Magical Battle Arena. Guide and Review (C75 Revised)

Thanks to fly-system, the doujin game Magical Battle Arena was released at comiket this year. A quick run down of the game before I get into how you install and what you should need to know.

The game, as the title implies, concentrates on well… Magical Battles in an arena (lol….). But in all seriousness here. The game is a third person fly-and-shoot kind of game. Featuring characters from series such as Nanoha and Fate from Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha or Sakura from Card Captor Sakura. Controls would feel similar to those who play third person mech piloting games like A.C.E. or Armored Core.

UPDATE: Due to the most recent comiket, a new expansion has been released. This guide will contain revisions to accommodate for the new expansion Lyrical Pack. The expansion adds 3 more playable characters, all of whom are from Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha. They are as followed: Yagami Hayate (pre-StrikerS), Vita, and Takamachi Nanoha (StrikerS). Aside from this, it also add new play modes, desktop wallpapers for beating mission modes, a few new stages, combo system changed/improved, and the likes.

[1]Guide
[2]Review

Before I get started on the guide here are the programs/files I will be using.

Daemon Tools(Only if you’re using a downloaded version of the game)
Hamachi(Only if you’re planning to play online)
MBA 1.05+ Patch : Filefront Mirror (1.05+)
MBAL 1.52+ Patch : Filefront Mirror (1.52+)
Magical Battle Arena & Magical Battle Arena Lyrical Pack(I will not be linking these for various reasons.)

[1]Guide
I shall separate this guide into these sections:
[1]Installation
[2]Main Menu
[3]Story
[4]Versus
[4a]Versus Option Screen
[5]Training
[6]Network
[7]Survival Mode
[8]Mission Mode
[9]Options
[10a]Key Config
[10b]Config.exe
[11]Attacks

I did this in order to make it easier for one to find what they really need by searching the number or the title or both. If you want to search Main Menu just type [2] or Main Menu or [2]Main Menu for that section

[1]Installation
Depending on where you obtain the game, this section may be slightly different.

Hard Copy: If you have the actual CD/DVD version of the game, all you do is put the game into your drive and it should run through the autorun.

ISO/CD-Image: If you’ve “obtained” a copy of it through whatever means you will need to load it. For this you will need Daemon Tools. Once that is installed open the program and you should see it on your taskbar. Right Click the icon and go to Virtual CD/DVD Rom and choose whatever device that’s empty and Mount Image. It will ask you to locate a CD Image file, so go locate the MBA.ISO file and load that. The autorun should put you into installation.

Patching: Once the game is installed, you might want to patch it to fix any bugs. To do this download the most recent patch from the link above. The filefront mirror is only for 1.03+, so if any other patches come out, you should check the main site. Once patch is finished downloading, unzip the file and replace the game files Usually at C:\Program Files\飛翔システム\マジカルバトルアリーナ with the files from the patch.

You must have Magical Battle Arena installed before you are able to install the Lyrical Pack. To install the Lyrical Pack, just install it to where MBA is installed and it should replace the files. Just think of it as patching the game through an installer.

[2]Main Menu
When you first start the game, you will enter the main menu.

1 – Story
2 – Versus
3 – Training
4 – NetPlay/Online
5 – Survival Mode
6 – Mission Mode
7 – Options
8 – Exit

From here you can choose whether to play the story mode (which you need to play to unlock characters) or play versus or play online or just fool around in training.

With the new pack, you are also given Survival and Mission mode.

[3]Story
No screenshot, because its pretty standard. Choose your character that you want to play the story mode with. It consist of 7? Stages and the attacks are listed on the lower left part of the screen with the name of the character on the lower right.

[4]Versus

This is how the screen should look when you enter Versus. Here you can change your Team, Character and set a Handicap. If your playing Versus against a computer, you are able to change the handicap, team and character on them also. Once you’ve OK, you will proceed into the Versus Options.

[4a]Versus Option Screen

-Stage Select
-Change BGM
-Game Type : Battle Royale or Point Battle
-Time Limit (in seconds)
-Computer Level
-Magic Gauge Amount
-Magic Burst Gauge Amount
-Restore to Default
-Start

When game has started, you can pause the game, which will bring up a mini menu. In order from top to bottom.

-Resume Game
-Restart Match
-Return to Character Selection
-Quit to Main Menu

[5]Training
The training screen will look similar to that of the versus screen, therefore no screenshot will be provided.

Once again, you can pause the game to bring up a mini menu, but its slightly different than that of the versus one. From top to bottom.

