Grand Battle!

From TV animation: One Piece: Grand Battle! is a fighting game based on the One Piece manga and anime, released for the Sony PlayStation. It is the first One Piece fighting game and adapts elements of the series up to the Whisky Peak Arc.
Developed by Ganbarion and published by Bandai, Grand Battle! was released in Japan on March 3, 2001, becoming the series' second-ever licensed game (preceded only by Become the Pirate King!), and the first for a home console. It met with resounding success, ultimately selling over 400,000 units and launching its first sequel the very next year; several more sequels and spinoffs would follow, expanding the Grand Battle name over an entire series.
In 2003, the game received a PAL release, featuring text options in English, Spanish, French, Italian, and German (with unaltered Japanese audio). This made it the first One Piece game to be released outside of Japan, though it remains unavailable in North America.
==Gameplay==
Combat uses typical 2.5D mechanics, with three-dimensional character models interacting on a two-dimensional axis. Player characters can walk, run, jump, double-jump, crouch, block, and grab (as well as throw and catch) items around the battlefield.
As in most fighting games, health is standardized among characters, while the main combat attributes—, , and —vary heavily, from a scale of A through E. These variations generally reflect the characters' canon abilities; for example, Luffy is ranked A in Offense and C in Agility, while Usopp is ranked E in Offense and A in Agility.
Fighting consists of standard button combinations. Each player character can access up to 20 standard techniques, along with several techniques that feature full cinematics. Finishers can only be used when character health falls below a set threshold (marked in notches on the health bar), and follow a numbered level system; higher levels correspond to lower health, and usually greater damage.
There are five classes of Finisher techniques:
*, delivered through conventional blows.
*, delivered through blows that can be "charged" for extra range.
*, delivered completely flush with the opponent (and cannot be blocked).
*, delivered by intercepting one of the opponent's attacks.
*, which call in a support character to deliver the blow.
(Non-Grapple finishers can be blocked, but will still inflict a minor amount of "chip" damage; this damage is valid for knockouts.)
===Characters===
Color	Input
Red 	Attack
Green	Jump
Pink 	Grab
There are a total of sixteen player characters, with seven having preassigned support characters. Any player character with support options will automatically take one into battle; if more than one is available, the choice is by default random, but can be specified by combining the right shoulder input with one of the main action (Attack, Jump, or Grab) inputs.
Below is a list of the player characters, and their corresponding support options (color-coded, where applicable, with selection inputs).
Character 	Support Character(s)	Support Character(s)	Support Character(s)
Character 	1 	2 	3
Monkey D. Luffy	 	 	
Roronoa Zoro 	 	 	
Nami 	 	 	
Usopp 	 	 	
Sanji 	 	 	
Kuro 	Sham & Buchi 	Jango 	
Don Krieg 	Gin 	 	
Arlong 	Hachi 	Kuroobi 	Chew
Buggy 	Mohji & Richie 	Cabaji 	
Alvida 	 	 	
Smoker 	 	 	
Tashigi 	 	 	
Miss Wednesday 	Mr. 8 	Karoo 	
Pandaman 	Panda Shark 	 	
Dracule Mihawk 	 	 	
Shanks 	Benn Beckman 	Lucky Roux 	Yasopp
In addition to their standard canon outfits, all player characters can access an alternate, recolored outfit if selected with the left shoulder input.
===Items===
Combatants may be helped or hindered by a variety of items around the battlefield. All items can be grabbed, thrown, or caught; their effects are generally activated by either direct contact or the impact of a throw.
If attacked, most items vanish immediately, without activating. If left untouched, they generally vanish after five seconds. Items will also slide or roll by themselves if set on a tilted surface.
Below is a table of items and their respective effects.
Item 	Effect
Sword 	Raises attack power for approximately five seconds.
Crown 	Raises defense power for approximately five seconds.
Coin 	Raises agility for approximately five seconds.
Jewel 	Raises attack power, defense power, and agility for approximately five seconds.
