Matt's Battle Arena Toshinden Retrospective!

[@MattMcMuscles]

It's come to my attention there's an actual R-ZONE game based off Toshinden. Why did I not include it? Well, it's because it's on the R-ZONE! (but I also had no idea) kzbin.info/www/bejne/nXuQd35pYtqSbK8

[@a.rheser8181]

Oh crap! Not the R-ZONE! BTW great Video Mr.McMuscles! I really like PS One-era fighting games, and Toshinden 3 will always have a special place in my heart.I spent hours unlocking all the characters.

[@beauleidig8670]

As someone who once owned an R-ZONE, I can say with utmost certainty, not including it was the right choice.

[@RaikenXion]

HEY!! Uranus was in Bloody Roar 4 too, just sayin

[@Vergilzelkin]

I'm just watching this video today and was about to comment that you forgot to mention the R-Zone port of the game. My older sister and I both got an R-Zone for Christmas that came bundled with Battle Arena Toshinden. We grew up watching a VHS tape with a collection of Playstation games that my father's friend made for us, since we did not have a Playstation when it came out. Great video!!! I had no idea there was a 3 or 4!!! I have 1 and 2, now I need to search for the other games.

[@JohnnyMatherson]

btw it's Tomee not tommy.

[@StopSkeletonsFromFighting]

Dude, what?? That Earth Worm Jim cameo??

[@FightersGen]

A forgotten gem. The PS1 days were good times. Great retrospective man!

[@NickBartolo]

This was the first game I ever booted up on my release day PS1. The 3D graphics were mind blowing to me.

[@sentientricecake3125]

Thank you, people don't talk about these games enough!!

[@s4tchm0j0n3s]

"Eight travelling fighters, brought together by a common destiny, now meet in the Battle Arena Toshinden". These words will always be etched in to my memory. As will the theme from Eijis stage. The good old days where putting a game in a cd player sometimes let you play the soundtrack. I copied it to tape and played the hell out of it.

[@stefcannon2580]

You’re speaking my language!! I recorded music from this game’s soundtrack onto cassette too! Holding my Talkboy up to my TV speaker 😬

[@CorporalDanLives]

Oh yeah, that intro ripped. Also count me as one who put that soundtrack on cassette and drove around with it blasting in high school.

[@robsonpommer7464]

"Toshinden did nothing new"? It was a freakin' street fighter-like game in 3D! If anyone is wondering why it blowed a lot of people's mind back then, that's why! It had hadoukens in a 3D game! This could mean nothing today, but in 1995, we didn't even know if it was possible!

[@dacrimsonmask13]

The soundtrack of this game is Just perfect! Theres a small channel calle ss4shenlong that have made remixes of all themes, and honestly they are perfect.

[@Shoinoffrc]

Part 2 was awesome have vivid memories of this game

[@Disco4ia]

I'll have to check it out. I remember unironically liking the first game as a kid and I'm sure a good part of that reason was the OST.

[@amurter19]

Toshinden was up there with street fighter and mortal kombat in my house, even if it shouldn't have. Music is still sick.

[@koolkiller9116]

Wanted a Playstation 1 because of this game. I loved it! After part 2 I thought it was done. Nearly 20 years later I never knew this information. Thank you!

[@braikingboss9137]

Oh best believe to me this was a virtual fighter killer. When I received my PlayStation this is one of the first games I ever had. I remember it perfectly. The music was sold amazing the graphics were ahead of its time for me and just looked so amazing and played fantastic to me!!! This game truly has a special place in my heart.❤❤❤

[@theluckywatcher4568]

I remember putting the disc in my cd player just so I could listen to the music, it was so good.

[@bryantnonya8704]

The original battle arena toshinden was a fantastic game for its time and very underrated!

[@alabastergreen7444]

I was a diehard nintendo fanboy when this came out but still spent hours playing it on my sister's ps1. I have a soft spot in my heart for this game

[@xen0bia]

Ah Battle Arena Toshinden, the figgting game of my youth! Had such a rocking soundtrack, I loved it!

