Toy Fighter Preview

Toy Fighter is a NAOMI-based 3D-arcade game now heading to the Dreamcast. The setting of the game is similar to that of Toy Story; players will take control of toy figures and fight against each other. Those figures fight in a circular arena called the Battle Circle. The size of the Battle Circle changes depending on the distance between the two characters. This also prevents one character from being too far away from the other. So for gamers looking for direct battle without the running and jumping of other titles, Toy Fighter, with its hovering rubber band inspired by the ropes in wrestling rings--is a pretty cool concept. As in Ocean's N64 fighting game Fighters Destiny, the winner is decided by the number of points he has earned rather than the reading of his health gauge. For example, you get one point if you knock the opponent down and two points if you throw the opponent. The first person to score five points wins the game.

The control is very simple - you only use the joystick and three buttons for punch and kick. Now if only the game had better character designs! Toy Fighter also sports an intuitive dodge button that lets players evade hits from opponents automatically, depending on the body part about to be struck. The downside to using this button, though, is that players will be defenseless against grab-and-throw moves. The game is similar to fighting games like Tekken in that fast players can perform counterattacks - if his or her timing is correct.

We don't have an exact release date yet, but will keep you informed as the game progresses.