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Battle Arena Toshinden, released as Toh Shin Den in Japan, is a 1995 fighting video game developed by Tamsoft and published by Takara for the PlayStation. The first game of its re…
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Battle Arena Toshinden, released as Toh Shin Den in Japan, is a 1995 fighting video game developed by Tamsoft and published by Takara for the PlayStation. The first game of its respective series, it was one of the first fighting games, after Virtua Fighter on arcade and console, to boast polygonal characters in a 3D environment, and features a sidestep maneuver which is credited for taking the ge…
Battle Arena Toshinden, released as Toh Shin Den in Japan, is a 1995 fighting video game developed by Tamsoft and published by Takara for the PlayStation. The first game of its respective series, it was one of the first fighting games, after Virtua Fighter on arcade and console, to boast polygonal characters in a 3D environment, and features a sidestep maneuver which is credited for taking the genre into "true 3D."
Toy giant Takara produced the game during a six-month period in 1994 as their first original video game, together with new developer Tamsoft, both of whom had worked on porting Samurai Showdown and other SNK fighters to consoles. Initially made to be a PlayStation exclusive, the game was released in Japan a few weeks after the console's debut, and released internationally by Sony Computer Entertainment as a launch title. Its American division had promoted it as a "Saturn killer" (against Sega's Virtua Fighter), but ironically a Saturn port published by Sega, titled Battle Arena Toshinden Remix and with additional features, was released less than a year later. A version for MS-DOS was also released.
A weapons-based fighter, Toh Shin Den features eight anime-style characters — the work of Tsukasa Kotobuki — and has gameplay mechanics such as special and projectile attacks akin to 2D fighters like the Street Fighter series. Critically acclaimed for graphical innovations like gouraud shading and transparent effects, Toh Shin Den was a popular early title on the PlayStation and it spawned sequels starting with Battle Arena Toshinden 2, as well as manga and anime adaptations. However, a lackluster reception to its sequels meant that it was overshadowed by Namco's Tekken series, especially with Tekken 2, and it fell in popularity. The weapons concept was then further popularized by Soul Edge.
Each character has their own unique set of basic moves, special attacks, and a desperation attack that can only be used when the player has low energy (around 10% or less). The player can move around the arenas using the L/R shoulder buttons, which can be used to dodge projectile attacks or get away from a dangerous spot.
Players move using the directional pad. Holding the backward directional button allows the player to block basic attacks and reduces most of the damage from opponents' special moves. Players can also run by quickly tapping the forward directional button.
As with other games of the genre, the player wins by depleting the opposing players health, having more health than their opponent if the time runs out, or knocking their opponent out of the non-walled arena. Unlike many fighting games of the time, it was possible for a player character to accidentally fall off the arena with a miss-timed run or special move, resulting in some unique tactics.
The main single-player mode only consists of battles against all characters followed by the boss, while the other mode is for a single battle against an opponent chosen by the player. However the enhanced Remix version on Sega Saturn does have a story mode.
Throughout the criminal underworld, announcements of a famed underworld tournament reemerging after a long hiatus has made word throughout the globe. Known as the Battle Arena Toshinden, this underworld tournament is a weapons fighting tournament broadcast as bloodsport entertainment for an elite and interested audience. Hosted by a mysterious organization known only as the Secret Society, believed to be related to a world leading multinational megaconglomerate, the Gerard Foundation, the Secret Society has picked eight worthy challengers from around the world to pit against each other for the chance at a prize for fortune, fame, and glory.
Initial playable characters are:
Eiji Shinjo (エイジ・シンジョウ) - The main protagonist of the series. A young Japanese traveling swordsman/adventurer who seeks to find his long-lost older brother, Sho. Eiji progresses through the tournament and ultimately comes face-to-face with the tournament's sponsor, the mysterious Gaia
Kayin Amoh (カイン・アモウ) - A Scottish (later retconned as English) swordsman/bounty hunter, a friend and rival of Eiji. He seeks to avenge the death of his foster father, who was killed by the previous tournament's champion from last year.
Sofia (ソフィア) - A whip-wielding blonde Russian woman who works as a private detective. She seeks to find and recover her long-lost memories.
Run-go Iron (ラングー・アイアン) - A strong yet kind-hearted American miner who seeks to rescue his wife Lila and his son Christopher from the Secret Society.
Fo Fai (ホー・ファイ) - An elderly Chinese magician who is secretly a cold-hearted serial killer. Fo Fai enters the tournament to satisfy his bloodlust.
Mondo (門土; モンド) - An emotionless Japanese ninja warrior who infiltrates the tournament under the orders from a rival group of the Secret Society.
Duke B. Rambert (デューク・バルテルミ・ランバート) - An arrogant French knight who seeks to find and defeat Eiji to avenge a past loss to him.
Ellis (エリス) - A cheerful and kind-hearted Turkish orphaned dancer of a traveling theater troupe who seeks to discover whether or not her long-lost missing father is still alive.
Unlockable characters:
Gaia (ガイア) - The sponsor of the tournament, boss of the game, and main antagonist. His reasons for holding the tournament in the first place are shrouded in mystery. He is later revealed to be the father of .
Source: Battle Arena Toshinden (video game) (CC BY-SA)
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Sho Shinjo (ショウ) - The secret final boss of the game, reached by clearing the game without continues. The champion from last year's previous tournament and Eiji's older brother, he is a merciless swordsman who holds nothing back from within the fights that he participates in.
Cupido (Sega Saturn version) - A mysterious woman who speaks with cryptic riddles and messages. Her past is shrouded in mystery, and not much is known about her. She is the "true" final boss in this version.
Earthworm Jim (PC version, rendered in Japanese as "ジム") - A guest character. His attacks are identical to those of Rungo Iro
