Type-Moon is a fairly popular Japanese game company known for making unique "visual novels." Their best-known franchise, "Tsukihime," began life as one of these novels and was later adapted to an anime. One of the better-known spin-offs of "Tsukihime" was the 2-D fighter video game Melty Blood, which featured various characters battling one another; it achieved cult success after its release and eventually saw a number of revisions with more characters and adapted mechanics. Understandably, this title never saw U.S. release because of the obscurity of the material. Fate/Unlimited Codes is another fighting game based on a Type-Moon property, but unlike its predecessor, Fate/Unlimited Codes will actually be released in English-speaking countries.

Fate/Unlimited Codes is set in the world of "Fate/Stay Night," another of the popular "visual novels" released in Japan that was later adapted into an anime series. "Fate/Stay Night" tells the story of a boy name Shiro Emiya, who is a hardworking young teenager. His city is home to a mysterious competition called the Holy Grail War, where groups of masters and their servants battle for the right to claim the Holy Grail, which would grant them a wish. Shiro ends up enrolled in the war, along with his servant, Saber, a female version of King Arthur. Shiro and Saber set out to win the Holy Grail War, not in order to earn a wish, but to protect the innocents who would endangered by the conflict. The fighting game allows you to take on the roles of various characters from the anime and play out their stories.

Combat in Fate/Unlimited Codes isn't overly complex. Each character has three attack buttons: light, medium and heavy. Light attacks are fast but weak and are primarily used for starting combos or searching for a weak point in an enemy's defense. Medium attacks are well-balanced; they're fairly speedy and strong and make for a good attack to use on an open enemy. Heavy attacks are strong and slow. If you combo your attacks together, you can unleash a Slash Rave, which boosts your damage. Blocking can be done either by holding backward to lessen damage or by using a Reflect Guard to nullify the damage with careful timing. As with most fighting games, you also have a wide variety of special moves available to you. Movement and combat are fairly simple, with the game usually staying on a 2-D plane. Players can occasionally dodge into the foreground or background to avoid attacks, but it isn't a common part of combat.

One of the game's most interesting features is the Magic Burst. Every character has a magic bar meter located at the bottom of the screen; it functions as your Super Meter bar and can be used to fuel special super attacks. This bar also has other features, the most important of which is the Magic Burst. When activated, it puts your character into a super mode where your magic bar drains slowly but you're capable of canceling attacks that you normally can't, using Reflect Guard without draining your magic meter, and even regenerating HP. If you activate Magic Burst with a full meter and under certain conditions, you can even activate special abilities. For example, Medusa-alike Rider will be able to slow down her enemy if she utilizes Magic Burst with her eye-covering blinders off. Archer will activate Unlimited Blade Works to give himself new attacks if you activate Magic Burst after performing a series of six chants beforehand.

Magic Bursts can also be used to improve your basic combat abilities. If you use Magic Burst while attacking an enemy, you can instantly chain into new moves. If you activate it while an enemy is hitting you, you'll knock him or her away. You can even "spend" some of your magic bar to perform special moves, such as a Guard Counter, which allows you to instantly counter an enemy's attack with careful timing, or a Reflect Dash, which lets you chain together moves that you normally couldn't. The most impressive ability of the Magic Burst is the EX Grail move, which can only be activated under special circumstances. As both players fight, a grail in the middle of the screen fills up with energy knocked off the fighter's health bars. Whoever fills the grail can then claim it by using a Magic Burst with a full bar.

Fate/Unlimited Codes has a rather comprehensive set of gameplay modes available. Arcade mode is the traditional fighting game style in which you pick one of the "Fate/Stay Night" characters and battle your way through their plotline. Vs. CPU and Vs. 2P let you do a instant battle against the computer or a friend through local wireless, respectively. You can also choose to be a spectator, if you're interested in seeing two computer-controlled characters fight one another. For those who want to brush up on their advanced fighting game techniques, the game also has a Mission mode, where you select a character and are give a wide variety of different missions to complete. These missions can include performing specific combos, defeating enemies with certain moves, and defeating an enemy while under a difficult condition, such as defeating them without getting hit by a certain attack or when your character begins with low health. Performing these missions unlocks additional missions to complete, as well as bonus features in the game's Extras menu.

The PlayStation Portable may not be the first system that people think of when it comes to fighting games, but Fate/Unlimited Codes may turn out to be a bit of a surprise. The combat is fast and easy to pick up, but you must also learn and master a number of interesting mechanics if you really want to succeed. Like most fighting games, it's heavily focused on multiplayer, but there are also a number of features for those who want to play the game alone. The Mission mode in particular offers a number of chances to learn new skills and combos. Even without any knowledge of the "Fate/Stay Night" visual novel, the game offers a surprisingly in-depth combat system. Those who are in the market for a good portable fighter should check out Fate/Unlimited Codes when it hits PlayStation Network in September.