One Piece Grand Battle! is loads of fun. (One Piece - Grand Battle (PS2))

Member Name: randomreviews

Product:	One Piece - Grand Battle (PS2)
Date:	31/08/09 (6 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: fun gameplay, easy to learn controls, voice acting

Disadvantages: they removed some characters

One Piece Grand Adventure is an awesome anime inspired 3D fighter that'll be a cherished addition to the video game library to any fan of the series.

One Piece allows you to play as all your favorite characters, villains included from the popular anime and manga series. Each character has a series of moves and a finisher which is a grand cutscene where you watch you character KO your opponent in all his or her glory.

It shares some similarties with Super Smash Bros in the sense that there are items, status effects and interaction with the stages. Characters can fall off battle stages, fall into water, aim cannons at their opponents and more. Each character can also summon a backup partner who is CPU controlled and helps fight your opponent for a certain amount of time. Environments can be chaotic with a lot going on which you have to be attentive to and try to dodge obstacles while following your opponent in battle.

Graphics are excellent, very cartoony in design but stages are very detailed. It includes the voice cast from the anime and there are quite a few things you can do through playing like unlocking other characters, getting special character art, unlocking everyone's ending scenes, and playing a series of mini-games like destroying crates aboard a ship within a time limit or basket brawl where you try to throw a ball into your opponent's goal but are free to thrash him or her.. so you're trying to slam dunk while caught in a battle!

Sadly a few characters and events were removed from the game because at the time the anime series did not cover their arrival so I assume that was done so it wouldn't spoil the story.

Overall its an enjoyable experience and will keep you addicted for over a week. If you have siblings, its got multiplayer so that's pretty cool. Its for PS2 and Gamecube. There has been a sequel to this which includes more characters so you'd probably be more included for that, generally its just the same game.

Summary: One Piece Grand Battle is a great fan service!