[@Magnegro]

This episode means so much to me, lol. My sisters and I loved the Toshinden series growing up. The second game's OST is also surprisingly dope

[@IwatchTubiTrash]

The first game is probably my fondest game memory. I made a deal with my parents when I was a kid that I’d work my ass off doing chores for extra allowance so I could get a PS1 at launch. I ended up getting one on release and played the HELL out of this game. I recently booted it up again after decades and had a lot of fun with it.

[@BakiX]

Cannot overstate how phenomenal these games OST’s are.

[@elliott20]

"super moves were hard to pull off in a match" *Cries in Geese Howard*

[@sean_image]

Toshinden 3 was my absolute favorite gameplay wise.

[@DenOndeBoss]

Same here 👍

[@alessandroferrucci6087]

I had this on gameboy and remember it fondly, it was surprisingly decent

[@shadowflash705]

It's one of the better GB fighting games.

[@me.genius]

@@shadowflash705 THE best, if you ask me 😉

[@InjuredPelican]

I really enjoyed this partly cause you were largely positive. I can tell you actually like the game(s)/franchise you are talking about without having to gush either. Thanks for an awesome video. The first Battle Arena Toshinden was a fun game to me and my family back in the day so I will always have some fondness for it.

[@digitalmedkit6979]

Battle Arena Toshinden 1 still has one of my favorite video game soundtracks of all time, specially Duke's theme.

[@ts6603]

just realized that too. after over 20 years xD

[@professorBofFPU]

I fucking love Battle Arena Toshinden and it's anime movie and I don't care what anyone says: that first game is still fun as hell.

[@lowercase_james]

I was probably the one Saturn owner at the time bummed that BAT wasn’t available on it. Then one glorious day BAT Remix came out and I was all “tAkE tHaT PLaYSTaTiOn iDiOtS!” - really not my proudest moment.

[@CobraBlade]

In a family that could only afford one system, I was super happy myself when we got Remix. Even happier when we got URA. It felt like URA was made especially for us with costume design changes that did away with the mesh transparencies that were criticised in Remix and the brand new characters just for us.

[@D3Vlicious]

Honestly, this feels like a precursor to the games like Street Fighter EX and Rival Schools, taking 2D mechanics but putting them on a 3D playfield.

[@irkalla100]

Played 1, 2, and URA. Used to love these back in the day.

[@rouju]

The soundtrack always being my favorite. Especially Toshinden 2

[@cyclopssam3309]

The first game had the best ost of them all.

[@MustacheManx]

One of my very first games growing up. To this day i still have my copy , love this game and it’s music so much !

[@otakuthegreat]

OMG! I still have this game on Platinum. I still have memories of me and my big brother playing it (I used to record the music too) Was blown away when I first encountered the cheat to use Sho Funny thing: if you win near the edge of the ring and they do their victory pose they fall off (Fo's is the best one 🤣) Thanks for the retrospective Matt 👍🏾

[@diobrando1918]

A heart/pin worthy comment And love the victory fall out Mondo's was good too

[@mysticphoenix1987]

Hahah finally someone mentioned the victory pose ring out 😂

[@KonkeyVG]

"Playing a lot like Castlevania Judgement" damn no need to go in so hard that's brutal

[@Efreeti]

Battle Arena Toshinden 1 was one of the first games I ever played on the PS1, and Toshinden 2 was one of the first two games I owned alongside the first Ridge Racer. Big nostalgia hours.

[@MrMidasGames]

I LOVEDD TOSHINDEN... OMG That was my game. Soul Calibur feels like the spiritual successor.

[@walterlucero5757]

"YOU R NOT (colored red) E." I still remembered those first PlayStation ads. Funny how that model with the weird wink from the Battle Arena Toshinden 2 opening looked nothing like Sofia.