Food 	Restores health—onigiri a small amount, tankards a moderate amount, and drumsticks a large amount. Will spoil if left alone for three seconds or more.
Spoiled Food	Inflicts damage (roughly one-quarter of what they would normally restore) and brief paralysis.
Bomb 	Explodes to inflict damage. If left alone, usually explodes after three seconds.
Lantern 	Releases several flames that inflict four steady "bursts" of damage. Close contact will transfer these flames to the opponent.
Gaimon 	If approached (or grabbed), fires a pistol that inflicts damage.
Items are generally found by breaking the containers—barrels, crates, and treasure chests—positioned around each stage. These containers can also be picked up and thrown for minor damage (or caught in mid-throw).
===Battle Stages===
There are a total of six stages, all based on canon locations. Each features unique layouts, music, and background spectators.
List of Stages
Syrup Village: Consists of forests and a rocky slope—half-coated by an oil barrel—leading to the ocean, with the Bezan Black looming in the background. Spectators include various Black Cat Pirates (including Jango, Sham, and Buchi), Ninjin, Piiman, Tamanegi, and Kaya.
* The Bezan Black will periodically fire several bombs onto the stage (their areas of impact marked by red shadows).
Baratie: Consists of the three-tiered restaurant and a half-sunken Dreadnaught Sabre, bridged—and surrounded—by ocean. Spectators include various Krieg Pirates (including Pearl) and Baratie staff (including Zeff, Patty, and Carne).
* The Dreadnaught Sabre will constantly tilt back and forth, serving as an unstable foothold for both combatants and items.
Arlong Park: Consists of two stone walkways separated by a corner of the main harbor, bound on one end by Arlong Park and the other by a smaller gazebo. Spectators include various Arlong Pirates (including Hachi, Kuroobi, and Chew), Conomi Islanders (including Nojiko, Genzo, Chabo, and Dr. Nako), Johnny, and Yosaku.
* Item containers may release a Tooth Gum item, exclusive to this stage, that inflicts damage without knockback.
Loguetown: Consists of a small, enclosed area before Gold Roger's scaffold. Spectators include various townspeople and Buggy Pirates.
* Lightning will periodically strike the stage (its impact marked by a blue shadow), inflicting damage on contact.
Laboon: Consists of the main stomach chamber, with two small islands—one holding Crocus' cabin, the other holding a recliner— bridged by an endlessly drifting rowboat, the exit gates looming in the background.
* Crocus will periodically leave the cabin and shoot harpoons at any nearby combatants.
* A gale will periodically blow across the stage, pushing both combatants to one side.
Foosha Village: Consists of grassland, several windmills, and a dirt road leading to a harbor with a docked Going Merry. Spectators include various villagers (among them Makino and Woop Slap).
* The main windmill's blades can be used as (momentary) footholds; periodically, they will reverse direction.
** The girl inside the windmill will occasionally throw out a random power-up item.
All stages—except Loguetown—contain bodies of water that serve as "ring out" zones, respawning combatants away after dealing a fixed amount of damage. Double damage is applied to all Devil Fruit users (Luffy, Buggy, Alvida, and Smoker).
==Game Modes==
Two modes may be accessed from the Top Menu.
===Event Battle===
 mode puts the player character through a gauntlet of six 99-second battles against six semi-randomly selected CPU opponents.
Each battle is framed with a short cutscene, generally scripted after canon interactions if possible. The stage for each battle also generally follows canon; Usopp will always be fought at Syrup Village, Arlong will always be fought at Arlong Park, and so on.
To progress, each opponent must be fully beaten; if a match times out with no conclusive winner, both combatants are restored a small amount of health and sent into a Sudden Death rematch. Clearing all six battles will lead to a special victory screen tailored to the player character (overlaid with a signature quote), followed by the game's development credits.
Outright losing a battle will present the player with a continue option; a total of five continues are allowed before Event Battle automatically ends.
