Digimon All Star Rumble is a fighting game developed by Prope, who have made several games in the past though most of them are mobile games and only one of them was Digimon related. All Star Rumble features 12 Digimon from across the different series with both Digivolution and Super forms being accessible during battle. With varying Digimon games out on the market, the majority being Digimon World and the fighting games, does Digimon All Star Rumble stack up?
Story
The game is set within the Digital World, a part of it I have never seen before, in a time of peace between all the Digimon and seems to have no collision with the Real World like in the Anime or other game titles. With the long standing peace in the Digital World the Digimon has forgotten or have lost the ability to Digivolve, leaving them in random evolutions, driving the Digimon to organise a Tournament to bring about the Digivolutions once again.
Choosing between the 12 different characters, 4 to start with, you will play through the story campaign of around 6 levels that go through the tournament with you fighting waves of Digimon before your end opponent. Through fighting you unlock new characters and collect Bits and Cards to upgrade your Digimon in all modes. The enemies you face change with each character as well as the move sets that your character has.
Each story mode will last you a couple of hours and repeating the story for each of the 12 characters will net you around 24 hours of gameplay with little to no variance in the story. Besides the story mode there is also Practice and battle, with battle being mostly used for fighting between friends and rivals with the coveted Local multiplayer.
Gameplay
Like many of the other Digimon Fighting games, All Star Rumble is set within an arena where 2-4 Digimon fight it out with melee, ranged and special attacks with some Form changing thrown in to make it more climactic. Hitting your opponent decreases their health, which is preset per Digimon and can be affected with Pickups and Cards you equip before the match, when you hit 0 you die and in some game modes you get a point deducted or a life taken off.
Through fighting you build up your DNA gauge that when flashing allows you to Digivolve into another form with higher attack, immunity to staggering and different move sets with a powerful finisher move to be shot when the gauge is full again. Besides the DNA gauge there is also a bar for SP which is used for the Digimon’s skills, Teleporting and special moves in the different forms.
Besides the Arena battles the Story mode also contains a small corridor/dungeon setup beforehand where you fight waves of different Digimon, from rookie to champion evolutions. Fighting through the enemies you will unlock pathways to new chests and treasure as well as the end boss of the stage. The levels get progressively harder as you continue on in the story with the final stages being so difficult you might need to try a few ties to beat them.
The main mode for the battles is a free-for-all point game where if you die you lose a point and if you kill you gain a point and this goes on till the timer hits zero. The other modes Point Battle, Survival, Medal Battle, Damage Race, Flag Battle and bomb battle. Point battle being kill based, Survival with around 3 lives per player Damage race is where players do damager per hit and the highest wins, Flag battle is where you hold the flag and gain points and bomb battle is similar to Survival but with a timed bomb on your back. With 10 different stages to play on with varying power-up locations there is some deviation but not enough to be excited about.
Overall Thoughts and Feelings
The game doesn’t stack up, the graphics look outdated and the gameplay is rather boring at times with little to no combo setups. The camera is very wonky and doesn’t always show you the whole area which hides some other routes you can take and with no locking on feature it can be annoying to attack certain Digimon in the groups that come your way. The game also lacks any online modes, leaving you to practice on your own, fight the Computer or couch play with some friends.
The music isn’t much to write about in itself, it contains mostly tournament and high pitch tracks with trumpets and some parade style tones. The music fits the theme well in most areas, with the idea that the world is in peace and they are holding an exciting tournament but lacks any sort of innovation or gripping sounds. The game feels like it is better suited to an Arcade environment then a home system environment where you can hear the music clearly.
Overall I give Digimon All-Star Rumble a 2/5, the fighting can be fun at times and the flashy moves can excite you for the first few times. Besides the nostalgia there isn’t much else to say about the game, with its wonky camera, boring level layout and no innovation I find it hard pressed to find a reason to play the game. Fans of the series will most likely be disappointed in this release and any other gamer would turn a blind eye to it. One of the redeeming qualities is that it continues the theme of Fighting Games allowing Local Multiplayer.
Disclaimer:All scores given within our reviews are based on the artist’s personal opinion; this should in no way impede your decision to purchase the game.
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