praise that accompanied many other titles of the same genre, but it was a fun and solid game with a different twist. Many incarnations and systems later, Activision has re-entered the 3-D fighting arena with “Bloody Roar : Primal Fury” for the GameCube … which offers the first solid fighting title to the GameCube, but it doesn't do much to improve on the recent PS2 release with the exception of two new characters and some very attractive and solid graphics. 

When you first start playing Bloody Roar, you are greeted by a clean and neat anime scene showing the characters doing various everyday things and fighting each other, turning into their various animal forms. The real fun begins when you get to the main menu and select one of the game options, which consists of the arcade story game, two player, team battle, and even a practice mode to test your slamming ability against a non attacking opponent. Each character has their own style and animation, and each one turns into a different beast with different capabilities which can be seen on the character select screen. Some of the transformations are things which could be considered “normal” for anyone who is thinking up these types of beasts … like a wolf or a tiger.  Others seem a little more strange like a chameleon, demon, or even a rabbit. Overall, it adds a nice variety since no two characters are alike in their martial arts forms, and no two turn into the same creatures except Long and Shenlong, the tigers. Once you enter the fighting arena, the game plays out similar to any other solid 3-D fighter and places you in a one on one martial arts showdown with one of the other characters, who you will need to beat to progress to the next stage and get to the end of the game. As punches and kicks are thrown and blocked, the “Beast Change” meter in the lower part of the screen will build up and flash, where a button press will transform your fighter into it’s powerful were-form and can cause some serious damage to your opponent. But beware … your opponent can do the same, and once you have taken too many hits, you will revert back to your human form once again.

Since there is one punch button, one kick button, a transform button, and a left or right sidestep button (Which doesn't really do a lot to get out of the way, so it probably won’t get used much), the controls for Bloody Roar are a button masher’s dream come true, which can work like somewhat of a double edged sword. The good point to this obviously is the pick up and play ability for most younger gamers or newbies to the fighting game style. Most combos look really spectacular, and can be achieved by hitting “punch, punch, punch” or “kick, kick, punch”, etc.,  and will set off a chain of strikes, spinning kicks, and backhands. This allows for anyone to hop right in and start kicking some hyper-beast butt with little to no practice involved. The downside to this is two fold … first off, there’s not a whole lot of finesse or variation to the combos like some other titles out there due to lack of buttons. Although there some Street Fighter style controls for attacks, such as “roll from down to forward and hit punch”, most consist of the repeated same button hits.  You can get just as far by hitting one button throughout the whole game sometimes better than trying to mix up various combo attacks, which takes some of the skill and strategy out of the overall experience. Secondly, the computer AI tends to fight a little dirty as you advance through the ranks, and manages to throw a kick or hit at just the right time to stop a combo or attack, so trying to mix up attacks a little vs. just continuously hitting a button can prove to be the difference between winning or losing a bout.

Graphically, this is one of the best looking and cleanest GameCube titles I have seen, in addition to being one of the best looking fighting games I have seen as well even next to Tekken Tag. The animations are fluid, the lighting effects on powerful attacks looks really great and adds to the damage feel, and the characters whether in human or beast mode look fantastic. The camera during the fighting is usually far enough away to not really see all of the attention, but will zoom in during certain attacks or after the end of a match where the color and detail really stands out. The backgrounds in the various stages look great as well overall, but seem a little sparsely populated. For example, one fight takes place on an aircraft carrier, which has a plane and a few people in the background who seem completely oblivious to your presence. A nice add in would have been possibly having planes take off or land in the background … or maybe take a page out of some other titles and have people standing around watching. It doesn't really take anything away from the game overall, since you will be focused on beating the you know what out of your opponent rather than seeing what’s going on around you. The sounds consist mostly of the grunts and shouts of the fighters, whether attacking or being attacked, and the background music consists mostly of canned anime style guitar riffs which don’t really add of detract from the game either way.

Overall, this is a fun, solid, and graphically superior fighting title that will make a good addition to anyone’s gaming library , especially to fans or new contestants to the 3-D fighting genre. Despite the somewhat violent sounding name, there is nothing more bloody or violent than any other 3-D title out, so it’s safe for adults and kids alike. The younger fighting game fans out there will probably have a lot of fun with this one, due to the simple button combos and the ability to turn into big, vicious looking beasts. My 8 year old, who we can call “Tha Wiz Jr.” since he beat me up continuously in this game, summed his experience up in one sentence … “Dad, this is the best game I have ever played!” Obviously it’s a winner in my house. Anyway, if you’re looking for a good gaming experience or a fighting game for the GameCube, I recommend picking this one up. Although it’s the only true 3-D fighter out for Nintendo’s newest system, you’d have a hard time finding one that blows this one away anywhere else.

Gameplay: 8.0
Neat characters, cool monsters, impressive visuals, and easy to pick up and play controls make this a good gaming experience. Since it only has two attack buttons and a transform button, it lacks some depth found in other 3-D fighters and is more of a button mashing style game. The combos look neat, though, and since they are easy to pull off may not be such a bad thing after all for some people out there. No repetition in the various characters also adds a lot of reply value overall.  

Graphics: 8.9
Definitely one of the best looking and cleanest titles out not only for the GameCube, but on any “next gen” console available. There is a lot of detail in the characters in both human and beast form, and each moves smoothly and has their own animations and beasts to turn in to. The backgrounds, while maybe a little empty at times, look very good as well.  

Sound: 7.1
The game sound mostly consists of the smacking of fists, and grunts and shouts of human and beastly opponents which do well for what they need to do. The background music just adds some noise overall, and consists of generic anime style guitar riffs and electronic drum sounds. It doesn't really add or take away from the overall experience either way.

Difficulty: 7
The difficulty starts off in the beginning being challenging, but not too difficult, then will get harder as the game moves on. It can get pretty difficult and possibly frustrating the higher you go, since the computer will fight dirty sometimes and manage to get hits off right in the middle of a combo or right before you get ready to land a smack.  

Concept: 8.5
Although it doesn't do much more than the recent PS2 version which was released, it does look a lot better and the load times are quicker. For a first time player, or for younger gamers, the ability to fight Tekken style with simple combos and then transform to a powerful beast to increase the pain is a really neat concept.

Multiplayer: 8.8
You know, it always makes a game better when you have a friend to beat the heck out of. This one is no exception. Playing against a live opponent obviously can add a little more challenge to the game, and can work well for those of you finesse people out there who like to show off different combo styles.  

Overall: 8.5
A solid and fun fighting game with eye popping graphics, neat characters, and a good overall experience for the veteran or new fighting game player. If you own the PS2 version, there’s no reason to pick this one up in addition unless you just have to have the better graphics and two new unlockable characters. I would recommend this as a good addition to the GameCube collection, even if it doesn't have the combo style that other games in the genre have.