What happens when you mix Legos with Super Human Samurai Cyber Squad and Voltron? You just happen to get Tenkai Knights! This quirky and fun series isn’t just an anime and toy line, but also a nice little distraction for the 3DS. I took some time to explore Tenkai Knights: Brave Battle for myself. Prepare yourself for Shonen action, the power of friendship, and believing in yourself.
The game pretty much follows the anime. Quick rundown: Your characters have essentially be chosen as the new incarnate of the Tenkai Knights. A group of heroes from an alternate dimension. They originate from a planet called Quarton, a cube planet, caught up in the conflict of the heroic Corekai Army and the evil Villius. Typical to this genre, Villius is out to steal all of the source of energy called Tenkai. This conflict spans many years, and even though Villius was defeated long ago, he’s back. Now you get to take the roles of Bravenwolf, Tributon, Lydendor and Valorn. These legendary Tenkai Knights are 4 human children: Guren, Ceylan, Chooki, and Toxsa respectively.
It’s got parts of the dialogue with voice acting from the series, which adds to the experience. With the vocal talents of Todd Haberkorn (Fairy Tail, Initial D, Soul Eater), Bryce Papenbrook (Sword Art Online, Pokemon Origins, Durarara!), Johnny Yong Bosch (Power Rangers, Trigun, UMvC3’s Zero), and Steven Jay Blum (Dynasty/Samurai Warriors, Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo) to name a few, it keeps the voice acting alive.
Considering that you’re dealing with blocks as the base, the visuals are pretty solid. The 3DS doesn’t disappoint, which isn’t surprising at this point. The audio can be a bit off balance at times, but it’s not too detracting. A common mistake I’ve noticed with a lot of games, actually.
It isn’t surprising that the game is rather simple. I mean, it was designed for children. You go to an arena, kick some bot, and collect parts. So as to be expected from this type of game, the play is a bit repetitive- be prepared for that.The cool thing is that you can pick your favorite knight and customize them. This is why you need the parts, by the way. They’ve also got a few boss battles that are entertaining. The 1v1 aspect makes it a bit more interesting. Tributon is my personal favorite. I’d say he’s the best for long range, but his short range game is not to be trifled with either. Although between Todd and Johnny, the choice was difficult.
My biggest gripe with the game is probably the controls. While they aren’t terribad, they get in the way at times. Especially certain air functions. Grinding will happen, so those quick bus trips or times when you don’t want to talk to someone are perfect for that. Bonus missions are there to help, too. Not to mention, you can play with your friends, so that makes things easier.
