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Magical Battle Arena

Magical Battle Arena
MBA:CF Logo
Developer(s)	Fly-System, AreaZERO
Genre	3D Aerial Fighting
Platform	PC
Release Date	August 17th 2008 JP

[edit] Introduction

Magical Battle Arena, released to Comiket in 2008, is a 3D aerial fighter that features girls as the characters, who are taken from various other series such as Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, Cardcaptor Sakura, Slayers, Magical Circle Guru Guru and Magical Girl Kirara and Sarara, along with two original characters.

The game is viewed from behind the chosen character, wherein players move around a 3D area using a variety of melee and ranged attacks to bring down their opponents. Characters can dash, raise shields and unleash powerful specials.

[edit] Game Versions

Magical Battle Arena

The original released at Comiket 2008. Playable roster consists of Nanoha Takamachi, Fate Testarossa, Sakura Kinomoto, Kirara Hoshizora and Sarara Hoshizora initially. Lulu Gelad and Nowel Diastasis are unlockable. Patches later add in Lina Inverse, Naga the Serpent and Kukuri.

Lyrical Pack

This release added in Nanoha Takamachi (older), Vita and Hayate Yagami. A patch later added Lord of Nightmares and Kita Kita Oyaji as hidden alts to Lina Inverse and Kukuri respectively.

Complete Form

Fate Testarossa (older) is added. Nanoha Takamachi (older) is unlocked from the start. Changes made to the networking capabilities.

[edit] Cast

Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha

• Nanoha Takamachi
• Fate Testarossa
• Hayate Yagami
• Vita
• Nanoha Takamachi (StS)
• Fate Testarossa (StS)
• Gadget Drone

Cardcaptor Sakura

• Sakura Kinomoto

Magical Girl Kirara and Sarara

• Kirara Hoshizora
• Sarara Hoshizora

Slayers

• Lina Inverse
• Lord of Nightmares
• Naga the Serpent

Magical Circle Guru Guru

• Kukuri
• Kita Kita Oyaji

Original

• Ruru Gerrard
• Nowel Diastasis

[edit] Game Screen

[edit] Full Screen

1) Player's character gauge.

Displays vital statistics for the player's character. See more.

2) Other character gauges.

Displays some vital statistics for other characters in the match. Dulled out gauges indicate eliminated characters.

3) Lock indicator.

Shows which characters are currently locked onto the player.

4) Radar.

Shows the position of nearby characters and the field barrier. Character colors are based on their team color.

5) Team lives.

Only shows when team lives are set to on. Displays the number of lives remaining for each team.

6) Time display.

Shows the amount of time remaining in the match. When it hits zero the battle ends. An infinity symbol is displayed if the time limit is set to infinite.

7) Hit counter.

Appears when you lands successful hits. Shows the number of hits in the current combo.

8) Danger indicator.

Appears when basic projectiles are closing in. Shows the direction attacks are coming from.

9) Mini character gauge.

A more compact version of the character gauge that floats by each character.

10) Target cursor.

Appears when your current target is onscreen. The color of the cursor indicates general distance: red is close, yellow is mid and blue is long range. At very close range the cursor disappears.

[edit] Character Gauge

1) Character portrait.

Shows an image depicting the current character.

2) Burst gauge.

The amount in this gauge affects availablity of burst mode and reflect guards. Taking and inflicting damage both fill this gauge.

3) Reserve health bars

Shows how many health bars this character has to use.

4) Team color and character name.

Shows which team this character is fighting for and also displays their name.

5) Special gauges.

These three gauges determine the availablity of a character's special moves. Each gauge reflects a different special: 1st gauge for S+A, 2nd gauge for S+Z and 3rd gauge for S+X. Specials are usable only when the corresponding gauge is full. When charging a special the relevant gauge fills with flashing red. These bars refill automatically when depleted.

6) Current health bar

Shows the amount of health remaining in the currently active bar. If this hits zero and there are no health bars in reserve then this character is defeated.

7) Stamina bar.

Shows how much stamina is available for use. This bar refills when not performing an action that requires stamina.

8) Reflect bar.

Shows the availablity of performing a reflect guard. This move requires a full bar. This refills automatically when depleted.

[edit] Controls

Note that these are the default keyboard commands. Controls can be customised and can be mapped to a controller.

Arrow Key Up - Move towards the current target.
Arrow Key Down - Move away from the current target.
Arrow Key Left - Circle around the target to the left.
Arrow Key Right - Circle around the target to the right.
Q - Lower elevation.
W - Raise elevation.

A - Melee attack.
Z - Ranged attack.
X - Shield.
C - Dash.

D - Change your target to the next available character. (Hold to break off a lock)
S - Special key. On its own recharges stamina faster. Can be used with other commands for specials.

[edit] Gameplay Aspects

Melee (A)

A close range attack that usually can be comboed. Some characters can also hold the button to charge a stronger variant. Charged attacks usually knock the opponent away.

Ranged (Z)

Fire projectiles at the enemy. The number of projectiles that can be fired before a break depends on the character. Some can charge this move by holding the key down. A charged shot will be stronger and cause knockdown.

Shield (X)

Raises a shield in the direction the character is facing. Negates damage from that direction.

Forcefield (XX)

Protects from attacks from all directions.

Teleport (X + Q / X + W)

Teleports to the target. It is necessary to be reasonably close for this to work. X + Q will teleport to in front of the target. X + W will teleport to behind the target.

Dash (C)

Allows character to move around more quickly.

Quick Dash (CC)

Allows a character to almost instantly move to a distant location. Pressing on its own will dash to where the current target is. Holding a direction during input will cause the character to quick dash in that direction.

Reflect Guard (C + X)

Blocks an opponent's attack and stuns them if they are at close range. Requires a full reflect gauge to activate.

Charge Stamina (S)

Must be pressed on its own to do this. Recharges a chaarcter's stamina gauge much faster than normal.

Specials Attacks (S + A, Z or X)

Activates that character's special attack, depending on the button used at the same time as S. Actual attack depends on the character and is limited by the yellow energy bars. Each special attack has its own energy bar. Some specials can be charged for more damage.

Burst Mode (S + C)

Requires a full burst gauge. Character enter burst mode. During this time stamina becomes infinite, more attacks can be chained, gauges charge faster and ultimate attacks become available.

Ultimate Attack 1 (S + C + A)(Burst mode required)

Activates a character's 1st ultimate attack. Effect depends on the user. This will end burst mode.

Ultimate Attack 2 (S + C + Z)(Burst mode and only 1 health bar left required)

Activates a character's 2nd ultimate attack. Effect depends on the user. This will end burst mode.

[edit] Main Menu

The menu in Complete Form is in a circle setup. The options listed here are going from left to right.

1) Story Mode

Play through a series of battles in relation to the central plot. Available characters are more limited in this mode than others.

2) VS Mode

Set up a match between up to 4 characters that can be a mix of human and commputer players.

3) Practice Mode

Practice on a dummy opponent. In this mode neither character can be defeated as all lost health is quickly restored. Additionally, all gauges will stay at max and the 2nd ultimate attack can be used regardless of health. The dummy can be set to do nothing or to a specific computer difficulty level.

4) Network Mode

Set up a networked game session.

5) Survival Mode

Fight a series of battles to see how long you last. Health is regenerated each round but the amount decreases as players progress. Battles start off as 1 on 1 but later battles will increase the number of enemies in a given battle.

6) Mission Mode

Complete a variety of mission objectives.

7) Options

Set various game options such as sound settings.

8) Exit

Exits the game.

[edit] External Links

Official MBA:CF Website