Blazblue Continuum Shift 2 3ds

[Luciana]

Followingthe events of Calamity Trigger, the static timeline has been thrown into a state of flux from which an infinite number of futures are possible. A number of shadowy factions intend to use this "continuum shift" to bend the future to their will, setting the cogs of an ancient conspiracy into motion.

Unaware of all this, Ragna the Bloodedge aggressively pursues his arch-nemesis Terumi within the walls of Kagutsuchi. Meanwhile, N.O.L. agent Tsubaki Yayoi is ordered to hunt down and execute her unrequited love Jin Kisaragi, and her best friend Noel Vermillion.

Released for arcades on November 20, 2009, exactly a year after the previous game, this update/sequel features two new playable characters: Tsubaki Yayoi, and Hazama (who acts as the Final Boss of the Arcade Mode). It implements several gameplay changes such as adding new moves to the already existing characters, and tweaking many of their existing features to add more balance. Nu-13 has been excised and replaced by an inferior clone called Lambda-11, who plays exactly like her predecessor but more balanced. The stages are also redone, featuring new graphics ala Champion Edition.

The console version was released July 1, 2010 in Japan, July 27 in America and December 3rd in Europe. It once again features Kotoko as the singer for the opening theme, Hekira no Sora e Izanaedo, as well as an insert song from an as-of-now unknown artist. There are three new modes: Legion, which is played like a strategy game, Challenge, which is similar to the challenge modes of other fighting games, and a Tutorial mode where Rachel shows new players how to work the game's mechanics, all while verbally abusing them in her own wonderful way. All of that and a new playable character: Mu-12, Final Boss of the Story Mode.

The game is mostly the same as it's predecessor. It uses a 4 button system: Weak Attack (A), Medium Attack (B), Strong Attack (C), and a Drive Attack, (D) unique to each character. The original arcade release had a total of 14 characters, with four new ones getting added in the console release and, eventually, Continuum Shift II. As of Continuum Shift Extend, the total of playable characters is 19.

BlazBlue Continuum Shift II acted as a balance patch for the arcade and console versions, and featured a new theme song: Shinsou, sung by Asami Imai (Tsubaki's voice actress). A standalone version for the PSP and Nintendo 3DS also included all three DLC characters, along with Arcade modes for them and Mu-12 and two extra story modes based around the NOL trio and Sector Seven.

BlazBlue Continuum Shift EXTEND, released as a standalone game for arcades, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PlayStation Vita and PSP, once again rebalanced the existing game. It includes all of the content from Continuum Shift II, Story modes for the three DLC characters, and adds Mad Scientist Relius Clover as a new playable character along with his own Arcade and Story modes. It also features a compressed retelling of the Calamity Trigger Story Mode, bonus DLC scenarios, "Unlimited Mars" mode (a Harder Than Hard Boss Rush against Unlimited characters) and a new theme tune (Soukyuu no Hikari, sung by Faylan). In December 2014, EXTEND was released on Steam.

The catalogue of 3DS launch games has, arguably, been a mixed bag. Unlike the DS before it, however, the 3DS is quickly building a fantastic stable of fighting games with Super Street Fighter IV 3D Edition and Dead or Alive: Dimensions; BlazBlue: Continuum Shift II is no exception. Until now, this stylish 2D brawler has been missing from Nintendo consoles, but the time for rejoicing begins now.

There is more depth to the battle system, starting with the Heat Gauge, which fills during battle and can be used to pull off powerful Distortion Drive combos, or instant-kill finishing Astral Heat moves. Cancels allow you to cancel the cool down on some attacks, which can then be strategically transformed into massive combos. Aerial attacks are taken to the next level, with the ability to juggle opponents from the ground to the air in continuous combo strings, and some characters even specialize in aerial projectiles and Drive attacks to blast across the screen towards opponents at will. Further advanced strategies are available as well for those who truly want to become the ultimate fighter, though this depth shouldn't scare you away, as only the basics are necessary to stand as a competent fighter.

The series has always featured outstanding visuals, and while the transition to the 3DS has expectedly seen a significant drop in detail from the HD systems, the game still looks great on the small screen. With the 3D fully enabled the characters stand out in front of vivid multi-layered backgrounds, and it is absolutely beautiful to behold. There is a noticeable frame rate drop when 3D is utilized, but the effect makes the small sacrifice worth it. The soundtrack has made a near perfect transition to the portable system too, and in tandem with the 3D, brings the world of BlazBlue to life with superb results.

