I feel I must chime in. I've been an outspoken adversary of action games on the iPhone. I've argued that deep strategy and roleplaying games are the way to go when it comes to hardcore (as opposed to casual) iDevice games, since turn-based and slower real-time gaming does not suffer in the same way from the lack of physical controls.
Good to be proven wrong.
I was very dubious when I heard about a Soul Blade clone for the iPhone. In spite of that (and with my longing for a good fighting game for the iDevices as the only explanation), I bought it right away. Been playing for a few hours now, and I am absolutely amazed.
Controls: Just like one poster before commented, I forget I'm using a touchscreen to control my characters. After two or three games, the controls felt absolutely natural. I don't think I've mis-clicked once, except for occasionally missing the block button, which is slightly too small for my taste.
After a few hours, the control method feels as ingrained and natural as the best of gamepads. I cannot say why, since the controls are really the same as in so many other games (d-pad or joystick on the left, buttons on the right), but Gameloft somehow succeeded in making the buttons sensitive and large enough to provide almost absolute control.
And we are not just talking simple button mashing. Side-stepping, counterattacks, jumping... I might as well be playing Soul Calibur on my roommate's PS3. And I am not exaggerating. Much.
I've only played around with the drag control scheme a bit, and I've yet to become as comfortable with it as the buttons and d-pad. The possibility to block by touching anywhere on the screen but on the d-pad is a boon, though, and I can imagine the most elite of players might come to prefer this control method, partly for this reason.
The counterattacks are a very nice touch that many fighting games lack. I do wish they'd have been more difficult to pull off, though. Perhaps add a required second button press after the timed block.
Story: Catastrophic. Occasionally just bad and confusing, but most of the time, downright inconsistent and contradictive. I really didn't expect much in the way of story, and I didn't get it. The different storylines are leagues and miles better than most Soul Blade/Soul Calibur character storylines, though
There are a few exceptions. There is an occasional sense of true drama, especially with the repentant Skorn character, who's pre-match wisdom actually sometimes makes sense and hints at a deeper level of writing. Hints, mind you. Magnus ending is surprising and rather cool, if a bit too high mythological fantasy.
There is also a nice touch that might not feel very nice and touch-y at all, considering the catastrophic storyline, but it does add some personality to each character, and make the story mode slightly more interesting the first time you play it with each fighter: every character has one unique pre-match banter sequence or verbal confrontation for every single opponent. This is a smart way to reveal a bit more of the (disastrous) storyline, offer insights into the background of each character (since every combination of two fighters yield an unique dialogue sequence, one pre-match sequence can yield details regarding both characters), and expand upon the relations of the fighters.
Used in conjunction with a good storyline, this would have been a
great feature.
Most of the time, however, characters ramble and drool all over the place, without the slightest semblance of coherence.
Graphics: Some of the nicest I've seen on the iDevices. Nice art style (semi-realistic, with a good attention to character detail),
brilliant animations, good effects (with a few exceptions, Some finisher moves are a bit too first-time Photoshop user for my taste. However, the weapon trails makes up for every single shortcoming), good backgrounds, and a lot of personality, in both characters and stages.
Menus are reasonably polished, and the game looks professional all throughout. No placeholder graphics or cheap solutions.
I just wish the female characters (who indeed are more acrobatic, and often more fun to play) would not fulfill every pre-conceived misogynist notion and sexist stereotype in the book.
Features: Surprisingly many. Tutorial, customizable practice mode, replays (a personal favourite of mine!), wi-fi and bluetooth multiplayer possibilities, story, arcade and survival mode, gameloft connectivity, match settings, achievements, and several different costumes for each character.
Voice acting: Yes, much of it sucks big swords. But there are the occasional cases of humorous over-acting, which fits the theme and mood of the game well. It is bad, in the way that most voice-overs for fighting games are bad. Certainly not worse.
Loading times: Exceedingly short. Very, very nice.
Advanced game mechanics: The game features both several quick methods of rising from prone, and a refreshing addition that many fighting games do not: the possibility to break your opponents combo, even if you get hit by the first one or two blows, by blocking halfway through the combo. Very, very nice. Adds considerable skill to the gameplay.
A list of advanced mechanics would include:
* Counterattacks
* Combo breakers
* Quick rise from prone
* Evasion: jumping, side-stepping, forwards an backwards dodge, and ducking
* Blocking in two directions (high and low)
* Magic system, with a magic meter that fills, empties on use, and refills through normal attacks
* Armour system, with the possbility to break your opponents armour (a good anti-block spam mechanic)
Obvious shortcomings: The lack of an automatic in-progress save feature, as mentioned by many others in this thread. This is not a deal-breaker. It can be rather annoying, though. Basically, if you are interrupted by a phone call when playing BoF, your current game is lost, with no possibility of resuming it.
What this means, it not only that phone calls can be disruptive, but also that BoF is a very non-casual game. Minimum playtime if you want to achieve any kind of "progress" (unlocking characters, working towards achievements, scoring highscores) is often 15-25 minutes (the time it takes to complete one game mode, be it story, arcade or survival).
A way to begin a game mode, stop playing (regardless of whether a phone call or yer boss interrupts you) would bestow considerable casual and quick-play qualities upon Blades of Fury.
(Personally, I think the whole casual gaming moniker and phenomenon is one of the worst things to ever happen to gaming ;-) , but I cannot deny that an iDevice is a portable console that is often used in very time-limited circumstances. And such a console needs games that can be played for a few minutes, and resumed at a later date.)
Wishlist: A few more characters (a constant wish for any fighting game, but Blade of Fury feels just a tad short of a whole character gallery), online multiplayer capabilities, a quicker sidestep attack, and a couple of more moves for each character (the current move set is certainly not shallow, but perhaps just a few moves short of true depth).
Conclusion: Blade of Fury is currently one of my best iPhone game purchases ever, right up there with Uniwar, Star Hogs, Defender Chronicles, Zenonia, 9innings, NY Nights, and The Quest.
You need to buy this, and play the crap out of it.