Digimon Rumble Arena (PSone)

My first exposure to cute little monsters was through the Pokémon [poh-kay-mohn] franchise which, at the time, only consisted of 150 then later 151 Pokémon. This was my fun little world back then till the show disappeared from analogue television (booooo). A short while later, Digimon came onto the scene.

Either during season two or three I received a Digimon World game (not sure of installment) as a gift. To me it was an amazing game though, not realized at the time, it was pretty slow going. Then, like my console controller of late, the game vanished. Even the wanted poster couldn't reel it back.

Some months later, I received a new Digimon game that was highly engaging and somewhat fast paced. Though a fighting type, it was still an interesting game to play.

Battle Rumble: Digimon Style

Harmless looking stage at first but when the face in the
back starts glow, you have to keep moving to keep from
getting hit by falling molten rocks.

This game - from what I can remember - came out during season three of the series (manga was a new term for me at this time so I'm utilizing the television series). The starter roster consisted of Generations 1 - 3 Digi Knights - some, not all. After achieving a specific milestone, the ability to digivolve becomes available.

Though only two levels of digital evolution were available for these characters, it was still something to marvel at. Not just marvel per se but to breathe a sigh of relief because you actually had a form that could defeat the end boss without the risk of your controller flying across the room. It wasn't impossible to defeat him in rookie/champion form but it was time consuming; unless you had a character that specialized in long range attacks.

Characters and Stages

There were several stages that surfaced during solo mode that were multi-leveled; which came in handy when dodging attacks. Each stage had a set of power-ups that could be utilized to boost defense, replenish health or boost your digivolve bar. In addition to being multi-leveled, each stage represented an element; nature, fire, water, etc.

The characters were recognizable and easy identify including Calumon who filled in as fight coordinator; or referee if you prefer. You start off with each character being in their basic form which will be Rookie or Champion form; each Digimon is unique and size can be deceiving. After each basic character's milestone is completed, their max form is unlocked; this form varies as well.

Aside from being accessible through the basic characters after digivolving, they were also accessible as standalone forms. Not sure why, but I always thought their armor forms were available in this installment; probably wishful thinking at the time.

Goodtimes

It was a fun game back then, especially with the mysterious disappearance of said D-World game. At the time I was basically cycling through and switching between the Super NES and PSone consoles. A typical day would include Super NES sessions followed by PSone sessions.

Still a lot of fond memories of playing those games for who knows how long. Things have changed a lot since then as there are countless Pokemon and new Digi-stories to explore both on screen and console.