Battle Arena Toshinden

For the anime, see Battle Arena Toshinden (anime).
Battle Arena Toshinden
Toh Shin Den
North American PlayStation box art featuring characters Eiji and Mondo
Developer(s)
Tamsoft
  • Digital Dialect (MS-DOS)
Publisher(s)
Director(s)Shintarō Nakaoka
Producer(s)Takayuki Nakano
Programmer(s)Hiroaki Furukawa
Composer(s)Yasuhiro Nakano, Makoto Mukai, Fumio Tanabe
SeriesBattle Arena Toshinden
EngineHyper Solid
Platform(s)PlayStation, Saturn, MS-DOS, Game Boy
Release
January 1, 1995
  • PlayStation
    • JP: January 1, 1995
    • NA: September 9, 1995
    • EU: September 29, 1995
    Saturn (Remix)
    • JP: November 24, 1995
    • NA: March 27, 1996
    • EU: March 29, 1996[1]
    Game Boy
    • JP: March 22, 1996
    • NA: November 1996
    • EU: 1996
    DOS
    • NA: April 22, 1996
    • EU: 1996
    PS3/PS Vita/PSP
    • JP: November 22, 2016
Genre(s)Fighting
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Battle Arena Toshinden, released as Toh Shin Den[a][b][2] in Japan, is a 1995 fighting video game developed by Tamsoft and published by Takara for the PlayStation.[3] It was one of the first fighting games, after Virtua Fighter on arcade and console, to boast polygonal characters in a 3D environment, and features a sidestep maneuver which is credited for taking the genre into "true 3D."[4]

Toy giant Takara produced the game during a six month period in 1994 as their first original video game, together with new developer Tamsoft, both of whom had worked on porting Samurai Showdown and other SNK fighters to consoles. Initially made to be a PlayStation exclusive,[5][6] the game was released in Japan a few weeks after the console's debut, and released internationally by Sony Computer Entertainment as a launch title. Its American division had promoted it as a "Saturn killer" (against Sega's Virtua Fighter),[7] but ironically a Saturn port published by Sega, titled Battle Arena Toshinden Remix and with additional features, was released less than a year later.[8] A 2D version was developed and released for the Game Boy in 1996, published internationally by Nintendo, making it the only game to have been published by all of the largest console manufacturers of its time. A version for MS-DOS was also released.

A weapons-based fighter, Toh Shin Den features eight anime-style characters — the work of Tsukasa Kotobuki — and has gameplay mechanics such as special and projectile attacks akin to 2D fighters like Street Fighter.[9][4] Critically acclaimed[10] for graphical innovations like gouraud shading and transparent effects,[11] Toh Shin Den was a popular early title on the PlayStation[2] and it spawned sequels starting with Battle Arena Toshinden 2, as well as manga and anime adaptations.[12] However, a lackluster reception to its sequels meant that it was overshadowed by the Tekken series, especially with Tekken 2, and it fell in popularity.[13][14] The weapons concept was then further popularized by Soul Edge.[15]

  1. ^ Lomas, Ed (May 1996). "Checkpoint - The Month's Events and Software Releases". Computer and Video Games. No. 174. Future Publishing. p. 64.
  2. ^ a b "Overseas Prospects". GamePro. No. 73 (published August 1996). 1996. p. 114.
  3. ^ "1995年の元日、プレステを救ったソフト『闘神伝』 激しいハード戦争中に登場". マグミクス (in Japanese). Retrieved August 23, 2024.
  4. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference ign_toshinden was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ "【1994年】【11月号】GAME BLAST 1994.11 創刊号".
  6. ^ "Toh Shin Den". Sega Saturn Magazine. No. 2. Emap International Limited. December 1995. p. 14.
  7. ^ "Hardcore Gaming 101: Virtua Fighter". Archived from the original on January 15, 2015. Retrieved January 16, 2015.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference :1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ jeremy1456 (May 8, 2016). "Battle Arena Toshinden Review (Sony PlayStation, 1995)". Infinity Retro. Retrieved August 23, 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference GR_PS was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference Max1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ "Virtual Combat". Game On! USA. No. 2. Viz Media. 1996. p. 7.
  13. ^ "Play Test: Battle Arena Toshinden". Official UK PlayStation Magazine. No. Platinum Special. Future Publishing. 1999. p. 105.
  14. ^ "Toshinden 3". Next Generation (magazine). Vol. 2, no. 24 (published December 1996). 1996. p. 204.
  15. ^ "『闘神伝』が発売された日。PS世代なら誰もが知っている3D格闘、かわいいエリスに恋をしたユーザーも多い（はず）【今日は何の日？】 | ゲーム・エンタメ最新情報のファミ通.com". ファミ通.com (in Japanese). January 1, 2024. Retrieved September 2, 2024.


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