Nerd Mentality

DS REVIEW – Kamen Rider: Dragon Knight

Posted January 8th 2010 by Brandon Schmidt.

The last thirty or so years has seen a common theme in the influence of Asian culture on children's programming and entertainment.  While many of us grew up on television shows like Transformers and Voltron, and those born a generation later had live-action fare like Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers and its various incarnations, kids today seem to have an endless chain of brands that come and go, never leaving quite that same indelible mark.  Kamen Rider is a series that's been in existence in Japan for a few decades now.  Like many other imported shows, it too has seen spin-offs and re-imaginings, the latest of which is Kamen Rider: Dragon Knight which aired this past year on the CW Network.  This DS game, much like its now-canceled television source material, fails to hold any traction with the audience.  This leads to an experience that does a few things right, but doesn't keep you wanting to come back for more.

For those unfamiliar with the story behind the game - myself included - Kamen Rider: Dragon Knight follows a boy named Kit.  While searching for his father who has gone missing, Kit stumbles upon a deck of cards that allows him to transform into a Kamen Rider.  Basically he rides a motorcycle and fights bad guys with cards that allow him to use weapons and special powers.  This is all very much a common Japanese convention for both plot and combat in many shows and games, and if you're prone to disliking this type of thing, you're probably not going to like the game.  The game is centered around fighting through both minions and allies (unlockable as playable characters) to get to the big bad boss himself, General Xaviax.  I've never seen the television show, but I have to hope it does a better job of presenting the story than this game.  There are no cutscenes.  There isn't even scrolling text to relay what's going on.  Two or three times during the level progression you're presented with a still screen briefly explaining what happened.  It's hard to hold this against a game that's obviously aiming towards a younger, more action-driven audience, but you'd still hope for a little more character or plot development.

Kamen Rider: Dragon Knight is a 2.5D fighting game, plain and simple.  The main mode has you progress up a level ladder of challenges, with multiple challenges on each level.  These challenges can vary from simply beating all the bad guys, to finishing within a time to limit.  There are even challenges requiring you to finish without using any special powers, a tough task particularly in the latter stages.  The variety is enough to keep things somewhat interesting.  Each battle begins with a short two or three second cutscene.  Unfortunately it's the same clip almost every single time with the only variation being the occasional swap-in of a different enemy.  This is a Japanese game, but I liken it to Chinese Water Torture.  The first couple of times you think to yourself, this is okay I guess.  The next couple of times you think that it can't possibly be like this the entire game.  Then the insanity kicks in.  By the end of the game I'd turned the audio all the way down and averted my attention at the start of each round.  Thankfully the combat itself isn't so bad and is one of the elements the game gets right.  Often you'll have two or three enemies on screen at once, either in front, behind, or to the side of you in that other half a dimension.  The balance of using normal attacks to build up your special attacks meter keeps the gameplay honest.  Figuring out when to use which special attack also keeps things interesting.  For instance, if you're having your butt handed to you by a single, powerful enemy, you may want to consider using an attack that will up your defensive abilities.  If you're being beaten down by two or three opponents at once, you may want to consider an offensive attack that will knock them all down, allowing you to regain your footing.  As you progress through the main story mode, you have the opportunity to unlock new powers by completing all of the challenges on a particular level.  It's probably best that you don't skip too far ahead anyway.  Once you get to the end boss, you'll need every advantage you can get.  The combat basis for this game is nothing that hasn't been done before by other games, but is enough to salvage what would otherwise be a lousy experience.

In addition to the main story, there are a couple of additional modes to add some length to the playtime.  Advent Master Mode has you playing through the same levels in the main story mode, but now you're basically playing a survival mode.  You play every challenge back-to-back to get the best overall score until you finally do falter.  In the end, you're really just competing against yourself.  Duel Mode has you playing against CPU-controlled opponents.  It would've been nice to have some multiplayer options, even if only local.

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Tags: kamen rider

Posted in: Reviews, Gaming

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