[@jamiecranton]

Oh dude you have no idea how happy I am right now this was literally my first ps 1 game ever

[@jamiecranton]

@@TexasHollowEarth good to see people with good taste in shows (koth) also have good taste in games the OST kicks I has eijis theme as my alarm tone for years

[@deathsceane]

I'm glad somebody remembers Toshinden. It may not have aged well, but it would be fascinating if it came back as an HD Remix with all the best aspects of its original ports.

[@DrProfessorMD]

Refreshing to a new Matt post just warms my heart. :)

[@JulesJuno737]

I'm on time FOR ONCE!

[@dribcc]

I grew up playing Toshinden and watched that awful anime almost every weekend on some random cable channel

[@evanhanley6437]

I played the first two so heavily growing up. They kicked so much ass. I enjoyed the second one more. Those soundtracks are incredible. Excellent work Matt.

[@shawnlopez2317]

Awesome video! Thanks for talking about this franchise.. BAT2 was one of my favorite fighters on the PS1 back in the day. The game play (at the time) was cool, the music WAS awesome and I just really like the cast of characters, especially Vermilion. When you get two players as Vermillion it completely changes the dynamics of the game, it go's from being a fighter to a John Woo film.

[@unnstopable]

BAT was almost my first PSX game ever but my parents didn't want me to play any violent game so they got me Raystorm instead. Can't say I'm disappointed tho.

[@nathanking2955]

I remember getting part 3 and not being able to get my friends to play it with me. It was one of my favorite fighting games back in the day. Had no idea there was a part 4.

[@DenOndeBoss]

Sometimes ignorence is a bliss 😅

[@DeamonChocobo]

Toshinden 3 was probably my first video game, so many memories

[@JesseReviews]

Masami Obari is one of my favorite anime director, yes the movies aren't great by any means, but I do love the animation style and the uh content.

[@RewindArcade]

By far my favorite video you’ve done so far. The info and gags were all top notch!

[@Henshingod]

It's always hilarious to me that THIS was supposed to be Sony's crown jewel of the fighting genre, and then people realized that Tekken was just a better game.

[@djutmose]

Tekken was released a couple months later in the west. For a short time people RAVED about Toshinden. It was all about the graphics. I was there back in the day and I'm not remembering how this looked SO GOOD back then... But we thought it did.

[@IssaMerk]

This game was amazing back in the day if they kept going and didn’t do the cheesy intro at on the second one this game woulda been that much bette

[@MikeLaundry]

This game was just as mindblowing as Mario64 was at the time of release. Tekken didn't exist yet as Toshinden was the 1st game that was ever released for PS1.

[@valugamez7574]

Tekken looked like dogshit to me compared to this game back then. Tekken 1 and 2 were just Virtua Fighter clones that had 3D graphics and 2D gameplay.

[@matthewnikitas8905]

In all fairness this game was really pretty good for being such an early 3D fighter, although it hasn’t aged super well, the first Tekken has not aged particularly well and in my opinion Toshinden is probably a little better.

[@kainhighwind2]

Shit like this is why I love you, Matt.

[@Paur]

I'm glad he included the wii Toshinden game. To this day I was confused if this was an official Toshinden game or not... and I guess it was?

[@KrisHomemadeBaking]

toshinden and especially toshinden 2 had straight fire music!

[@AndNowYourMommaKnows]

I'm shocked you left out that part 3 was one of the first games to have a 60 frame per second mode. Part 3 is my favorite fighting game. Great video.

