Game: ZOIDS Wild: Blast Unleashed
Genre: Fighting, Action
System: Nintendo Switch
Developer | Publisher: Eighting, CodeGlue | Outright Games, Takara Tomy
Age Rating: US E10+ | EU 7+
Price: US $39.99 | UK £34.99| EU €39,99
Release Date: October 16th 2020
Review code provided with many thanks to Swipe Right PR and Outright Games!
ZOIDS Wild: Blast Unleashed is an arena fighter developed by Eighting and published by Outright Games. The game is based on the toy-line by Takara Tomy and the ZOIDS Wild anime which is currently available on Netflix (in the US at least). It’s the English localized version of ZOIDS Wild: King of Blast that released last year in Japan. Is this game worth the purchase for fans of the anime? Let’s take a look!
Fire Up!
ZOIDS Wild: Blast Unleashed runs at 60FPS and uses a Cell-shaded aesthetic like most anime games do since the anime art style lends well to it. Music-wise the soundtrack is serviceable and fits the tone well.
The English voice acting is also really well done in my personal opinion however the game isn’t fully voiced in its story cutscenes so you will only hear some snippets of voiced dialogue during those scenes.
Go Wild!
ZOIDS Wild: Blast Unleashed features a good amount of modes such as the Battle Mode where you and a friend of yours can duke it out locally with no online multiplayer option. This is kind of a missed opportunity given how most arena fighters have an online mode to play with their friends or square up with random people in ranked matches. But in exchange, you have a good amount of single player content in the Mission Mode with Continuous Battle mode. This mode works like an arcade mode where you fight against seven opponents randomly chosen from the 16 playable character-roster. There’s also a Tutorial Mode which teaches you the basics of the game and a Story Mode which will last you a good couple of hours to fully complete. You also unlock most of the playable characters through the Story Mode.
The Story centers itself around Arashi and his friends from Team Freedom, Quade of Team Supreme and the Dark Warriors, as well as their boss known as Gigaboss. You learn about Zoids Subspecies (such as Nightfall Liger) in an original story mode that is non-canon to the anime with a good amount of banter between the various characters. I do admit I had to get used to the dub names but outside of dub name changes and the fact one of the licensed tracks from the Japanese version not being in the international release (for licensing reasons) the game has all of its content intact. Including the six additional Zoids that came in an update for the Japanese version.
Activating Wild Blast!
ZOIDS Wild: Blast Unleashed, like most arena fighters, takes place in an enclosed arena where you can move in various different directions. You are allowed to string combos together in an easy manner using one or two buttons and you can even add in one of the three various special attacks that your Zoid of choice has which are on a cooldown. Adding to that, as you fight and land hits, you can use your Wild Blast to strengthen your Zoid with an attribute that you can choose, like enhancing their attack power, making Guard Breaks easier, regaining health, replenishing your special attacks quicker or enhance your speed.
Zoids that have the Dark Blast ability can activate their Dark Blast ability at the start of the round with similar benefits to the Wild Blast however the Zoids health will drain as a result. It will drain slower if you choose the Energy UP benefit which affects your Zoids health. But from there your Zoid can unleash a cinematic attack known as a Final Blast and many of these look amazing and spectacular to boot!
There is a good bit of fun and entertainment to be had even if the battle system is rather simple and easy to pick up and play.
Conclusion!
ZOIDS Wild: Blast Unleashed is a fun arena brawler to pick up and play for fans of the series and youngsters who can catch the english dub of the anime on Netflix (if it’s available in your region) alike. The lack of an online mode is rather baffling to me but I cannot deny that there is a good bit of fun and entertainment to be had here and I had a fun time playing the game.
Final Rating: I Like It!
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