-Resume Game
-Restart Match
-Computer Level : Lv1 / Lv2 / Lv3 / Lv4 / Lv5 / Stand (off)
-Return to Character Select
-Return to Main Menu

[6]Network
When you enter Network (NetPlay), you will be greeted with a screen that looks like the screen below. This is where things get a bit confusing, but once you get use to it, its not hard to do at all.

-Network(I’m making this up cause I have no idea what it actually says) : Host Game / Join Existing
-Network IP : IP / Join recently connected
-Gamer ID/Nick
-Connect

Getting Online using Hamachi: This is probably the easiest way to do things. Download Hamachi (link provided above) and install it.

You then should join a Hamachi server. To do this open up Hamachi. Click the triangle button and that will bring up a menu. Where you can create or join a network.

The person you want to play should be in the same network. Your Hamachi IP will be displayed at the top of Hamachi and your friend’s IP should display next to their name in the network list of users.

Connecting using Direct IP: This is a little bit harder and may require you to open certain ports. To do this the host must give their WAN IP to the other player they want to play with. To find your WAN IP you can go here: http://www.mywanip.com/

When you make a room or join a room, you should enter a lobby. The host should then start the game by selecting the ONLY option that there is to select. This will bring you to the character selection screen and after that the versus option menu. If everything is done correctly, then you should be able to play your friends online.

IMPORTANT IMPORTANT NOTE! BOTH PLAYERS MUST HAVE THE SAME GAME VERSION IN ORDER TO PLAY. I RECOMMEND KEEPING THE GAME AS UPDATED AS POSSIBLE

[7]Surival Mode
In this mode, you are to choose a character and see how long you make it. Very little health is recovered. Character selection is similar to that of Story Mode.

Most recent change, you can select a different character color by selecting them with Melee, Range, Dash or Guard button. To quit out you need to press [ESC] key.

[8]Mission Mode
You are given a specific task per mission and then ranked on how well you did. There are 33 missions currently. Below are the mission number and the requirements. To unlock missions, you must beat the mission before it. By playing Mission Mode, you also unlock special art that you see during the loading screen. To view these art go to: C:\Program Files\飛翔システム\マジカルバトルアリーナ\Illust. This is assuming that you installed it in your C drive.

1. As Takamachi Nanoha, take down 10 Gadget Bots within the time limit.
2. As Kirara, beat Sarara within the time limit.
3. As Fate, beat as many Nanoha as you can within the time limit.
4. As a Gadget Bot, “hug” Nanoha and Fate 5 times within the time limit.
5. As Sakura, blow up 10 bombs within the time limit.
6. As Kirara, use Stock/Counter Magic within the time limit.
7. As Sarara, blow up 10 bombs within the time limit.
8. As Fate, beat Gadget bot within the time limit.
9. As Nanoha, bounce magic shot back and forth as many times as you can.
10. As Hayate, defeat/survive? the fight against 5 Hayate within the time limit. (Unlock Hayate)
11. As Ruru, defeat Nowel within the time limit.
12. As Sakura, survive the stage.
13. As Kirara, blow up 20 bombs within the time limit.
14. As Ruru, use Stock/Counter Magic within the time limit.
15. As Hayate, survive the stage.
16. As Nanoha, blow up 20 bombs within the time limit.
17. As Sakura, “Seal” Nanoha and Fate.
18. As Sarara, Beat Kirara within the time limit.
19. As Nowel, Beat Ruru within the time limit.
20. As Vita, Defeat Gadget bots and protect Hayate within the time limit. (Unlock Vita)
21. As Hayate, Beat Nanoha and Fate within the time limit.
22. As Fate, Defeat all 4 enemies within the time limit.
23. As Vita, play whack-a-mole (It’s pretty self explanatory…Hit as many Gadget Bots within the time limit).
24. As Kirara, perform Stock/Counter Magic 5 times.
25. As Nowel, Defeat 10 Gadget bots within the time limit.
26. As A Gadget Bot, Defeat all 30 Gadget Bots within the time limit.
27. As Vita, Destroy bomb within the time limit.
28. As Nowel, Capture Hayate, Nanoha and Fate (Use Special Guard)
29. As Nanoha, survive the stage.
30. As Nanoha (StS), Defeat Nanoha with Ultimate (Unlock StS Nanoha)
31. As Lina, Defeat 10 Naga within the time limit.
32. As Naga, survive the stage.
33. As Kukuri, defeat as many Gadget bots within the time limit.

