I'm a Sega sap and therefore a Dreamcast fanatic, and Powerstone was one of my favorite multiplayer games.

There it is. Powerstone, the game that has reared its brightly colored, pirate-inclined head in just about every article written on One Piece: Grand Battle so far, and rightly so. Fast-paced, multiplayer-focused arena battles? Check. Pirates? You betcha.

One Piece: Grand Battle was clearly developed by a group of guys who sat down and played more than a few rounds of Capcom's Dreamcast classic. What Grand Battle ended up being is comparable to the game it aspires to be, but is not a carbon copy or exact clone by any means. Fifteen thin characters fill out the roster, weak in terms of both design and gameplay execution. Arenas are designed well, but not for maximum enjoyment like Powerstone — these are more like the weaker designs of the lesser Powerstone 2.

One Piece: Grand Battle is a fun soon-to-be-budget release (hopefully!), but one best left for fans of the irritating anime series.

That said, as an anime-based game, One Piece vastly one-ups its competition, bar-none. While the 15 available fighters – 11 of which are usable from the start – are mostly the same, complete with overlapping movesets, there is not a single "bad egg" in the bunch. Obvious mediocrity in gameplay design is better than unbalanced craziness, correct?

Let's be honest here; nobody was expecting Street Fighter III: Fourth Strike out of this. Super Smash Brothers levels of balance are also out of the question, of course, but that game is the pedigree of its genre; it should not be expected that each and every game be held to such standards. The simple fact that an anime-based game made it far enough to provoke even a fleeting thought of Powerstone 2, never mind Super Smash Brothers Melee, is incredible.

While not up to the standards of the leading "party fighters," it is the scant few arenas – a whopping seven are available – that make Grand Battle seem enticing at all. Most arenas showcase maddening(ly fun) hazards that serve to dramatically twist up the gameplay, such as quickly moving platforms or oncoming rampages of cattle. While Powerstone stuck mostly with item-based thrills, One Piece invokes the minds behind Super Smash brothers to add quirky events to the stages.

While none of the stages are as memorable as the majority in Super Smash Brothers Melee, they are all successful enough to create a quite a few tense, fun moments that could not be found in the likes of Powerstone.

Yet, ironically, it is this very strength that brings Grand Battle down a notch. The frustration caused by the eventful arenas is enough to keep some matches, especially those played against casual gamers (AKA, the type of people one could convince to play this game who would be most likely to enjoy it), from being much fun at all. Powerstone kept the action focused on direct combat, with items fairly strewn about the stages. In almost every case, a human player could feel the heat of success with each defeat. In Grand Battle, it is too often the stage itself that is the victor.

The character designs are, quite frankly, little more than bothersome. Fans of the popular anime and manga will be pleased to see these high-quality recreations of the characters, especially during the ridiculously awkward story sequences, but those of us only present for the arena-bashing action will quickly grow annoyed.

Don't get me wrong, I love me some crazy character designs (see: Katamari Damacy and Killer7.), but One Piece is simply annoying, mixing cheap manga clichés with trite pirate imagery. While I appreciate the effort at "wackiness," I found absolutely nothing likeable about any of the characters.

Of course, they are rendered extremely well, with a cel-shaded, animated style that would make Level 5 blush, if only slightly. The environments are also accurate to the anime, and will be responsible for causing many a gamer to drool with anticipation for the next-generation of cel-shaded games. Could near-perfect anime 3D renders be in the future? Grand Battle, along with Dragon Quest VIII, is a massive step toward that.

Of course, along with the anime parallel comes the sad state of mass-market voice acting in the genre. Grand Battle is a grating mess for the ears to attempt to sort out, thanks to a mix between lesser talent and an obvious lack of quality voice direction.

Sound effects are, of course, a different story. These, not subject to the complications of English localization, are left in their original glory, and match the sounds of the anime nicely. Each sample carries strong notes of cartoon-quality with it, adding to the "3D cartoon" feel of the game.

One Piece: Grand Battle is an uncreative yet valiant attempt at a lighthearted arena battler, if one with a somewhat tiresome presentation. It was designed with passion, though not given the fine-toothed combing needed for long-term success in this genre. It easily beats out such fare as Heavy Metal: Geomatrix, but does not come anywhere near challenging the mainstays of the genre.

Score: 6.0/10