Great thing I held out on Street Fighter; I particularly want to give this a try. I believed it would appeal to me a bit more. I'm glad to see they have the same ratings; I'm going to be getting this instead when I get a 3DS.

Despite the fact I already own Super Street Fighter IV 3D and Dead or Alive: Dimensions, I really would have consider buying this if this had online multiplayer. But as it is, I will pass on this game. Great review though!

I've played this version and I gotta say it feels like a really lazy port.

The sound quality is absolutely terrible as any time the characters talk during a fight or louder sound effects go off the speakers crackle.

There's a weird blur for the menus and the text re-size is pretty bad as well.

Also there are plenty of framerate drops during fights when they start getting intense. Noel's Chain Revolver attacks really show this as her Down-D attack makes it stutter.

It's certainly playable and there's a lot more content than in the console versions; but it's far from great. If you can get past the multiple issues it is fun, but it is certainly not worth the full $40 price tag. I say go with Street Fighter and DOA as both are much better choices.

Sounds good and another good addition to the 3DS library increasing its % of quality games. However, I won't be getting it because of the devs exclusional comments criticising SFIV 3DS.Also its a heavily hardcore leaning game wrt combos and if you want to be a good player at this game you will have a lot to learn. That wouldn't bother me a few years ago, but can't be bothered with that now. Getting Bleach Dark Souls DS and One Piece Gigant Battle DS instead. Bleach DS I already have actually, and its superb

After this review you got me wanting to pick up a 3ds. Gonna give the purchase a lil more time though cause i have this feeling that ninty will redesign it some way or the other.. well good review of the game and it has my money as soon as i pick up a 3ds..

I've never played a fighter online in my life and I'm not about to start anytime soon. I'm waiting for Plus Revitalized just because it'll be a different game than the console version, which I already have.

If I hadn't already bought this on the PS3 (and all the downloadable characters and Unlimited unlocks) I might give this a shot. Also if I had money. Oh well, it's cool for people who haven't given the series a shot.

The GameStop that I go to only had 1 copy of this game. Not anymore since I picked it up. This game is also somewhat hard to find on the consoles as well. I would try Amazon.com for those who want to get this game.

@Slapshot

None of my other games do it though so I assumed it was Blazblue doing it. Oh well, the sound compression is still pretty poor though.

What games did you hear the crackling sound on?

@VincentX Rayman 3D was by far the worst issue I had. Even with the sound turned nearly off, my first 3DS consoles sound cracked every few seconds. I didn't realize that I also had a few issues with the 3D as well, until I swapped out my console and it alleviated all the issues.

I found the sound to be quite impressive on the handheld for Blazblue. Of course it's not what your going to find out of the HD audio on the other systems when traveling through an amplifier and powered speakers, but it great for the handheld. Remember that Blazblue pushes the HD consoles to the limits, and even has slowdown at times on those systems, and to see the game come to the portable with only few minor issues, and 3D support is very impressive. For those that don't own an HD system, this is a great way to jump into the world of Blazblue and see what it is all about, and that is the mindset that I reviewed the game. I do own Blazblue on PS3 and I'm playing this version more because I can take it with me on-the-go and the incredible 3D effects.

@Slapshot

Weird... Oh well, I haven't had any other issues and I'm gonna be checking out the PSP version to see how I like that one.

Oh and I definitely agree on the coolness of the 3D effect, how it shows the multi-layered backgrounds off. Still, the framerate issues kick it for me.

@14 I'm never going to have many chances to play local multiplayer with my handheld fighters, so online multiplayer is a big deal to me. I've already got SSF4 and DOA:D, so I'm not going to spend $40 on another fighter with much less replay value.

@29 Unless it's worse than normal, which the review doesn't seem to imply, every 3DS game has that "framerate issue" when 3D is on. I don't see what the big deal is about "only" playing with 30 FPS, anyway. Movies are shot with fewer FPS than that.

no online was a huge oversight for this game. also the fact that its a PSP port that doesnt use the real arcade sprites... Just sayin' anyone considering this should probably skip... BBCSII:PLUS is coming out for PSVita if u really need a portable BB fix... If not, DOA:D, SFIV, soon Tekken 3D and lets hope for TvC3D and KoF3D!

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