Full Review

9 June 2008 - It seems that you can no longer have a fighting game that involves just fighting, well not on the Nintendo DS at any rate, so does a game that marries music with some beat 'em up action work? We bust a grove to find out.

Draglade, even though the name might suggest otherwise, has nothing to do with Drag queens, dragons, or drag racing or anything to do with lades, whatever they might be for that matter either.

Instead you play one of four characters on a quest to become a Major Grapper, whatever one of those is, by working your way up through a series of Grapping exams and defeating the odd werewolf monster-looking thing that shows up in the towns you happen to be visiting.

The music element comes into play in the guise of composing unique beat combos to "unleash" devastating attacks.

In reality, it's all about bashing the keys as fast as you can, and when possible tapping the touchscreen to swap out your fireball skills for one of six other fireball-esque weapons like electric lightning.

The Bullets, as they are called in the game, can be upgraded as well as used to heal you so you can battle for longer.

The battles, just like the gameplay, are rather dull with the graphics failing to impress and a heavy reliance on you having to press the next button to get through the almost hundreds of pointless conversation screens with other characters and random bods complaining that their village is being attacked and would you mind taking a break from your exam training to save their sorry soul.

Do I really need 15 conversation screens to realise that my grandpa (why are there never any parents in video games) thinks my character is an idiot for following my dream of becoming a Major Grapper? In short, no.

VERDICT
While rhythm games like Elite Beat Agents on the DS really play and focus on the rhythm element of gameplay, Draglade comes across as a confused, pointless, title that is neither compelling to play nor interesting enough to keep on wanting to press next to skip the chat and find out what is really going on.

One to avoid unless pressing the "b" button really is your thing.