[@edgeyberzerker]

So hype when I saw this posted on Patreon! I played and own D-Xhird, Puzzle Arena Toshinden and Toshinden Card Quest. D-Xhird is a lot like Toshinden 1 with stiffer controls BUT I still enjoyed it. I really dug the Five Star Story like character designs and it looked like they were really trying for a new fighter franchise. It even teased a sequel that sadly never happened. I'm a complete mark for Puzzle Arena Toshinden, I think the game is a lot of fun though the sound effects Chaos makes can be annoying after awhile (but only if you play Chaos!) Toshinden Card Quest is well... ummm... it's not bad especially when you figure out the mechanics. The problem is you have to have a lot of knowledge of Japanese! i managed to play a few rounds of it with the help of Google Translate but boy howdy it looks like you need to have knowledge of Toshinden Lore to not lose turns and what not. Card Quest did have artwork for a teased Toshinden Next which would have been a prequel but it looks like that idea was completely scrapped. Repeating myself a little on Patreon and Twitter here but I can't help it, i'm huge mark for Toshinden and I would love a proper remake of this (with the cast of characters we know and love). When they released Toshinden 1,2 and 3 on the PSN store for PS3 and Vita in Japan, it was best selling classics for quite a while. Interest is there but I think those Senran Kagura dollars are going else where. SIGH

[@edgeyberzerker]

OH SHIT I SAW MY NAME IN THE CREDITS JUST NOW THANK YOU SO MUCH MR. MCMUSCLES ARRRRGGG!

[@TheLandofObscusion]

I'll admit, I was hesitant to watch this video, because almost anytime you see someone make a video about Toshinden it's pretty much a guarantee that it'll just poke fun at it & act like it was all just a massive mistake. Thankfully, Matt did the opposite by making a very respectful video on the series, while still acknowledging its faults & how rough the games have aged. I am a fan of Toshinden, and really doesn't get the credit it deserves. For example, Toshinden 1 was Tamsoft's very first game, which I think helps make it feel all the more impressive in retrospect. Also, Toshinden seems to be the first fighting game to have a soundtrack with fully-composed songs, i.e. they don't start repeating after no more than a minute. Toshinden 2 is, personally, one of the greatest fighting game soundtracks of all time, with each & every song having so much to them that you'd never actually get to hear just by playing the game, partially because fights don't tend to last that lost, and partially because the music rests after each round, due to it being a redbook soundtrack. Seriously, just listen to Sho's theme from BAT2, and you'll hear a magnificent song that you'd literally never hear while fighting him in the game itself, because it's rare for a round to last longer than 30 seconds. kzbin.info/www/bejne/h4a0i52JpJmdb6c

[@tintillor]

I remember loving Toshinden Subaru and completing it more than one time. It had a fucking lot of unlockables.

[@SincereBruh]

I think this is one of the fighters that I would have loved to see rebooted for current times. It always disappointed me that is strayed so far from where it started and I would love to kick ass with Ellis again

[@passivebomb]

Yeah, I played Puzzle Arena Toshinden from time to time. If you lose as Duke several times, you can play as his butler Sebastian with a special code.

[@ProfessorThorgi]

I love your retrospectives, very happy to see a new one

[@KGRAMR]

Funny to think how long a company founded by a former Toaplan developer has been going on making games since 1992. The last project of that developer at Toaplan, Toshiaki Ohta (who is still president of Tamsoft), was the underrated shoot 'em up Dogyuun.

[@Bluebpy83]

Loved this game. The music was so damn good. Ellis stage and Duke stage were my fave. The damn guitar solos.

[@megatronbison]

I actually think the Gameboy title was the best of the bunch - charming sprites, batshit story with that deliciously poor translation, tones of secret modes, moves and characters - I'd say only 3 played as well on the console releases. Also - my god, the voice acting in Battle Arena Toshinden Remix - a thing of beauty! I captured all of Kayin's story mode a few years ago: kzbin.info/www/bejne/a4mtmoV4o9ygkJI It's fantastic - he sounds like Groundskeeper Willy!

[@trinidadmetroid]

YESSSSS. My neighbour got the gameboy game for xmas and we played the heck out of it! It was the first toshinden game I played. I even installed it onto my snes classic.

[@Narrator1]

I remember being intrigued about why Eiji was suddenly an edgelord running his own mysterious organization, for what the story was worth. Nothing ever came of it though, since Vermilion was still the true final boss.

