Mages released a new video of their "8-bit style battle action game" Phantom Breaker: Battle Grounds. While the Xbox Live Arcade title has characters from 7sixty’s so far unreleased Phantom Breaker fighting game, you don’t need to know who Mikoto is to play it. The game is a Scott Pilgrim-like beat ‘em up with characters that can get up to level 50. An expansion pack scheduled for release at a later date will raise the level cap to 99 and add an extra character.
Gi - It’s no secret that the beat-em-up genre sort of died out back after the 90’s. Fans of the genre still exist and are dedicated to the golden days of simplistic side scrolling action. Unfortunately, most attempts at recreating 90’s classics has led to a wave of bland monotonous games that released then quickly faded into obscurity. Video game developer, 5pb, is looking to revitalize the genre with Phantom Breaker: Battlegrounds but does this game stand strong as a modern 90’s classic or is it just another modern day clone?
Phantom Breaker: Battle Grounds is a 2D, retro-styled, side-scrolling beat-em-up in a similar vein to 2010’s popular XBLA brawler, Scott Pilgrim vs The World. In Phantom Breaker: Battle Grounds, players take on the role of one of the four colorful starting characters: Mikoto, Waka, Itsuki and Yuzuha, and battle their way through the streets of Tokyo and finally to a Demonsphere universe in order to rescue Waka’s sister Nagi from the clutches of the evil Phantom.
The XBLA game is actually a spinoff of Phantom Breaker, a retail fighting game released in Japan by 5pb, however the presentation ensures no prior knowledge of the characters or story is required.
EGM: "Though a few flaws do mar the overall experience, Phantom Breaker: Battle Grounds is an extremely enjoyable mix of retro beat-em-up design and modern fighting-game-inspired combat depth that offers far more satisfaction than its $10 price tag might initially suggest."
