User Reviews (1 - 8 of 8)

Show these reviews first:

Highest Rated
Lowest Rated Newest
Oldest Most Helpful
Least Helpful

gameplay is fun, fast, and frantic

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 15 / 15
Date: October 10, 2005
Author: Amazon User

"One Piece: Grand Battle" for the Nintendo Gamecube is a fighting game based on the anime and manga series, "One Piece". The show was recently brought to America by the company 4Kids Entertainment. The series follows pirate Monkey D. Luffy and his crew sailing the world in search of One Piece, the legendary treasure of the King of the Pirates.

What makes Luffy so unique is his stretching ability; as a child, he ate a "cursed fruit" from foreign lands that gave him the ability to stretch his body to incredible lengths, but lose his ability to swim or float. His crew includes Nami, the thief/navigator, Roronoa Zolo, the swordsman who uses a three-sword style (two in his hands, one in his mouth), Usopp, the marksman and inventor, and Sanji, the lady-chasing cook. His enemies include Captain Buggy, a clown with the cursed fruit power of separating and controlling parts of his body, Captain Kuro of the Thousand Plans, Don Krieg, with his massive arsenal, the Merman Arlong, and the Navy captain Chaser, with the power of smoke control. Each one of these characters is selectable in this game.

In addition, each character gets characters related to them as "support characters". These characters can be called in for special attacks during the course of a battle. These characters are usually subordinates to the main character (like the captains and their crewmen) or friends who just happen to be less powerful or important (such as Zolo's bounty-hunting buddies, Yosaku and Johnny).

Rather than traditional 2-D fighting games or 3-D fighting games that are essentially 2-D fighting games with sidestepping, One Piece: Grand Battle is a fully 3-D game. The combatants can run in any direction without any real restrictions. Each battlefield has different circumstances; in one, lightning strikes part of the field, and in another, bombs are shot onto the map by a ship. There are also power-ups to collect; food (to use special attacks), attack or defense increases, and things like torches, bees' nests, and oil cans. Water is also an ever-present danger; falling in it damages characters.

Each character has some basic fighting moves, some ranged fighting moves, special moves, and one super move. The basic fighting moves are just that; punches, kicks, or other simple melee attacks, depending on the character's weapon. Ranged fighting moves vary more; they can include energy waves, a rush attack, or other attack. Both melee and ranged attacks have horizontal and vertical versions, to take advantage of the full 3D system. Special moves are destructive, but take a full energy bar (one out of a max of two) to use. Super moves are by far the most cinematic attacks. When initiated, the screen changes to a background of anime-style speed lines. Depending on the difference between the healths of the two characters (less health means more power), there are three possible stages to the attack. The first is usually a short, simple attack. Next are a medium-power attack, and finally a huge, super-powerful attack.

Every character has a different move set; the inventor Usopp has more attacks based on his slingshot and special ammo than basic melee attacks, while Luffy has many powerful melee techniques that happen to have long range. Ranged, special, and super attacks are all based on attacks seen in the show, such as Zolo's ultimate attack "Three Thousand Worlds" or Captain Kuro's "Out of the Bag".

The graphics in this game are very good. The style is slightly less realistic than most One Piece fans may have come to expect; characters are more "compressed" and cartoonish in proportions than in the TV show and manga. Effects for all attacks are cinematic and impressive. The sound, however, may be the games' only failing. The 4Kids team used the same voice actors that were in the TV show for the game. 4Kids has been widely criticized for poor voice actors that sound too outlandish or juvenile, though for the most part they did okay with One Piece. The biggest problem is that two unlockable characters, who are supposed to be the most powerful characters in the series, have completely ridiculous accents; one has a Cockney accent, while the other has an over-the-top French accent. Characters that are supposed to inspire respect should not sound like Old Tom, the friendly chimney sweep.

There are also three game modes; "Grand Battle" a standard duel, "Story Mode", in which a series of plot-based battles are fought, and "Minigames mode", which has Minigames ranging from breaking Don Krieg's steel armor to breaking 300 boxes in under a minute. The story mode has its ups and downs, as some of the reasons for fighting given by the characters are kind of weak. For example, when Luffy fights Sanji, the reasoning behind it is that Luffy made fun of Sanji.

Overall, this game is pretty good. The gameplay is fun, fast, and frantic, and any fan of the series will be delighted by the range of characters, support characters, and unlockable items like art from the show. However, fans of the manga may be turned off by the dubbed character voices. I give it a 7 out of 10.

