One Piece: Grand Battle! 2 is a fighting game based on the One Piece manga and anime, released for the Sony PlayStation. The direct sequel to Grand Battle!, it retains almost every element of the original while adapting new material from the Arabasta Saga and introducing many new mechanics.
Developed by Ganbarion and published by Bandai, Grand Battle! 2 was released in Japan on March 20, 2002. Like its predecessor, it met with great success, supporting its own line of action figures as well as a handheld spinoff covering much of the same material.
A direct sequel would be released the following year.
Gameplay[]
A typical battle. Note the different Food Charge levels between Luffy and Chopper.
Grand Battle! 2 retains its predecessor's 2.5D combat mechanics, with three-dimensional character sprites interacting on a two-dimensional axis. Player characters can run, jump, double-jump, crouch, block, and pick up (as well as throw and catch) items around the battlefield.
The main combat attributes remain Offense, Defense, and Agility, varying on a scale of A through E for each character; the variations among preexisting characters are mostly unchanged (with a few exceptions, such as Shanks being raised to A-rank in speed). Health is less standardized than before, with some characters possessing noticeably more than others.
Fighting consists of standard button combinations. Each player character can access around 20 standard techniques, along with several Finisher (必殺, Hissatsu?) techniques that incorporate full cinematics. As in Grand Battle!, Finisher techniques follow a numbered level system, and are divided into five classes:
- Strike (打撃, Dageki?) finishers are delivered through largely conventional blows.
- Boost (タメ, Tame?) finishers are delivered through blows that can be "charged" for extra range.
- Grapple (投げ, Nage?) finishers are delivered completely flush with the opponent, and cannot be blocked.
- Counter (カウンター, Kauntā?) finishers are delivered by intercepting one of the opponent's attacks.
- Support Summon (助っ人召喚, Suketto shōkan?) finishers call in a support character to deliver the blow.
However, Finishers now rely on the newly-introduced Food Charge (メシチャージ, Meshichāji?) mechanic, rather than health levels. Each character may carry a maximum of three Food Charges, as displayed by the circular gauge next to the health bar; performing a level-one Finisher requires one Food Charge, and so on.
Food Charges also facilitate a separate mechanic known as One Piece Heat (ONEピースヒート, ONE Pīsuhīto?), which activates when a character with three Food Charges receives what would otherwise be a finishing blow. One Piece Heat greatly enhances the character's attack power, range, and speed for a set period; however, it will immediately end with the next hit received, leaving the character's Food Charge gauge empty.[1]
Characters[]
There are a total of twenty-four player characters, with thirteen assigned "sets" of support characters. Most player characters must choose one support character from their assigned set (if any) before battle; a few sets, however, can be taken into battle as collective units.
All player characters can access two costumes, comprising their standard outfits and a recolored variant. Luffy, Zoro, Nami, Usopp, and Sanji - whose designs have all been updated from Grand Battle! - may also access their original costumes as a bonus feature.
Items[]
Combatants may be helped or hindered by a variety of items around the battlefield. All items can be picked up or caught, and are generally activated by either direct contact or the impact of a throw.
If attacked, most items vanish immediately, without activation; if left alone, they generally vanish after five seconds. Many items will also slide or roll by themselves if set on a tilted surface.
Below is a table of items and their respective effects.
| Item | Effect |
|---|---|
| Sword | Raises attack power for approximately 10 seconds. |
| Shield | Raises defense power for approximately 10 seconds. |
| Shoes | Raises agility for approximately 10 seconds. |
| Jewel | Raises attack power, defense power, and agility for approximately five seconds. |
| Eternal Pose | Fills the Food Charge gauge if the red needle points up; empties the gauge if the needle points down. If picked up, the needle will reverse direction. |
| Food | Restores health—onigiri a small amount, tankards a moderate amount, and drumsticks a large amount—as well as one Food Charge. Will spoil if left alone for more than three seconds. |
| Spoiled Food | Inflicts damage (roughly one-fifth of what they would normally restore) and paralysis; also depletes one Food Charge. |
| Bomb | Explodes to inflict damage. If left alone, usually explodes after five seconds. |
| Lantern | Releases several flames that inflict burn damage. |
| Poison Mushroom | Releases spores that deal steady damage over a set period of time. |
| Shuriken | Inflicts damage; does not arc when thrown. |
| Hot Pepper | Inflicts minor damage while forcing nonstop running and disabling the block input. |
| Gaimon | If approached or picked up, fires a pistol that inflicts damage. |
Items are generally found by breaking the containers positioned around each stage—barrels release food, crates release attack items, and treasure chests release power-ups. These containers can also be picked up, caught, or thrown for minor damage.