[@musculator36]

I have the original disc in my home , its so good this game i love it

[@gugu3436]

I remember playing URA on Saturn with my brother, we didn’t understand anything on how to play, just smashing our controllers :) Sweet memories, thank you Matt

[@oliverqueen4154]

I played battle arena toshinden when I was super young on ps1 and I havent been able to find what it was called until now. The memories

[@moejuggler6033]

We're all connected mentally man. I swear this is the 3rd video *today* that fit into exactly what I was thinking about.

[@ArkradosKeiresk]

Before my local movie theater closed down in South Carolina, they had a Toshinden 2 cabinet in the lobby. I would always look forward to going to the movie, seeing something on the big screen, then take some quarters in Toshinden 2 to buy some candy.

[@rustybrooks8916]

Toshinden 1 and 2 were two of my favorite games of all time. There aren't many games I've played more. Tekken was never really all there for me. I've always liked Street Fighter mechanics but in a 3D setting. Being able to roll just felt like the most amazing thing to me years ago. I've played many fighting games since, but somehow none of them ever captured the feeling I got from those first two games.

[@DavidEarle]

Love seeing more Toshinden content! The Shining series has kind of a bonkers history, and the latest game (I think?) is a fighting game, so might be worth checking out.

[@raver208]

4:12 I absolutely did the same thing. Used a “talkboy” Tape recorder to record and “mix” Toshinden & various other VG tracks in the mid-1990s. Not the least bit sorry about it! 😝

[@fieldtrips7855]

Stumbled upon your channel, consider me a fan. I can’t tell you how much I loved this game as a kid. I remember playing the demo at KB toys and loved it. Then my Grandfather bought me a PSX for Christmas with this game. So many memories playing this with my friends. Loved the anime too, tried to buy the anime at EB games as a 10 year old kid but they wouldn’t let me get it due to nudity. Then my Dad bought it for me a week later, good memories!

[@chadwebb1345]

I LOVED this game and it’s sequel. Unapologetically. Simple fun. Characters came through.

[@Fuzon-S]

I had fond memories of playing BA Toshinden 2, their OST is still a bop

[@chrisducati26]

When i was a kid in may 1995 i enter in a games showroom in my town and when i saw the PlayStation battle arena toshinden i was so excited,me and my friends we were playing games on sega master system and megadrive never saw something beautiful and powerful till that day!

[@crankcase42aks25]

In my opinion toshinden 3 is one my favorite game of all times. It had a great soundtrack, cool and interesting characters, and unique type of gameplay. I would play that game then other fighting games in my opinion

[@ThatsCoolJoshua]

audible gasp! BAT was the first playstation game I ever played

[@cristianmastrocicco4552]

If I remember correctly, in Toshinden 3 there's an option that lets you choose between 30 and 60fps (At the cost of graphics). I don't really see the difference in framerate, so I always keep it at 30

[@DenOndeBoss]

I always play it at 60 frames, thinks it feels much more fluid, and the graphics aren't that great to begin with anyway 😅

[@lyteedge]

Puzzle Arena Toshinden and the Gameboy Toshinden were the best-playing titles in this series.

[@stefcannon2580]

I’ll never forget being an excited kid seeing this in a games shop, and playing on my trampoline in the backyard on Christmas Eve just thinking about this game over and over and how great it would be to hopefully get it the next day… and I did and loved it and 2 afterwards! 3 was okay but 2 will always be the best one for me. I had seen your review of 2 but had no idea you did another one on 1, thank you!! And I recorded game music (including this one’s) onto tape as well! From this, and Shinobi III and Mortal Kombat on Sega Megadrive

[@truecauseofchaos]

Only played the first one and it brought back a lot of memories! Battle Arena Toshinden, Dynasty Warriors (the fighting game) and Zero Divide (which is a series you should totally cover Matt!) were my earliest and fondest PSX childhood memories!