Awesome No Matter of the Other Reviews

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: November 02, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I got this game last weekend. The game takes around 10 to 20 minutes to fully learn how to play. This game is really fun and tight. But as one of the other review had said I haven't heard Luffy say "Gunn Gunn" but I have him say "Gum Gum"(I may be wrong but I'm pretty sure). The game is on a medium gameplay level it's hasn't to hard from how far I've gotten. If you do get this game just remember Luffy and Nami are the easiest characters to play with in the beginning. Also when you start out the game it starts with the show's opening song (dosen't have Usopp or Sanji in it). You also get movies, songs, art galleries, and character profiles. The game uses up two blocks and a file on your memory card. The best person on the game (in my opininon) that I have unlocked is Luffy and I can't wait to get Chopper. I love this game it's worth it.

Bestest game ever

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 8
Date: September 14, 2005
Author: Amazon User

This is the greatest game I have ever played although it is a little wierd how the characters look in the game. If you like the tv show you will love this game!

Why must they ruin everything???

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 3 / 9
Date: September 14, 2005
Author: Amazon User

It was naïve of me to think that maybe, just maybe, they'd include the Japanese language track and 'not' Americanize the characters in this video game like they did in the series. One Piece is quite simply my favorite anime of all time but the American TV version is mindless garbage with little or no plot and abysmal voice acting that has zero resemblence to the fantastic series from Japan. I will do everything in my power to play the Japanese version of this game somehow, some way...

Watered Down...

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: April 25, 2006
Author: Amazon User

While I must admit the prospect of seeing a One Piece Grand Battle Game come stateside is exciting, there are certain factors that keep it from being the release that fans really hoped for. This is mainly that it is a stateside release.

The game is a watered down version of the Japanese version "Grand Battle Rush!", the fourth entry in the Grand Battle series, which includes many more characters from further along in the series, as well as costumes found in the Davy Back Fight part of the series.

However, the game is still the game however awful the voiceacting, however much Sanji's cirarette is replaced with a lollipop, and however much a few characters were cut out so that fans of the US version aren't left in the dark. The game plays very similar to "Powerstone" of the days of the Dreamcast, and the new element of summoning friends to help battle is a nice development.

Overall, if you're only familiar with the television series aring in the US then there's no real disappointment, the game plays well and is really a blast no matter what. As for hardcore fans of the Japanese version of the series, you may be better off looking elsewhere for your One Piece related entertainments... like Japan.

The best game ever!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: June 06, 2006
Author: Amazon User

This game is really awsome.you can unlock tons of characters.My favorite is sanji!But my best character is Mr.0 crocadile!he is so cool.My second best is chaser.i love his speical attack!the fighting is super fun. Each character has more than 20 moves.If you like one piece and have a game cube you must bye this game right now!!!!!!

Great game!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 2
Date: September 11, 2005
Author: Amazon User

The manga is great, the show may stink, but this game is really fun! Its a fighting game that has all of your fav pirates like Luffy, Zolo, Nami, ect. Also, the game has some cool mutil-player fun and the levels are great too. Just pick you fav. character (mine is Arlong) and let the fight begin! NOTE: Bandai has also made the Zatch Bell game, so that might be good too! Look for it in October!

It's edited

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 0 / 1
Date: September 11, 2005
Author: Amazon User

How much you enjoy this game will depend on your tolerance of the Americanized version of One Piece that currently airs on 4Kids TV. One Piece is a great, long-running manga series in Japan that features a group of pirates led by Monkey D. Luffy. They fight tyrants, restore hope, and even save entire kingdoms. What 4Kids did was butcher the series by cutting out plotlines, key character motivations, hiring a horrible dub cast, and more violence edits than you'd think were humanly possible.

And unfortunately, Bandi's Americanized version of the popular Grand Battle games continues this trend. There is no original Japanese voice track. Character names are still altered (Chaser instead of Smoker). There are minor graphical edits (ex: removal of Sanji's cigarettes). And upcoming characters that have not yet been introduced on the american version have been cut (Foxy, Ao Kiji, etc.) It's a disservice to older One Piece fans that followed the series long before 4Kids bought the rights. In a time where companies are striving to present their manga and anime as authentically as possible, 4Kids and Bandi are way behind.

Gameplay-wise, this is still a decent game. If you like melee fighters like Super Smash Bros, the quirky character selection, special moves, and random power-ups do still carry over nicely. It's just that the overall package has been ruined by 4Kids' ignorance.

Bottom line: If you can, stick to a rental. If you absolutely want a One Piece fighting game and don't want to spend the $$ importing the authentic Japanese version, wait till this game drops in price or shows up used.

Review Page: 1 

Actions