DESCRIPTION

Every year the Budokan hosts the world martial arts championship. In Budokan: The Martial Spirit, martial artists from around the world, practicing many different styles, compete against others to prove they are the best in the world. This year, it's your turn. In order to lay claim to the title, though, you must master the four styles of martial arts taught by the Tobiko-Ryu school.

However, there's more to martial arts than what's taught at Tobiko-Ryu and, in the Budokan, you face weapons and techniques you may never have seen before. Success depends on your mastery of all four martial arts styles since you are only allowed to use each four times throughout the competition.

At Tobiko-Ryu, you train your skill in Karate, Kendo, Bo or Nunchaku. The same control layout, with eight directional keys and one action button, performs all four martial arts. Direction keys allow you to move and pose your fighter while the action button is used to execute a technique. Forward with the action button, for example, might be a thrust attack while back with the action button would be a block.

During a match, you have both a ki and stamina bar. The ki bar builds up slowly whenever you aren't attacking and is used during an attack to inflict more damage. It can also be depleted if your opponent lands an attack on you. The stamina bar is a gauge of your ability to fight and decreases both by being hit and by extended hard exertion. Stamina is slowly recovered by resting your fighter in a neutral stance.

From the Tobiko-Ryu courtyard, you can enter into any of the martial art dojos and train by yourself or have a sparring session with the master. Also in this setting, you can test yourself against other martial arts taught at the school. Once you feel ready for competition, you go to your master and request admittance to the Budokan. ~ Kyle Knight, All Game Guide