Battle Stages[]
There are a total of twelve stages, all based on canon locations, each with unique music, features, and background spectators.[2]
| List of Stages |
|---|
Whisky Peak: Consists of an area dominated by a three-story church, bound on one end by ocean and the other by a cliff topped with a Baroque Works mailbox; an overfed Luffy sleeps just below this cliff. Spectators include various Baroque Works agents, among them Mr. 8, Miss Monday, Miss Catherina, and Mr. Beans.
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Little Garden: Consists of a jungle valley divided by a river (and "bridged" by a tree root), with Dead Center Mountain in the background. Spectators include Dorry, Brogy, Mr. 3, Miss Goldenweek, Mr. 5, and Miss Valentine.
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Drum Castle: Consists of a side-section of the main bedchamber and adjoining tower, with a two-tiered balcony above, bound on one side by a sheer drop; above the drop hangs one of the island trams, occupied by Dalton. Spectators include Tony Tony Chopper, Dr. Kureha, Chess, Kuromarimo, and the Hiking Bear.
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Moving Crab: Consists of an endlessly-scuttling Hasami, bound on both ends by sheer drops into the Arabasta desert. Spectators include Matsuge and a pack of Kung-Fu Dugongs (that will flock to whichever combatant has the current advantage).
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Alubarna: Consists of a section of the royal mausoleum, bound on both sides by miniature canals and topped by a layer of shattered bedrock leading directly to the streets above. Spectators include Nefertari Cobra, various royal and rebel soldiers (including the Tsumegeri Guards and Koza), Mr. 7, and Miss Father's Day.
|
Syrup Village: Consists of forests and a rocky slope—half-coated by an oil barrel—leading to the ocean, with the Bezan Black looming in the background. Spectators include various Black Cat Pirates (including Jango, Sham, and Buchi), Ninjin, Piiman, Tamanegi, and Kaya.
|
Baratie: Consists of the three-tiered restaurant and a half-sunken Dreadnaught Sabre, bridged—and surrounded—by ocean. Spectators include various Krieg Pirates (including Pearl) and Baratie staff (including Zeff, with Patty and Carne periodically cruising by in the Sabagashira I).
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Arlong Park: Consists of two stone walkways separated by a corner of the main harbor, bound on one end by the demolished Arlong Park and the other by a smaller gazebo. Spectators include various Arlong Pirates (including Hachi, Kuroobi, and Chew), Conomi Islanders (including Nojiko, Genzo, Chabo, and Dr. Nako), Johnny, and Yosaku.
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Loguetown: Consists of a small, stormy area before Gold Roger's scaffold. Spectators include various townspeople and Buggy Pirates, as well as Dragon.
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Laboon: Consists of the main stomach chamber, with two small islands—one holding Crocus' cabin, the other holding a beach chair—and a Royal Squid blocking the exit gates, its tentacles providing several extra (constantly moving) footholds.
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Foosha Village: Consists of grassland, a windmill, and a dirt road leading to a harbor with a docked Going Merry. Spectators include various villagers (including Makino and Woop Slap).
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Marine Headquarters: Consists of a completely level training ground with no hazards or items besides a single anchor. Spectators include Koby, Helmeppo, Bogard, Garp, and Hina (with Jango and Fullbody appearing at random intervals).
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All stages—except Loguetown and Marine Headquarters—contain bodies of water or other drops that serve as "ring out" zones, respawning combatants away after dealing a fixed amount of damage. Water inflicts double damage on Devil Fruit users (quadruple on Crocodile)[4] while "dry" drops inflict equal damage on all combatants.
Game Modes[]
Three modes may be accessed from the Top Menu.
Event Battle[]
Event Battle (イベントバトル, Ibento batoru?) mode puts the player character through a gauntlet of five 99-second battles against five semi-randomly selected CPU opponents. Each battle, except the last, gives the player a choice between two different opponents.
Battles will usually be framed by a short cutscene, scripted after canon interactions if possible.[5] The stage for each battle also defaults to canon when possible; Chopper will always be fought at Drum Castle, Crocodile will always be fought at Alubarna, and so on.[6]
Combat progression is streamlined from that of Grand Battle!; the player character only needs to have greater health when time runs out, rather than fully defeating each opponent. Once all five battles are cleared, a short ending cinematic - unique for each player character - is shown, followed by the game's development credits. Outright losing a battle will present the player with a continue option; a total of five continues are allowed before Event Battle automatically ends.
