Digimon Digital Monsters was an anime I enjoyed when I was in high school. It was based on a digital pet of the same name (which is considered Tamagotchi for boys, and could connect with one other unit to fight another person's Digimon), the series differed from Pokémon as it was about kids chosen to have Digimon partners to save both the real world and the Digital World. Of course, with a popular cartoon or anime aimed at kids, there will be video games. While Digimon has had them, they usually tend to be original stories instead of focusing on the anime themselves. Digimon Rumble Arena is a fighting game that changes that.
In the game, chatacters from the first three seasons of the Digimon anime fight against each other. Why are they fighting? I don't know. The game has no story, and there is no ending when you beat the one player mode. So basically, you start with nine playable characters, each taken from the three Digimon series, complete with Digi-Destined connected to them. However, any excitement you had will be dashed when you play, as the gameplay is basically what happens when you mash Street Fighter with Super Smash Bros. The fights are one-on-one and the object is to drain your opponent's health bar to zero to win a round, with two-out-of-three rules, but the Smash Bros. elements come with food items that can restore health and the appearance of Digi-Cards that, when collected, causes a different effect to happen (like cards that allow you to throw fireballs, or even lose control of your Digimon temporarily). However, the one unique aspect is a meter that can be built up as you damage the opponent as well as take damage. That is the Digivoluton Meter, and when full, one button press will allow your Digimon to Digivolve into a more powerful form until the meter runs out. During this time, your Digimon is more powerful, and can use a signature attack (although that will immediately drain the meter, so it's best used as a last resort, like finishing off an opponent or before your character de-digivolves).
The character models are hit or miss (with Renamon getting the worst of it, as you can see where the parts of her tail separate), and while the game does have the voice cast from the anime reprise their roles, the voice clips for the Digi-Destined sound like they were recorded using a different device than the Digimon (heck, some characters don't even sound like they did in the anime (most notable being Takato, who sounds younger than he is). Another problem is the opponents are mere pushovers, when the final boss, Reapermon, is basically SNK Boss level. This game is below average, and should be played only if you are a fan of the show or fighting games in general.
