Release Date: Dec 5, 2006

So nearly one year ago this creepy doll-fighting Poke-meh anime game lands on IGN's Chris Roper's desk, and literally confuses the hell out of him. After scouring the game for any sense of rational thinking or down-to-earth adventure, he gives up, resorting to a review of Zatch Bell! Mamodo Battles that goes along the lines of "Someone please help me, all you do is button mash, and I don't know what in the Sam hell is going on." Now that we're back where we started with Zatch Bell! Mamodo Fury, it's my turn, and let me tell you, it's just as confusing and full of Engrish intrusion as its predecessor. While the previous game didn't get very high marks on anyone's scale, it at least had a very simple charm that served to be the basis of tons of wacky characters from the show, and gave younger gamers a reason to - above all else - mash the PS2 controller as fast as possible with their fist. In hopes of bringing a more solid adventure to console gamers, Mamodo Fury attempts a redesign that mirrors the show more accurately. What it doesn't do, however, is make a solid game.

Like nearly every other Poke-clone out there nowadays, Zatch Bell! Mamodo Fury is out to be the next "be the best" game, pairing a young well-to-do boy with a crazed companion. In this case, it's Zatch, a young puppet-child known as a mamodo. What exactly is a mamodo? We're not sure anyone really knows, but they're all about slavery apparently, and it's the players job to grab a spell book, learn spells, and lead Zatch into battle for personal gain. It's kind of like Pokemon, but instead of forcing animals to fight, you make younglings do it instead. In the world of Mamodo Fury, players will control both Zatch and his "friend" Kiyo in tandem, switching between the two as they take on other teams of fighters. While the overall design does a better job of depicting how the show works, the overall execution is painful, as it becomes abundantly clear that Zatch Bell! Mamodo Fury is a quick cash-out on the series.