Developed as a spiritual successor to the Guilty Gear franchise, BlazBlue is as fast and furious as you’d expect from an Arc System Works title. The gameplay offers a brilliant balance of basic and advanced techniques that make the game approachable to newcomers while offering a great deal of depth for fighting game veterans. Attacks are performed by inputting the typical two-dimensional fighting game motions while pressing one of four buttons. The buttons are mapped to four types of attacks: A, B, C, and D. The A, B, and C attacks range from weak to strong strikes and will alter the properties of any special move they are used in conjunction with. The D attack, on the other hand, is known as Drive, and is one of the central mechanics in the game.

Each character utilizes Drive in a different way, and it’s often the heart of each character’s style and strategy. For instance, if Ryu were a character in BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger, all of his Hadouken-related abilities would stem from the use of Drive. But the cast of twelve BlazBlue characters use it in a much more interesting way. Take Rachel Alucard, a young vampire capable of controlling the wind. Her wind powers are controlled via the Drive mechanic, and inputting commands with the D attack allows her to push her opponents around – up and down, left and right – with strong gusts of wind, making them vulnerable to damaging combos and juggles. All Drive attacks executed by Jin Kisaragi – who is the best character in the game and I will challenge all who dispute this – will attempt to encase his opponent in ice, while Litchi Faye Ling will use Drive to position and manipulate her staff during combat. By mapping such powers to one button, BlazBlue allows newcomers to use flashier moves with ease and provides veterans with a logical button layout for advanced techniques.

And speaking of advanced techniques, BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger has plenty to offer. Each character in the game, with the exception of the cyborg knight Hakumen, has a Heat Gauge at the bottom of the screen. The Heat Gauge fills up whenever a character performs an attack or blocks a strike from their opponent. The Heat Gauge can be used in many ways, such as performing a Rapid Cancel – a move that cancels the current animation of any attack, allowing the attacker to perform deadly combos – or a Distortion Drive, typically a character’s most powerful move. However, these mechanics aren’t free. Each Heat-based move will spend a percentage of the Heat Gauge, and with the gauge depleting entirely at the end of each round, saving Heat for the more powerful moves is not an option. Players have to think fast and use their Heat appropriately as they may not get another chance to do so.

BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger also features a Barrier Gauge for defensive techniques. The Barrier Gauge enables characters to use a Barrier to block incoming strikes instead of the standard block. When using a Barrier, players will be immune to blocking damage caused by powerful incoming strikes, but at the cost of spending some of their Barrier Gauge. Additionally, players can perform a Barrier Burst – a move that will counter any incoming attack and push the opponent away – that will reduce their Barrier Gauge to zero. It can only be used once per round, and when a player’s Barrier Gauge is depleted the damage that they receive is increased for a short period of time. The Barrier Gauge offers players several defensive options and is another great example of Arc System Works’ efforts to make a fighting game with fun and well-balanced gameplay.

BlazBlue includes a surprising number of modes and unlockables for a fighting game that should keep fans playing the game for a long time. In addition to the typical Versus and Arcade Modes, BlazBlue features a Story Mode and a robust online component. The Story Mode explores the history of each of the characters and their roles in the 13^th Hierarchal City of Kagutsuchi, the game’s primary setting. Each character’s storyline branches off into a multitude of paths based on the outcome of fights and conversations, and exploring each option can be very rewarding. Achieving different endings with a character can unlock a variety of goodies, such as new finishing moves, Unlimited versions of that character, character artwork, sound packs, movies and more. The stories themselves can be a little campy at times, but exhausting all the options with your favourite character is well worth it.

The online component, known as Network Mode, is fantastic. During our time playing online, we experienced virtually no lag whatsoever and were able to execute even our most complicated combos without trouble. We even tried the game on a wireless connection and found it to be just as reliable. Network Mode offers both Ranked and Player Matches, with Ranked Matches earning players experience points toward their online level and Player Matches allowing players to gather in rooms of up to six people to battle and learn from each other. Players interested in the Ranked scene can jump straight into a quick match against another player or search for players that fit certain criteria, including Rank and geographical region. Furthermore, the Network Mode features leaderboards, replays of high-profile matches, the ability to save your own replays, and detailed personal statistics. The performance and depth of Network Mode is phenomenal for a fighting game and will provide players with plenty of replayability.

Graphically, BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger is oozing with style. Each of the twelve selectable characters possess a unique look and personality that remains persistent throughout the entire game. The animation is smooth, stylish, and exaggerated, and the two-dimensional character sprites are beautifully illustrated. Each stage is full of life and flavour, and like the characters themselves, very unique in their presentation. Some stages have so much detail and action occurring in the background that new elements are often discovered in each visit. The Story Mode contains beautifully illustrated anime cutscenes between battles, but they feature very little animation. Luckily, the cutscenes are very well illustrated and are still a pleasure to watch. With the exception of a few aliasing problems, the visual presentation of BlazBlue is amongst the best in a two-dimensional fighting game.

The audio presentation compliments the graphics very well. The in-game soundtrack is fantastic – a cacophony of blazing guitar riffs, raving techno, and orchestral symphonies. It really helps to immerse you in the action and gets your adrenaline pumping. Players lucky enough to land a copy of the Limited Edition release will be treated to a two-disc soundtrack featuring all 48 of the in-game tracks. The voice acting is also great for the most part, and gives players the option to switch between the English and Japanese cast. Additionally, players can control which actor is used for each character during Story Mode. Don’t like Jin’s Japanese voice actor, but prefer Noel’s Japanese actor? Not a problem. Furthermore, each player’s voice actor preference persists online. If you have opted to use the Japanese voice acting and your opponent has chosen the English voice acting, your character will speak Japanese online but you’ll hear your opponent’s character speak in English. It’s a simple feature, but a brilliant one all the same. The overall audio design in BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger is top-notch.

BlazBlue isn’t a game for everybody, but it comes very close. With its balanced approach to gameplay, newcomers and veterans alike are capable of finding a great deal of success in the game. While the online competition may be fierce, the Ranked Match levelling system ensures that players will face opponents of equivalent skill, and the online replays allow novices to learn by watching the experts at work. The game offers plenty of replayability and longevity for those willing to engage it, and graphical and audio presentation make each experience an enjoyable one. BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger is quite simply one of the most polished and enjoyable two-dimensional fighters we’ve ever played.

Unfortunately, each EB Games store is said to be receiving only one to three copies of the game. Some stores even indicated that they may not be able to honour all of their pre-orders. If you have the game pre-ordered at EB Games, you may want to give them a call and find out whether or not you’ll be receiving your copy today.

We’ll be staying on top of the situation as it develops. Feel free to send us an email or post a comment if you find a store that has some extra copies!

Update: For those unable to find a copy at a local game store, Amazon.ca has just added a listing for the Limited Edition version of the game to their site. Unfortunately, the shipping estimation reads “usually ships in 1 to 3 weeks.” If you really want the extra goodies offered in the Limited Edition bundle, however, it may be your only option.

Update 2: We have received several reports that EB Games stores in the Greater Toronto Area have received their shipments. However, most stores have only received enough copies (or less) to honour their pre-orders.

Only the Limited Edition version, which includes a two disc soundtrack and tutorial videos, will be available when the shipment arrives. Due to the limited print run of the game, the standard edition will not be available until July 29, 2009. BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger is available for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 platforms.