So, I have a device attached to my arm that creates a 'glade' from the 'matter' in the air around me. This 'matter' interacts with my 'soul', as well as the device, or 'G-con', with the resulting glade taking the form of a flaming sword, which I use to smack and slash seven bells of crap out of anything that looks at me funny. And I can throw whirlwinds at people. And impale them on ten-foot high spikes of ice. Oh, and heal myself with water spells. Right, this'll be a Japanese game then.

Draglade is very much from the Anime-lite school of Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh and their ilk. Spiky haired, innocent but righteous youth on a quest to become the greatest something-or-other in the land of blah-blah-blah. On said quest, our hero will face a variety of trials and tribulations, always do the right thing and in the end become so much more than he or she had anticipated. There will also be gibberish science involved, as well as heaps of violence directed towards mutated animals and a set number of special objects/creatures/cards to collect. Check, check and double check - Draglade is everything you'd expect it to be from the box art. Don't get me wrong though; this is no pale imitation, no knock off, cash in or third-rate copy, because Draglade brings a whole stack of its own bonkers fun to the party.

Swapping between side scrolling, old-school slash 'em up action and 2D one-on-one beat 'em up fun, Draglade casts you as one of four wannabe 'grappers', young warriors with dreams of glory in the new sport of, er, grapping. With your glade and bullets, you hack, blow up and trap your way through a variety of quests, exams, battles and adventures to attain your goal. The interesting twist comes from the rhythm action sections within the fights; hold down the left shoulder button and your Beat Combo opens, requiring you to tap the Y button at the correct times to unleash a crowd-pleasing flurry of stylish, musical blows. That's right, musical. It sounds utterly ridiculous, but it works. Combos in fighting games have always been about timing, and the developers of Draglade have taken the next semi-logical step by adding a tune to the proceedings. It's only six or seven notes, depending on which combo you use, but they do some serious damage and can really turn the tide of what appeared to be a losing battle. More experienced battlers can use the combos to juggle hapless opponents, which is not just fun, but also super cool. Musically the combos aren't great - simple crunchy chords that wouldn't sound out of place in an Eighties action film - but within the context of the game they work really well. More often than not they fit in with the in-game music, making you feel even more badass as you dole out a serving of fresh, steaming violence. New Beat Combos can be bought at shops or created and stored on your DS. The actual Beat Combo you have doesn't seem to have much bearing on the gameplay; it's just a case of personal preference and skill. Whichever one you choose, or even if you decide to use your own, you'll be making a special kind of sweet music within no time.

The brawling itself is riotous, breathtakingly fast fun, reminiscent of some of the genre classics of the 16-bit era. It's possible to link together huge combo lines with only a few well-timed button presses, sending your unlucky enemy spiralling through the air. Whether in the scrolling sections, where the villains come thick and fast, or in the more focused one-on-one arena battles, the combat is always fluent, well balanced and exciting. The only thing letting Draglade down is the control system; with bullet switching conducted using the stylus and everything else controlled with button presses, sometimes it feels like you need an extra hand to do everything quickly enough. It's a small gripe, but one that can spoil the flow of the otherwise great battles.

The aforementioned bullets are the collectible aspect of the game; essentially they're special moves, controlled with combinations of up, down and A, ranging from fireballs and mini tornadoes to healing spells and bombs that charge at your opponent, exploding viciously on impact. There are a hundred in total; some can be bought, others are quest rewards and others are found on the floor after beating up a genetically manipulated aardvark. You can only have six bullets equipped at any given time, so finding the right balance for your style of play and for the challenges that the next level holds, becomes an essential part of the game. Your characters from the single player mode can also be used in multiplayer for one-on-one graps, letting you show off the bullets and beat combos that you've so lovingly built up and perfected.

Visually, Draglade fares pretty well. The characters are big and bright, and the backgrounds, while sometimes a tad repetitive, are all relatively pleasing to the eye. The graphical flourishes come courtesy of the bullets; giant walls of flame dance across the screen, lightning bolts crackle and fizz, and bombs sort of waddle, looking confused. The animations add a touch of tongue in cheek humour to proceedings, almost like the developers know it's all a bit silly and are playing along just for fun; watching someone get kicked in the crotch by a flaming boot never gets old. The sound effects are the usual crashes and cracks, but they keep the whole thing together nicely. Draglade pulls you in with its flashing lights and bold design, keeping you coming back for more.

There are RPG elements in here as well, although they feel a little like an afterthought when compared to the visceral enjoyment of the rest of the game. Your character levels up arbitrarily, so you have no control over where points are spent and which attributes are increased. There's also the obligatory Japanese RPG elemental system, but there's no clear way to tell which characters are weak to which elements, leaving the whole thing down to trial and error.

Draglade is a big, brash and bombastic game that wears its influences proudly on its matter-manipulating sleeves, but also isn't afraid to try something a bit different. It's very much a game made up of primary colours and simple expressions, loud, smashy noises, explosions, crunching blows and intriguing new ideas. It's by no means perfect - the story makes about as much sense as a tap dancing raccoon with a mouth full of ginger biscuits asking the time in Esperanto, the control system is flawed and the sound and graphics do start to annoy after a while - but if you're interested in some old-school fun with a distinctly new flavour, then pick up Draglade, laugh at the dialogue, and spend a few carefree hours engaging in some mindless cartoon violence.

Reviewed by Harry Slater for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).