(Review contributed by Misya McLachlan)
Nitroplus Blasterz: Heroines Infinite Duel is an exciting and action packed 2D anime fighter game which was developed by Examu with help from popular Super Sonico creator Nitroplus. Nitroplus Blasterz was originally an arcade game released exclusively to Japanese arcades on April 30th of 2015 and only months later of the same year the game was ported to the PS3 and the PS4 in Japan. Thankfully with help from XSEED Games, it is available to North American audiences on February 2nd of 2016 for the PS3 and the PS4. The console versions of the game have the two console exclusive characters Homura and Aino which are both available through the PlayStation store as DLC. Unlike the arcade version, Super Sonico is also a primary playable character in this game.
Nitroplus Blasters has several different modes that the player can choose from which are story mode, another story, versus, score attack, training, and network. In story mode each of the characters the player can select from has their own unique story, the character’s stories don’t have to be played in any specific order allowing players to select and play through the stories of their favorite characters. The next mode is Another Story which shows another side to the events in the game, sadly this mode must first be unlocked. Both network and versus allow you to challenge friends in battle, the main difference is that versus is local while network allows you to have intense battles with other players online. Score attack pits you against an AI and you must try to gain as many points as you can in order to get the highest score that you can. The primary story surrounds the intertwining of the many universes in an ancient entity’s attempt to find a heroine out of many who could entertain her in exchange for the safety of their worlds, through these events the many heroines are brought together and soon begin battling each other. Among the primary playable heroines there are plenty of popular and recognizable characters such as Saber from Fate/Zero,Aino Heart from Arcana Hearts, Ignis from Jingai Makyo, and Sonico from Super Sonico. Unfortunately, the abundance of heroines to choose from the story is still lacking and feels as though it needed to be thought out in greater detail and the lack of further meaning to the plot along with the often bland dialogue made the story less than compelling.
The game has many key features when it comes to the game mechanics but remains simple enough within the many fast paced and chaotic battles, while each of the many heroines has their own unique fighting style the basic controls remain the same allowing the player to more easily adjust to each of characters. One of the most important features in a fighting game is of course the ability to complete combo chains in battle with some ease, Nitroplus Blasters has an advantage to many other fighting games when it comes to ease of executing these chains as well as keeping them going. The most exciting feature in battle is the ability to summon other popular characters who are not among the main heroines to help out and strengthen the primary heroines in battles against each other, each of the possible twenty assist characters have their own unique abilities in battle and contribute differently to their lead heroine. Sadly, some aspects of the game are unbalances such as the notable gap in some of the character’s power which can be an issue when playing against others online and even worse are the issues with the netcode, for those who can look past these issues the game can be far more entertaining when you are battling head to head against other players.
Nitroplus Blasterz has plenty of charm when it comes to the colorful character art and beautiful detailed background art, the only issue with the art is the considerable disconnect between characters and the backgrounds. For those who are more interested in focusing on their character in battle the disconnect between characters and backgrounds can easily be a good thing by keeping the character’s movements into greater focus, on the other hand this disconnect can be mildly irritating to those who enjoy a game greatly for the art. The animation is very smooth and well executed in comparison to the many similar fighting games on the market giving Nitroplus Blasterz the upper hand when it comes to lagging and glitches in character movements. The only time there were any issues present with freezing or wait time was during support character summoning however this issue was not severely detrimental to the overall gameplay. Thankfully, due to the great art and smooth animation the game is made noticeably better than many other games of the same genre when looking past any other issues presented during gameplay.
I recommend Nitroplus Blasterz to fans of similar series such as Blazblue, Street Fighter, and Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax as this game has much to offer in the way of smooth execution and fun combos. Sadly, for those looking for a game with a great story line this game probably isn’t the right one for you since the story is lacking quite a bit in the way of detail and dialogue. Nitroplus Blasterz features beautiful art and smooth attack animation giving it an upper hand in among the many fighter games in the gaming market so it is definitely worth a shot for those that found issue with lagging and slowness in other similar games. The lacking story and issues during network mode are the games weakest points while the incredible art and animation are notably the games strongest points.
Pros: Beautiful Art, Smooth Animation, Familiar characters
Cons: Network issues, Lackluster story, Bland dialogue
SCORE – 75%
This review is based on a digital copy of Nitroplus Blasterz: Heroines Infinite Duel on the PlayStation 3 provided by XSEED Games
