Customer Reviews:
 The BEST Toshinden Game Ever for PSX ! September 27, 2005
Now, granted, the Battle Arena Toshinden series of games didn't initially strike me as being the best fighting game series for the original PlayStation, what with their rudimentary graphics and repetitive, unbalanced gameplay. Still, after having bought the first two BAT's, I figured that completing my collection with the third game in the series wouldn't exactly kill me--especially considering that Toshinden 2 was indeed better than the first, even if only by a slight margin. I must say, too, that after having played Toshinden 3, I was quite impressed with the evolution in the series.
To begin with, every character Toshinden fans have come to know and love--save for, of course, Fo Fai the assassin, Uranus the archer, and the psychic Master--has returned to the arena to dish out just a little more damage with the utilization of their signature weapons, trademark combat maneuvers, a number of impressive combos, and three to four spectacular special moves (Secret Moves, Desperation Moves, Overdrives, and the newly introduced Spirit Bombs). Additionally, there are twenty new faces to the scene, each with their own unique weapons and moves as well as a large number of enclosed arenas that may prevent fighters from falling prey to those pesky ring-outs from BAT's 1 and 2, but in give them the ability to trap their opponents in a corner and juggle them with their best combos. I also liked the training mode, which allows players to try characters out before sending them out onto the front, and the idea of being able to unlock secret characters and save them to a memory card as opposed to having to insert a thumb-wracking code every single time I turn on the PS on with the game inserted. In my opinion, Takara should have included these features with the first two Toshinden games, but seeing as they had finally learned from that mistake with BAT 3, I shouldn't complain.
An important point of originality includes the game's story, which pits the BAT veterans up against the unarmed cultist Abel and his demon-worshipping Organization rather than simply chucking them all together into one big tournament and forcing them to duke it out with one another. Likewise, I liked some of the weapons that certain characters had in their arsenal, such as David and Judgment with their chainsaws, Nagisa Iwashiro and Vermillion with their guns, Atahua and Tau with their blowguns, and Adam the cyborg with his bionic club. Of course, a frame-by-frame animation rate of sixty frames per second is nothing to sneeze at for a fighting game made back in 1997--especially considering that such is the exact same animation rate of the 1999 favorite Bloody Roar 2 by Hudson Soft. If none of these facets tickles your fancy, maybe the idea of thirty-two playable characters will. That's right, thirty-two--which make for a far more complete roster than in the grand majority of fighting games that might otherwise be out there for any other PlayStation system. Oh, and did I mention Bayhou the monkey, who replaces Fo on this roster? Honestly, who can resist a game where you can play as an animal and wreak havok on some poor human sap's posterior?
All in all, Battle Arena Toshinden 3 may not be the best fighting games ever, but it's a far from being the worst, and it's certainly an improvement over the previous two Toshindens. It's just too bad that games for the original PlayStation are becoming increasingly difficult to come across these days, though, because there are still so many gamers who have not been fortunate enough to play this nifty little title. Therefore, I say that if you're a fighting-game fan who owns a PSX and you still haven't so much as rented BAT 3, you better hurry and snag this baby while you still can before the opportunity slips out of your fingers.
 WORST ''TOSHIDEN'' TO DATE February 27, 2004
0 out of 5 found this review helpful
AS IF THE FIRST SEQUEL WASN'T BAD ENOUGH, THE MAKERS OF THE 2ND TOSHIDEN RETURN WITH THIS ULTIMATELY DISSAPOINTING SEQUEL. SURE, THEY MAY BE MORE CHARACTERS AND MORE ARENAS AND MORE BOSSES, BUT CMON, THIS GAME IS EXTREMELY HARD TO GET INTO! WELL, ALL I CAN SAY IS THAT ALL OF THE TOSHIDEN FANS SHOULD STICK WITH THE ORIGINAL AND FORGET ALL ABOUT THE SEQUELS. WHAT A DISGRACE!
Greatest of the three October 12, 2002
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
This is among the greatest fighting games the PS ever had, and by far the best of the toshinden series. The characters are great, especially Vermilion, David, and that monkey I forget the name of. Seriously, the gameplay absolutely lasts forever. I played this one continuously for 4 or 5 months after it first came out. Definitely worth the money.
Seller sent japan version July 11, 2002
0 out of 6 found this review helpful
Unable to play the game seller sent japan version
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