This 3D fighter is a good adaption of a great anime.

User Rating: 7 | Toaru Majutsu no Index PSP
Positive
+ Great anime visuals
+ A wide variety of playable characters
+ Combat emphasizes dodging as much as attacking

Negative
- No lip-sync in pre-battle cutscenes
- Combat lacks depth and variety
- Story is a lifeless recap of the anime's story

The free region of the PSP served a purpose. Toaru Majutsu no Index (translates to A Certain Magical Index), a Japan only 3D fighter based on the popular anime, manga and novel of the same name where in this world both magic and science exist, it manages to get most things right. It offers suitable fan service for series fans with plenty of familiar characters but it's too small and devoid of enough content to make it out of the shores of its homeland.

The anime/manga/novel (let's refer to the anime only) are set in Academy City, where its 80% population of students study esper power, around 60% of which show signs of a form of esper power. The story follows Kamijou Touma, a Level 0 whose only ability is the Imagine Breaker, a power in his right hand that allows him to neglect any form of magic and esper powers, though brings him considerable bad luck. One fine day, he finds a young nun hanging on his balcony railing. Her name is Index Librorum Prohibitorum (just Index for short), from the Church of England and her mind is home to 103,000 magical texts. Now Touma finds himself battling against Index's pursuers, consisting of both magicians and espers. That is a basic summary of the plot. If you've watched the anime, the game's story serves as a decent recap of the story. Basically the story here points out the main important points and through screenshots that are taken directly from the anime, uses dialogue to narrate the event. And in certain parts, you are required to fight. These cutscenes are dialogue heavy and since it's all in Japanese, it's a complete waste of time for anyone (like me) to watch them unless try to vaguely remember the events of the anime.

The game is a fairly simple and straightforward 3D fighter. There is a great amount of playable character, ranging from protagonist Touma, Accelerator and Mikoto, and even season 2's Oriana . The cast is varied, and each character has a varied approach to the battle. With one supporting character per side (supporting characters can be any character and those non-playable, Last Order and Index) to aid in battle as extra attacks. The battle is one-on-one, with a heavy and light attacks. Touma uses his fists, while Kuroko uses her teleportation skills, Mikoto can use her lightning. Accelerator may feel a bit underpowered, but the rest feel well balanced. The AI is tough, even on the easiest difficulty, and it will take timed dodging and attacks to overcome, and the occasional special skill that does not look as cool as it should have been. It is still a straightforward combat system. Changing directions when attacking changes the attack, and you can do combos, but as most licensed based material, it is a shallow game.

Toaru Majutsu no Index (the PSP game) is a pretty looking game, no doubt; except for the fact that there is no lip synching. The victorious character will say a line along with his partner, and it looks quite awkward as you see an almost fixed image with voice playing and the mouths not moving. The rest, character design and background look excellent for an anime game. Voice-overs from the anime was as they are expected to be.

By no means a success or a disaster, Toaru Majutsu no Index is a serviceable fighter for the Japanese and for the very few that manage to find a copy. Like many other licensed material, it is a short lived game even with other modes aside and other unlockable characters. It does not do nearly enough to warrant a jump outside of Japan.


OVERALL = 71 / 100
This 3D fighter is a good adaption of a great anime.