====Cinematics====
Event Battle also contains five special post-credits cinematics, meant to chart progress in unlocking characters. They depict the following:
*The Straw Hats' Grand Line launch ceremony (adapted from Chapter 100)
*Smoker and Tashigi preparing to pursue the Straw Hats (adapted from Chapter 100)
*Mihawk's meeting with Shanks (adapted from Chapter 96)
*Igaram's farewell to Vivi (adapted from Chapter 113)
*A replay of the game's opening cinematic, fast-forwarded and zoomed in on Pandaman's cameo
Unlike those of later Grand Battle games, these cinematics are triggered by strictly one-time conditions, and cannot be saved or replayed.
===Grand Battle===
 mode allows players to participate in classic arcade-style battles against each other, or against a CPU opponent. Unlike Event Battle, this mode allows characters to (through alternate costumes) fight duplicates of themselves, and limits all battles to one round regardless of time limits or draws.
Before battle, players can use this mode's "handicap" mechanic to raise—or lower—their chosen character's standard attack and defense capabilities along a five-point scale. The battle stage may be freely chosen, or left to one of two CPU options:
*, which defaults to the Syrup Village stage and proceeds along the in-game ordering for every subsequent battle.
*, which selects a stage at random.
==Bonus Features==
===Treasure===
 provides a data file for each player character, containing a revolving model of the character, combat attributes, voice clips, and finisher commands. Here, the character-select menu doubles as a win record, showing who the selected character has beaten in Event Battle.
Each of these files can be unlocked by clearing Event Battle with the corresponding characters. Achieving a complete win record will unlock a supplementary file, containing an alternate character model and a five-point scale measuring the damage output of each finisher.
===Options===
The menu, in addition to standard sound and system settings, allows players to adjust the following:
* intelligence between three different levels.
* between 60 seconds, 99 seconds, or total deactivation.
* containers between three different re-spawn rates.
(Computer and Item adjustments affect both modes, while Time Limit adjustments affect Grand Battle only.)
==Cast==
Grand Battle! follows almost every voice-casting from the TV anime, setting a precedent for every One Piece home-console game to follow. However, most of its support characters are left silent; only Jango and Igaram are voiced (the latter by Kuro's voice actor Kōichi Hashimoto, possibly because Keiichi Sonobe's casting had not been finalized).
The game is also notable for casting the anime's narrator Mahito Ōba as Pandaman. Ōba would reprise the role for most if not all subsequent games.
Role 	Voice Actor
Monkey D. Luffy	Mayumi Tanaka
Roronoa Zoro 	Kazuya Nakai
Nami 	Akemi Okamura
Usopp 	Kappei Yamaguchi
Sanji 	Hiroaki Hirata
Kuro 	Kōichi Hashimoto
Don Krieg 	Fumihiko Tachiki
Arlong 	Jūrōta Kosugi
Buggy 	Shigeru Chiba
Alvida 	Yōko Matsuoka
Smoker 	Ginzō Matsuo
Tashigi 	Junko Noda
Miss Wednesday 	Misa Watanabe
Pandaman 	Mahito Ōba
Dracule Mihawk 	Takeshi Aono
Shanks 	Shūichi Ikeda
Igaram 	Kōichi Hashimoto
Narrator 	Mahito Ōba
Gold Roger 	Chikao Ohtsuka
Jango 	Kazuki Yao
==Gallery==
==Trivia==
* The game's box-art, opening cinematic, and Press Start screen all recreate the cover to Volume 12.
* As with many PlayStation games, this game's disc contained a "redbook" audio track designed for CD players; aside from standard product warnings, this track featured a brief skit between Luffy and Jango.
* This game sold well even after its initial release; by mid-2002, it and its sequel had sold over 600,000 units together, earning a joint Gold Prize commendation at the 2002 Sony PlayStation awards.
==References==
==External Links==
*Bandai website (Japanese)
*Ganbarion page (Japanese)
==Site Navigation==
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