This year’s been good for beat ‘em up fans, what with a steady flow of titles hitting the shelves such as Street Fighter IV, King of Fighters XII the soon to release Tekken 6 and of course BlazBlue.  In comparison to the other games, BlazBlue is a relatively unknown title with no heritage to speak of, but few know that the creators are the same people behind the superlative Guilty Gear series of 2-D fighters, which has a cult following among hardcore beat ‘em up fans.

The storyline of the game is fairly convoluted with each character revealing a bit more about the plot as you play them. It follows the story of a world brought back from the brink of extinction by “Armagus,” a combination of magic and technology. Armagus, like all power, is first used to save the world but eventually becomes a tool wielded by only the powerful which fosters dissent that leads to a civil war. After the war, the powers that be crack down and impose absolute rule on the world, which is is challenged by a rebel, Ragna the Bloodedge, leading to a bounty on his head and a search for a unique form of Armagus he wields. Phew.

Odd name and incomprehensible storyline aside, BlazBlue features possibly the best looking animation in a 2-D fighter ever. With some interesting art that’s best described as a mix of sci-fi and renaissance you have one very intriguing and good looking game that’s definitely going to have your friends stand up and pay attention. The hand-drawn character models are fantastic and the 3-D backgrounds are superb. Add a diverse soundtrack that combines electric guitars, harps and choir pieces and you have a game that sounds as eclectic as it looks.

The stellar looks are complemented by some brilliant gameplay; it’s easy to learn, tough to master and the controls are responsive to boot. However, what stands out is the fact that the game is tailor-made to prevent gamers from abusing the block button. Block too much and your defense will be lowered leaving you vulnerable to attacks. Think you can button-mash your way out of a battle? Think again. With twelve unique characters to master and a learning curve so steep that it’s almost perpendicular, merely banging on the X button rarely helps.

All in all this is one of the better games to come out this season. In fact, I’ll go out on a limb and say this is a definite contender for game of the year.