[@lumpisan]

BAT was the first game I got for my PSX. My dad saved all year to get me one the uear it came out. I regularly played this game for years until my PSX died. I admit it aint the best but its always got a huge place in my heart

[@WannabeDancer72]

I loved this game. I was really young so to me it was like Tekken's more colourful eccentric cousin. I remember playing as Sofia and doing her spin kick and spinning right off the end of the cloud arena! Also, I'm glad you mentioned War Gods. People used to look at me like I was insane when I would mention that game.

[@DeNice1776]

I still revisit Toshinden (and Bloody Roar) regularly and STILL have the sountracks of the first 3 games on my To-Go playlist when outside the house. It was literally my second fighting series I got into after Street Fighter and even though it's in hibernation it still holds fond memories of it from my childhood (My old BAT1 Ellis playthrough is still one of my higher viewed content on my channel). Personally Toshinden 1 was my absolute favorite and inspired me a lot, while both 1 & 2 had absolutely awesome soundtrracks. I really love when others talk about games of yesteryear that has at least some forms of quality to them like this, so thank you so much for giving this series a spotlight!

[@ezrawalker]

I owned the Windows port, which had an amusing feature. Once installed, you could substitute another audio CD and the game would pull audio from it during matches, based on the timestamp.

[@tec5x5]

I absolutely love the Battle Arena Toshinden series owning all but 3 (BAT 4, BAT Kids, Wii Toshinden) There fine games with good music and also Sofia

[@thedanielstraight]

I never had a Playstation 1 growing up, so all the PS1 games I played were PC ports. This includes FFVII, FFVIII, RE1 and RE2 which was called RE2: Platinum. I never had Battle Arena Toshinden, though.

[@bw4348]

I used to rent the Saturn Remix version from Block Buster back around '96/'97. Those Sofia ads in the magazines made quite the impression on me back in the day as a kid.

[@DarkAngel1EVO]

The first Toshinden game I played was the GameBoy version. And then I fell in love with the series when I found out there was more on the PlayStation. Especially the music.

[@AstalThe9]

I still love the Toshinden series. Its my nostalgic go-to fighter if I want a quick trip back to the past. Ellis's and Cupido's themes are still two of my absolute favorite tracks in a fighting game. I never got to play 4 for the longest, as I am not getting a PAL PS1 and for some reason any Emulator I used just did not like it.

[@rorystevie]

Toshinden 1 was my first 3D fighting game that I did play in my Windows 95 back in the days.

[@jongon0848]

Toshinden 3's intro is actually in my Top 2 favorite game intros of all times. Right up there with Tekken 3.

[@robertlee9602]

This was my before Tekken lol.

[@fotuoh]

Battle Arena Toshinden 2 was one of the first fighting games that my brother and I played together. This video was pure nostalgia ride. Thanks Matt

[@gshgsh]

I actually only ever played Toshinden Subaru. Can't say the gameplay was very good, but I remember the game having a ridiculous amount of content, so many modes. Certainly lasted me for quite a long time as kid, good memories of a not so great game haha

[@GreyFoxVinzin]

Man, this takes me back when I was too young to "play games" and just watching my folks and my uncles/aunts playing this every other weekend in the mid 90's

[@manicpixie566]

I remember having played the first three these games as a kid, and I actually enjoyed it. I remember pumping hours into 3. Sho was my guy.

[@shoux]

i had the toshinden board game but couldn't understand anything xD Puzzle Arena Toshinden on the other hand.. hoo boy.. that was a bloody addictive game! And the cartoon cutscenes were hilarious

[@reddj002]

One of the Best Fighters Ever... would love a reboot

[@kingknowles2112]

I've never related to a person more in my life when matt said he recorded the music to listen in his spare time as i did the same when i was young 😁 Great video as alway matt, keep up the good work 👍

[@Aldebaran5588]

My first Ps1 game! I think Namco took inspiration from Sofia to create Ivy in Soul Calibur

[@mintysquinty2989]

I'd love to see this game modernized, but that will never happen. It's a forgotten gem.