Grand Battle[]
Grand Battle (グランドバトル, Gurando batoru?) mode allows players to participate in classic arcade-style battles against each other, or against a CPU opponent; unlike Event Battle, this mode allows characters to (through alternate costumes) fight duplicates of themselves. The battle stage may be freely chosen, or left to one of three "custom" options:
- Order (じゅんばん, Junban?), which defaults to the Whisky Peak stage and proceeds along the in-game ordering for every subsequent battle
- Toss-Up (おまかせ, O-makase?), which selects a stage at random
- Various (いろいろ, Iroiro?), which - for multi-round battles - selects every stage at random
In addition, players may adjust the following:
- Time Limit (制限時間, Seigen jikan?) between 60 seconds, 99 seconds, or total deactivation
- Win Count (何本勝負, Nanhon shōbu?) between first-to-one, first-to-two, or first-to-three rounds
- Handicap (ハンディ, Handi?) on each combatant's standard Attack and Defense along a five-point scale
- Food Charge (メシチャージ, Meshichāji?) defaults between empty or full
- Item (アイテム, Aitemu?) containers between three different re-spawn rates
Training[]
A typical training battle. Note the "OK!" display and damage counter.
Training (修行, Shugyō?) mode allows the player to test a character's controls and capabilities on the hazard-free Marine Headquarters stage. Here, food charges and health regenerate automatically, One Piece Heat can be toggled without cost, and damage output is visibly recorded. The opponent character stands idle by default, but may be programmed to fight back as one in Event Battle or Grand Battle would.
To "complete" a training session, the player character must perform every available technique successfully.
Bonus Features[]
A number of bonus features can be unlocked by meeting various victory conditions, typically in Event Mode.
Treasure[]
Treasure (お宝, O-takara?) features:
- Character Data (キャラデータ, Kyaradēta?), which provides a data file for each player character, comprising a revolving model, combat attributes, voice clips, and a short profile.
- Theater (シアター, Shiatā?), which collects the game's opening cinematic and every character's Event Battle ending.
- Gallery (ギャラリー, Gyararī?), which collects every "unlock" screen in the game, in addition to cover-art for five previous One Piece games.
- Visual Adventure (ビジュアルアドベンチャー, Bijuaru adobenchā?), which reproduces all 172 cards from Bandai's short-lived Visual Adventure collectible card game.
- Sound (サウンド, Saundo?), which collects the game's fourteen primary soundtracks.[7]
Options[]
The Option (オプション, Opushon?) menu, in addition to standard sound and system settings, allows players to adjust the following:
- Computer (コンピューター, Konpyūtā?) intelligence between three different levels.
- System Voice (システムボイス, Shisutemu boisu?) among thirteen different characters - the Straw Hat Pirates, Ace, Buggy, Mihawk, Shanks, Dorry, Brogy, and Dr. Kureha.
Cast[]
Grand Battle! 2, like its predecessor, retains almost every voice-casting from the TV anime (including Mahito Ōba's succession of Ginzō Matsuo as Smoker). Unlike its predecessor, it casts most of its support characters as well as player characters, though those introduced in the East Blue Saga remain - apart from Jango - unvoiced.
Notably, the game features Rin Mizuhara's last performance as Miss Doublefinger.
Gallery[]
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Trivia[]
- Grand Battle! 2 was a popular game, and at the PlayStation Awards 2002, the game picked up a Gold prize; alongside Grand Battle!, this made the series a double prize winner at the awards.
- The game's opening cinematic begins with a recreation of Volume 20's cover (with Vivi replacing Koza, Robin replacing Cobra, and Karoo removed) and a preface based on Chapter 179's closing narration; it ends with a recreation of Chapter 198's color spread.
- This is the only fighting game where Mr. 3 is a playable character.
- This is the only known game to design Mr. 2's overcoat with the manga's Okama Way (おかま道?) writing; all subsequent games use the anime's Bon kure (盆暮れ?) writing, even if "Okama" is freely used in dialogue.
References[]
- ↑ One Piece Heat can also be triggered independently, by applying all four action inputs (attack, block, grab, and jump) at the same time. However, doing this will automatically drain the character's health to the absolute minimum.
- ↑ Some background spectators double as support or even player characters; if used in battle, they will disappear from their background positions.
- ↑ If Luffy is one of the combatants, his place on the ground will be taken by a tarp with identical effects.
- ↑ Uniquely, Arlong is completely immune to water damage (except on the Laboon stage, which features stomach acid), and will automatically emerge with a Shark on Darts attack.
- ↑ Cutscenes are not provided for characters irrelevant to the Arabasta Saga - Kuro, Krieg, Arlong, Buggy, Alvida, Pandaman, Shanks, and Mihawk - except in the last stage of their respective Event Battles.
- ↑ Keeping in with the original Grand Battle!, Pandaman will always be fought on the Laboon stage.
- ↑ A "secret" fifteenth track featuring a skit between Jango and Mr. 2 (primarily meant as a "redbook" bonus for CD players) is also included.
- ↑ In extremely rare instances, he may transform into Yosaku or Johnny instead.
External links[]
- Bandai website (Japanese)
- Ganbarion page (Japanese)
- Yume Himazin (Japanese fan-site, with extensive tips and notations)
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