Zoid is one of the few mecha anime franchises that have been successful for years outside of Japan. Launched by Tommy in 1983 by Tommy, the franchise has expanded into multiple model lines, six anime series and multiple games.
Family friendly publisher Outright Games is bringing the latest game adaptation of the Zoid Wild series exclusively to the Nintendo Switch.
Joyds Wild: Blast Unleashed – Originally known as Joyds Wild: King of Blast – focuses on the story of Arashi and his ligature in the Joyds Wild series. Before the start of the sixth series, however, the Zoid’s franchise had a huge history outside the toy line, beginning with anime in 1999.
Each series from Joyce’s Gothic Century to Genesis brings a new generation of Joyds, but follows the tropes of good vs evil with dramatic battles and emotional storylines. The Joyce franchise has seen many game adaptations that extend to Game Boy, mainly focusing on battles and building your own Joy, which has been very successful.
Joyce’s Wild: Blast Unleashed is a 3D arena fighter that allows fans of this series to recreate amazing battles from anime. The game looks awesome, capturing the anime-loyal graphics that fans love. Each jointed character model is wonderfully crafted with all the intricate details. Attacks are executed with glossy animation and while there is a lot going on at times, nothing is lost in all the chaos.
The combination of anime characters at key moments in the battle is fascinating to the fights, adding some humor to the battles. It took a long time to create each character model, but all the steps are very flat and dull. Wars are very repetitive without interactive elements or specific locations, especially in story mode where missions take place repeatedly on the same platform.
Character accents are added from the anime and while it gives an extra lift to each battle, it would be nice if there was a chance to use the original Japanese voices as fans like.
Joyce’s Wild: There are some modes to take part in Blast Unleashed, players can hide against their friends in Vs Mode. Mission mode is divided into two sections, Continuous War and Story. Continuous battle basically plays like arcade mode, but players can upgrade to a different feature after each victory, including power, health and your energy gauge.
The main part of the content is in Story Mode, there are almost 200 stock battles from Get Go and players have the opportunity to play like the Dark Metal Empire. Story mode occupies players for a long time, especially if you want to get 100%.
Saying that each mode has no real depth, they all have endless battles, with no main goals to get extra points. Players can unlock other characters but that’s all. Joyds Wild: Blast Unleashed was really able to do just like its predecessors with Joyd customization mode, which added a little more depth and longevity beyond the story mode. But on the plus side, this version of the game contains all the DLC characters and steps so there is no need to buy them.
Joyce’s Wild: Blast emphasizes the re-creation of fast and furious battles from Unleashed anime and the gameplay provides for it. Combat mechanics are so straightforward that players can combine quick attacks with massive attacks.
There is also a guard brake button to stop the constant blocking. Each character has three wild actions, which are also captured in your combo but can not be spammed as they are running on the cool down system. Dodging is important because it allows players to pull off the counter with a quick attack.
Each character has a blast gauge and once it is filled, players can activate their Beast Bond or Dark Blast. Each joint is filled with energy and their explosive effect is activated, which enhances a different characteristic. Players can unleash their last explosive attack while in this mode.
Joyce’s Wild: Blast Unleashed gameplay is really simple and easy to grasp, has some extra features like Poison characters and can stun them, but it’s a very easy pick-up-and-play experience. This is a good thing because fans of the series, who are primarily kids, can easily get involved in fantastic anime-style battles, combining fantastic combos.
Joyce Wilde: Blast Unleashed has done a great job in creating the Faithful Anime Fighter for fans, with the inclusion of deep story mode and DLC characters with a lot of value. Experienced gamers can get a few matches before a massive repeat, but fans choose this to complete all modes.
Zoid’s Wild: Blast Unleashed for Nintendo Switch is now over
Edward Langley is a contributor to Nintendo-power.com, covering a wide range of topics including news, business, technology, entertainment, lifestyle and current affairs. He focuses on delivering clear, balanced and accessible reporting that helps readers stay informed about important developments and emerging trends. With an emphasis on accuracy, relevance and useful insights, Edward aims to provide engaging stories and practical information that matter to audiences in the UK and beyond.