Overview: Number two in the Rumble Arena series has successfuly taken everything great about the first game and made it even better!
Story: None. Zilch. Zip. Doesn't need one here, anyway.
Graphics: Simply gorgeous. The digimon are rendered extremely well in 3-D without looking blocky, and the backgrounds are incredible as well.
Sound: Probably the best music in a digimon game to date. All of the arenas have a good-sounding track that fits the atmosphere nicely. I can't even complain about the voice-acting. Most of the digimon at least sound like their respective english voice (except Duskmon, who sounded more like Murcuremon's VA; but he still sounded fine). The announcer's voice may seem a tad annoying, but I guess I got used to it after a while.
Gameplay: Like with Digimon Racing, most of the playable digimon are from Digimon Adventure; most of those from other seasons are the respective 'poster boy' for that season (V-mon, Guilmon, Agnimon). But a few others were squeezed in, mostly as bosses and unlockable characters. Don't expect this game to play just like DRA1. The arenas are much more elaborate, and leave you with more to worry about than beating up your opponent. Well, for one thing, up to four digimon can go at it at a time (The PS2 version needs the MultiTap if you want to do a 4-player free-for-all). There are also very elaborate elements to the arenas, such as lava rising and falling, and TNT barrels, not to mention items that appear throughout the area that can change the tides of battle for better or for worse. There are even different battle modes you can play; such as Keep Away, where you must knock down an opponent carrying a Spirit Egg and hold onto it for the longest time, or Crazy Chase, where you win by chasing and capturing Culumon. Most reviews I've read have compared this game to Super Smash Bros, and while I've never had the chance to play SSB, this seems to be a similar playing style.
Challenge: You have a lot of freedom in selecting a difficulty level, both when you choose your digimon, and when selecting the arenas to fight in during Single Player mode, so I can safely say there's something for everyone, no matter what your skill level is.
Final Rating: 10/10 Certainly the best digimon game to date. I'm pleased Bandai seems to be cleaning up their act as far as the games go, given the so-so quality of their earlier games.
