Over the years, Pokemon has had many imitators.  One of the best and most prolific is Digimon.  Like Pokemon, Digimon has had several games and even a pretty good cartoon.  Now Digimon is back on the Xbox 360 and PS3 with an arena style battle fighting action game (reviewed on 360 here).  The Digital World has been at peace for a long time, and the Digimon monsters are getting bored.  So to keep them in top fighting shape, they hold a battle tournament to see who is the best Digimon of them all!

Choose from your favorite Digimon characters and battle in 3-D arenas based on locations from the cartoon show.  You can use quick attacks with one button, strong attacks with another button, as well as ranged projectiles and jumping with the last two face buttons.  After attacking and taking hits, a meter will fill at the bottom of the screen.  When it is full, you can press the left and right shoulder buttons to make your monster “Digivolve” into a more powerful creature for a short period of time.  Scattered about each stage, items will appear every so often that you can pick up to give you a temporary edge.

There are two main modes of play.  In Story Mode, you’ll go through some short platforming levels with a monster to beat at the end of each one.  In Battle Mode, up to four players can fight each other and set different rules for the match.  You can play for points, be the last one standing, hold the flag the longest, and many more!  There is also a training mode and a collection mode for viewing and buying cards.

As you play, you’ll earn money that you can spend in the collection mode to buy cards.  These cards can be equipped to your Digimon to give them an edge in battle with different effects and attacks.  Only certain Digimon can equip certain cards.  There are hundreds of cards to collect.  Only problem is that it’ll take you forever to buy them all, as some can be pretty expensive.  The only other problem with this game is that it’s a slight bit slow and clunky.  But that really didn’t bother me much.  It also feels like something that could’ve been done on the PS2.  But this game brought back memories of watching the Digimon cartoon and playing the games with my little brothers, and the new game is a fun little diversion for Digimon fans.

Kid Factor:

Digimon: All-Star Rumble is rated E-10 with ESRB descriptors of Fantasy Violence and Mild Suggestive Themes.  While you do punch, kick, slash and shoot fireballs at others, defeated characters just fall over and disappear when defeated.  But suggestive themes in a Digimon game?  I’ve never heard of such a thing.  But according to the ESRB, some of the cards you can collect have female characters that show a bit of cleavage.  But there are so many cards to collect, there’s a chance you’d never see that.  Reading skill is helpful for the text, but most players should be able to enjoy this game without much frustration.  I made it through Story Mode with little to no trouble, myself.  And it’s a great game for the whole family since four can play at the same time.  Too bad my favorite Digimon isn’t playable though.  I don’t remember the name, but it looked like a hamster with wings.

Tags: Game Reviews, Movies with Children, Television