[9]Options

-Screen Size
-Full Screen
-Stage Barrier : Character Perimeter / Always Showing
-Reduce Video Quality
-BGM Volume
-Sound Effect Volume
-Voice Volume
-Game Difficulty
-Reset to Default
-Player 1 Controls / Player 2 Controls
-Exit

[10a]Key Config

-Controller Type : KeyPad(Controller) / Keyboard
-Button 1: Melee Attack (Default Key: A)
-Button 2: Ranged Attack/OK (Default Key: Z)
-Button 3: Guard/Cancel (Default Key: X)
-Button 4: Dash (Default Key: C)
-Button 5: Magic/Powerup (Default Key: S)
-Button 6: Switch Targets (for 3P/4P mode) (Default Key: D)
-Button 7: Fly Up/Ascend (Default Key: W)
-Button 8: Fly Down/Descend (Default Key: Q)
-Button 9: Pause Menu (Default Key: Enter)
-Reset to Default
-Exit

[10b]Config.exe

In the patch 1.04+, a config.exe was introduced which basically does everything the option screen does, but outside the game. Everything is pretty much self explanatory. First tab being your Options screen. Second tab is the recently successful connected IPs. I’m not quite sure what the third or fourth tab does, but it probably deals with saving IP addresses or something of that nature. The last tab is key-configurations. Nothing to exciting.

The Config.exe after version 1.05+ (or possible 1.50+/1.51+) has gained an extra tab at the end which I’m guessing are quick-chat settings, which you are allowed to save a message to a button to make it easier during verses mode to say something. I could be wrong on this one.

[11]Attacks
Basic:
-Melee (Hold down to charge)(Directional Input also changes which direction they are knocked)
-Range (Hold to charge-shot)(Drains Magic/SP)
-Guard (Hold to guard longer)(Drains Magic/SP)
Special Attacks (Some may require you to hold down the command till its fully charged, otherwise, hold down to do stronger variation):
-Magic + Melee
-Magic + Range
-Magic + Guard
Ultimate:
-Magic + Dash (Enters “super” mode to do Ultimate attacks)(Only done when Super Meter is filled)
-Magic + Dash + Melee
-Magic + Dash + Range (Can only be used if your health is in red and you’ve entered your “super” mode)
Techniques
-Rapidly Tap Dash Twice : Speed fly/dash (drains magic/sp fast)
-Up + Guard near enemy : Teleport in front of them
-Down + Guard near enemy : Teleport behind them.
-Dash + Guard : Magic Spark (drains special meter)
-Using Fully-Charged Special Shielding : Stock Magic/Counter Magic
-Holding Down Change Target : De-locks your target. To view forward press Ascend+Descend. Pressing Change View will re-lock your target.

Final Note: I would like to give credit to Fariz Asuka of Anime Baka for providing very helpful translations to the trial version of the game. Please visit that post here:
http://anime-baka.blogspot.com/2008/06/magical-battle-arena-trial-gamev011.html
For the items that were still untranslated, I managed to guess and check what each thing was, but if anything needs to be fixed let me know.
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[2]Review
This review was based off the gameplay of version 1.01+. The current version as of this post is 1.03+, Please note that some things may not be true in ver 1.03, but are in 1.01.

This game is probably one of the more interesting doujins I’ve played in awhile. Offering an interesting line up of characters with a nice arrangement of songs and stages, this is definitely one of those games that should be given a chance.

Considering this game is a doujin game and just came out, there are tons of bugs to fix. Most notable in the netplay. This game has crashed on me during netplay as much as I’ve hosted games, which is actually pretty large. Sometimes you may get a full round without any problems, while other times the game just completely quits on you. The game itself gets pretty chaotic, which makes it fun. Without the support of more than 2 players, the game would be very dull as a 1v1 game. Aside from the netplay problems, you can say it has controlling issues. I’ve died countless times due to the fact that I would randomly dash towards the enemy rather than away, or the dash won’t come out at all. After awhile you get use to it, but it can get pretty annoying later in the game.

Though the roster list isn’t large at all, it still has enough characters and variability to keep it interesting. Also it is possible that new characters will be available with coming patches, though that’s just speculation on my part.

Graphically speaking. . . You can’t really say much considering its a fan-made game. I will say this now. It is not the sexiest game you will ever see nor close to it, unless it was ten years ago. But you must also understand, because it IS a fan-made game it does a pretty decent job at making the 3d models. If anything the art is nice.

Music isn’t bad, but after hearing the main theme so many times, it gets kind of dull. Luckily, the developers were smart and allows custom BGM, though I have not tested this myself.

Overall this game offers fun mutliplayer-wise. If you’re playing Story mode, good luck cause its slow grinding to get the 2-3 characters unlocked. The game can get pretty frustrating to work with and one may encounter various random problems, crashing, freeze ups and what not during their journey through the game, but we can also hope that the developers will continue to make the game better if not release a new version at the next comiket.

~Kevin~