This review takes an indepth look at the Nintendo Wii release which promises to be more fun than other platforms thanks to the use of the Wii’s motion sensing controls, and with a title such as this surely the game can only be fun……Can’t it?

 

 

For those like myself whom had never heard of the game before it stems from a series of Japanese games released on various formats including PS2, Mobile phones and Xbox 360. Such was it’s success it received a worldwide release which took more than two years to reach these shores and has even led to a movie being released based on the series.

 

Similar to the Rumble Roses series of games Onechanbara appears to relay heavily on the scantily clad women featured in the game which gives it a sleezy feeling from the very start. Curiously games such as this always prove successful to Japanese audiences where as western gamers have felt very hit and miss with such content.

 

 

The game itself sees you taking control of one of one of two sisters called Aya and Saki who are on a mission to find the meaning of the ancestors and to do so have to battle through a variety of scenarios filled with various undead creatures along the way.

 

Each character has differing abilities and weaponry at your disposal with from guns to grenades but obviously as the games title suggests the main focus being on sword attacks. This makes it more of a hack and slash game in the vein of other successful Japanese games Dynasty Warriors and Warriors Orochi with the main difference being the hoards of undead to battle in a variety of different settings.

 

 

Having seen this on the Xbox 360 prior to receiving my Wii copy it looked to be a tedious button bashing affair which would have got boring very quickly. However I had higher hopes for the Wii version with the promise of utilising the Wii controls to greater effect but how does that effect the overall gameplay?

 

The answer to that it that without a doubt the game is far more fun with the Wii controls working very well in the game which uses a combination of both Wiimote and nunchuck controllers. This is where the game becomes cleverer than other the release on the 360 as the Wiimote is used to mimic the movements of your characters sword whilst the nunchuck is used to control the characters movements and by swinging it used to make your character kick enemies.

 

 

Undoubtedly this combat mechanism seems fun at first but it does not take long for the constant arm waving to become a chore if I’m honest. This is a shame really as what could be pretty unique soon becomes tedious and not as fun as you had first anticipated.