Last year, the deep and wild 2D fighting of BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger made the game a favorite among those who like their characters crazy and their action complex. BlazBlue: Continuum Shift is more of a refinement of the original game than a full-fledged sequel.

Terrific roster with incredibly varied characters; Very deep fighting mechanics; Beautiful and distinctive visuals; New Tutorial and Challenge modes make the action more accessible; Great online competition

Still daunting and difficult for newcomers; Weak storytelling; Only three new characters

I sank hours of my time into the game and nearly every precious moment was spent zoning out or wishing that I could play something else. I didn't care when the ninth consecutive opponent fell at my feet with barely a whimper. I didn't much care when the next one soundly thrashed me, either.

In recent times the 2d fighting genre seems to have become extremely popular once again mainly thanks to the releases of the superb Street Fighter IV and Super Street Fighter IV along with various remakes and re-releases on the XBLA service.

In case you hadn't heard, BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger – a new fighting game from the dudes that brought us Guilty Gea r – was released. Also, for those who missed it, it was pretty damn good.

I consider myself to be pretty knowledgeable about video games, but I've got to admit - -I've only just heard of the BlazBlue series. Hell, until a friend corrected me, I pronounced it as " blaze-blue," cause you know, that's logical and all.

In the world of fighting games, there's a very clear and distinct rift in the community.  On one side are the hardcores.  These are the guys who count individual frames of animation, know nine different variations of a character's juggle combos, and refuse to play on anything less than a $100 arcade...

I loved BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger and even though it was the weirdest most absurd fighter, it had charm, gameplay and a story to die for... in terms of anime. Yes my dear gamers, fighters didn't have to revolve around the Tekken or Street Fighter universes and other developers could create equally...

As some may know, Arc System, otherwise known as Aksys, recently released their newest 2-D fighting game, Blazblue .  The game is similar to their previous hit series Guilty Gear, both in game play and characters (some are almost clones of some of the Guilty Gear cast), but there are some noticeable...

"Boing! Boing! Boing! Your boobies are still the best!" she trills, in her high-pitched sing-song voice. "Hmmm, boobie lady, you seem kinda down! Everything but your boobies is sagging!

: BlazBlue is very impressive and a good bit of fun for experienced players or fans of fighting games in general, but neophyte fighting game fans and anyone who shies away from Guilty Gear in general may find it to be a bit too impenetrable to get into.