Batman: The Rise of Sin Tzu

**Captain Vegetable** · 17 Dec 2003, 03:26 AM

Yeah, yeah, I know. There was a thread about this not too long ago. But, considering it was a huge advertisement by those jack-asses who thought they were getting one over on us, and the fact that it turned into a passive flame fest, I figured I'd just make a new one officially labeled "official."

So, the game is now available for $20 (even the LE is $20), and the Batgirl flavor seems to be a bit difficult to get ahold of, and since I'm a sucker for free items, especially action figures, I picked it up. You know what? It's a pretty damned good game.

I'm a huge fan of Batman, so I was probably bound to give this game an unfair advantage, but Batman aside, it's a solid Beat'em up.

I started on Easy, because there are unlockables for each difficulty level. I was going to have to play easy at some point to get all the extras, so I figured I'd start off that way, not unlike Viewtiful Joe.

I selected Robin as my character, who is voiced by the actor for Teen Titans, which is a definite plus, and away I went. At first I was a little dissatisfied with the combo system. It didn't lend itself to any creativity, as there was a total of four combos I could do. Two punch and two kick. I know it only cost me $20 bucks, but a lame combo system is enough to make me regret it, even if I did get the Batgirl fig. Much to my supprise, at the end of the levels you are given the option to purchase more combo extensions and throws with the points you earn for any given level. Excellent. It wasn't as shallow as I initally believed. You can also buy "tolkens" with which to unlock certain bonuses (like character models) in the Trophey Room. On Easy, all you can buy are Bronze tolkens, but certain unlockables require Bronze tolkens, so like I said, even Easy is worth playing through.

Right now I'm halfway through Scarecrow's levels. Each arch-villian has their own variety of henchmen, as well as the standard thugs and bullies who appear in every level. Scarecrow's henchmen drop these bombs that cause a "Fear Effect." It's pretty neat. All of the on screen enemies become some type of monster, the screen goes all wavey, and because you're supposed to be experiencing the effects of fear, you hit a lot lighter, equating to less damage. It's a neat gimmick. If you can get to the thugs with bombs before they drop them, you can avoid the Fear Effect, but sometimes it's difficult to get to them in time.

I'm not far into the game, so I can't comment on boss battles or anything like that, but so far it's totally been worth the $20 dollars. Sin Tzu's voice work is brilliant, and I wouldn't mind seeing him end up in the comics . . . after a trial by fire. I'd hate to see him sneek onto the official Batman scene after having to do less work than Harley. He deserves it, but not as much as she did.

**Roufuss** · 17 Dec 2003, 03:43 AM

Forgot to mention that it also had a challenge mode, kind of like survival... sounds awesome, I'll definately check it out tommorrow

And oh, about the tokens... the only way to get copper tokens is to play with a friend. Looks like there will be some things I'll never unlock

Plus CV, are the LE's out in plain view, or do I have to ask for it in particular? And how do I tell which figure is in the box?

**Tracer** · 17 Dec 2003, 04:09 AM

I hear it's only 19.99 now. Yada yada participating retailers, so on and so on.

**Roufuss** · 17 Dec 2003, 04:13 AM

Originally Posted by Tracer

I hear it's only 19.99 now. Yada yada participating retailers, so on and so on.

He mentioned it was 20 bucks quite a few times in his initial post...

Dammit CV, answer my question before I go to bed and to Gamestop in the morning

**Will** · 17 Dec 2003, 08:24 AM

I might buy this today if cash permits, I didn't expect it to hit bargain bin price so soon.

*Eeeexcellent*

**Captain Vegetable** · 17 Dec 2003, 09:58 AM

Roufuss, you'll probably have to ask for the LE, as they come in a special box that makes it difficult to gut, especially if the store you're going to has the regular version. Why would they gut a Limited Edition if they can just throw a normal one up on the wall.

And you'll know which figure you'll be getting by simply looking at the back of the box. There's a celephane window that displays the figure quite nicely, and a protrait of the character in question featured below the window. To be honest, the only thing Batgirl had up on Batman was her rarity. Bats is in his original blue and grays, and it looks fantastic, so had Batgirl not been available, I would have had no problem picking up a Batman. As a matter of fact, I might buy another copy of the game for the Batman fig, and simply trade the second copy in. The capes are all nice and cloth, and the sculpts are quality, even if their accuracy sacrifices posabiblity a little.

Sorry I didn't get to you last night. I was tired.

**Captain Vegetable** · 17 Dec 2003, 10:02 AM

Originally Posted by Roufuss

And oh, about the tokens... the only way to get copper tokens is to play with a friend. Looks like there will be some things I'll never unlock

Truely, this sucks nuts. But I don't recall anything in the trophey room requiring Copper Tolkens. Maybe I wasn't looking far enough down the lists.

**Roufuss** · 17 Dec 2003, 05:30 PM

Originally Posted by Captain Vegetable

Roufuss, you'll probably have to ask for the LE, as they come in a special box that makes it difficult to gut, especially if the store you're going to has the regular version. Why would they gut a Limited Edition if they can just throw a normal one up on the wall.

And you'll know which figure you'll be getting by simply looking at the back of the box. There's a celephane window that displays the figure quite nicely, and a protrait of the character in question featured below the window. To be honest, the only thing Batgirl had up on Batman was her rarity. Bats is in his original blue and grays, and it looks fantastic, so had Batgirl not been available, I would have had no problem picking up a Batman. As a matter of fact, I might buy another copy of the game for the Batman fig, and simply trade the second copy in. The capes are all nice and cloth, and the sculpts are quality, even if their accuracy sacrifices posabiblity a little.

Sorry I didn't get to you last night. I was tired.

Bought it for xbox... and they actually did have gutted LE's up on the wall

Anyways, they didn't have any batgirl figures, and it took the guy about 25 minutes to find the LE's with the figures... I got a batman fig, he's pretty cool.

I'll post my impressions later on tonight, but I'm not too worried on if it's good or not. For me, CV has been pretty good about reviews of games, espically comic book ones, so I know if he likes it, then it's gotta have some redeeming qualities.

**Captain Vegetable** · 18 Dec 2003, 12:16 AM

Originally Posted by Roufuss

For me, CV has been pretty good about reviews of games, espically comic book ones, so I know if he likes it, then it's gotta have some redeeming qualities.

I really appreciate this. Thanks, man.