Bloody Roar 2: Bringer of the New Age, released in the United States as Bloody Roar II: The New Breed, is a 1998 fighting game developed by Eighting and Raizing and published by Hudson Soft. As the second entry in the Bloody Roar series, it builds on the original game’s unique human-to-beast transformation mechanic while introducing flashy new super attacks and an expanded cast of half-human, half-animal fighters. In this article, we’ll cover its story, development, gameplay systems, and how it was received by critics at the time.
A World Where Humanity Hides a Beast Within
Bloody Roar 2 is set five years after the events of the original game, in a world where Zoanthropes, beings who possess both human intellect and the dormant strength of animals, were once exploited by a powerful corporation called Tylon for profit. Following Tylon’s collapse at the end of the first game, news of the Zoanthropes’ existence spreads across the world, and many of the fighters who had been swept into that earlier conflict attempt to return to peaceful, ordinary lives.
Naturally, peace doesn’t last long in a fighting game, and the sequel’s roster of beast-human hybrids once again finds itself drawn into new conflicts, this time exploring fresh consequences of a world now aware of Zoanthropes living among them.
A Lengthy and Deliberate Development Process
Development on Bloody Roar 2 began in October 1997, even before the original Bloody Roar had released on PlayStation, and ultimately took around fifteen months to complete. Character modeling started first, with key fighters like Yugo and Shina largely finished by January 1998, followed by in-game illustration work and voice recording beginning that March. The team then spent several months from mid-1998 onward focused specifically on balancing gameplay and character interactions before bringing in musicians later that year to record the PlayStation version’s original soundtrack.
Interestingly, several of the sequel’s new characters, including Jenny, a bat-themed fighter, and Busuzima, who transforms into a chameleon, actually originated as concepts during development of the first Bloody Roar. At the time, the team considered these ideas too experimental to include. With the success of the original game behind them, the development team finally had the creative freedom to bring these more unusual animal concepts to life in the sequel.
The arcade version was first revealed publicly at the AM Show in November 1998, with the PlayStation port following a few months later in January 1999.
Beast Drives: The Sequel’s Signature New Mechanic
Bloody Roar 2 largely retains the core systems that defined its predecessor, most notably the Beast Mode mechanic that lets every character transform mid-fight into a powerful animal form. While transformed, fighters gain access to entirely new attacks, move faster, hit harder, and even recover a portion of previously lost health.
The sequel’s biggest gameplay addition comes in the form of Beast Drives, flashy cinematic super attacks that trigger a brief cutscene and deal substantial damage to the opponent. These moves replace the original game’s Rave mode and can only be performed while a character is already in Beast form. Whether or not the attack successfully connects, using a Beast Drive automatically reverts the character back to their human form afterward, adding a layer of risk-versus-reward to deciding exactly when to unleash one during a match.
An Expanded Roster of Half-Human Fighters
The game features eleven playable characters in total, combining seven brand-new fighters with four characters returning from the original Bloody Roar. This expanded cast allowed the development team to finally explore some of the stranger, more experimental animal concepts they’d held back from the first game, resulting in a roster that leaned further into unconventional and creative beast designs compared to its predecessor.
Bringing the Arcade Experience Home
Following its arcade debut, the PlayStation port of Bloody Roar 2 released in Japan on January 28, 1999, followed by North America in April and Europe in July of that same year. Interestingly, the European release’s introductory movie used the logo and branding from the US version, despite retaining the Japanese title and name, a small but notable regional inconsistency in how the game was packaged across different markets.
Years later, the game found a second life through digital distribution, releasing as a PS one Classic on the PlayStation Network in North America in 2010, making it available for download on PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable systems, though notably not supported on PlayStation Vita or PlayStation TV.
Critical Reception: Visually Impressive, Mechanically Familiar
Bloody Roar 2 received generally favorable reviews upon release, with much of the praise centered on its visual presentation. IGN’s Douglass C. Perry noted that the game’s high-resolution graphics helped sharpen and crystallize its textured, polygonal character models, going so far as to call it one of the best-looking games on the entire PlayStation console at the time. He also praised the animal character designs as bizarre yet exquisitely detailed, highlighting their tight programming and texture work.
Other outlets echoed similar sentiments. Next Generation described it as a visually appealing and genuinely fun fighting game with just enough originality to stand apart from other similar titles of the era, while Japan’s Famitsu magazine awarded it a solid score of 32 out of 40. GamePro called it a welcome addition to any fighting game fan’s collection.
Not every review was glowing, however. GameRevolution’s Johnny Liu felt the game didn’t offer enough staying power to justify extended playtime, and some critics noted that despite improvements, the sequel still suffered from a few inherited shortcomings from the original American release, occasionally describing it as a smaller step forward than fans may have hoped for from such a promising series. Even so, in its first full month of release, Bloody Roar 2 ranked as the twentieth best-selling home console game in the United States, a respectable commercial showing for a niche 3D fighter.
Final Thoughts
Bloody Roar 2: Bringer of the New Age built thoughtfully on its predecessor’s unique beast-transformation premise, refining the formula with flashy new Beast Drive attacks and a roster finally free to embrace some of its more unconventional animal concepts. While critics were split on how much genuine innovation the sequel brought to the table, its striking visuals and deep combo system left a lasting impression, helping cement Bloody Roar’s reputation as one of the more distinctive 3D fighting game series of the late 1990s.