Digimon Rumble Arena (2001) Review

Originally Published Dec, 5th 2022

Back in elementary school, I hadn't started reading game magazines yet so my knowledge was limited to whatever I saw at the store and what got commercials on tv. So when a friend told me about a Digimon game he got, one that was a one on one fighting game I immediately became giddy with excitement as we hurried to my house to play together. This game was Digimon Rumble Arena.

The game is a very simple platform fighter in the same vein as Smash Brothers. Both Digimon run around an open stage beating each other up and grabbing power ups in the form of trading cards that randomly spawn. Unlike Smash the game uses a standard lifebar health system, falling off the edge will merely deduct some life and put you back in the fight. The controls are fairly simple. One standard attack, 2 special moves, jump, guard and your meter button. This will either activate a Digivolution or a meter draining ultimate attack.

The controls are kinda slippery, maneuvering around the stage can be a hassle at times. Every fight basically goes the same way. You smack each other around until your meters fill, wait for the computer to digivolve first to save meter and then smack them more until you win.

You start with 9 rookie level Digimon from the first 3 seasons of the tv series that can digivolve to their Mega level forms after filling your super meter (with the exception of wormmon who digivolves to his Champion level). The roster opens up quite a bit with unlocks but the majority of them are either standalone Digivolutions or pallete swaps like BlackWarGreymon or Imperialdramon Paladin mode. Thankfully however the game features nearly the entire English voice cast reprising their roles in glorious 32-bit crushed quality.

The stages are a random assortment of different themes. Forest, lava, ice, etc. None of them come from the series but they fit the Digimon aesthetic. However some stages feature stage hazards like having the entire stage rotate which can be a bit annoying as it interrupts the flow.

The final boss Reapermon is a comically overpowered character whose ai ranges from comicly inept to can touch of death you in seconds. Incidentally Reapermon itself was never part of any of the anime the game is based on and wouldn't make an animated appearance until the 2020 Digimon Adventure reboot.

Digimon Rumble arena isn't very good but despite that I find it a fun game to revisit from time to time. Partly because of nostalgia and because I just have a soft spot for these old anime tie-in games. But unless you grew up with it, you'd probably be better off playing the 6th gen sequel instead.

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