Barbarian | DJcube

Get Ready For Battle…

JP release: 27th March 2003
NA release: N/A
EU release: N/A
Developer: Saffire
Publisher: Taito
NGC Magazine Score: 70%
AKA: Warrior Blade: Rastan vs. Barbarian
Mods Used: Widescreen Hack

Called Warrior Blade: Rastan vs. Barbarian in Japan, this game did see a release in North America and Europe, but on PS2 and not GameCube. The GameCube version was supposed to be released in Europe – to the point that NGC Magazine reviewed Barbarian (complete with box art) before it ended up getting cancelled.

Barbarian is a typical arena fighter, there’s a few simple combos, a long range magic attack and the ability to pick up and throw objects. It can be annoying at times as you can sometimes be locked in long combos, but for the most part it does the job, even if it’s nothing special.

The campaign does have some interesting things about it, though. Each character gets their own route through the levels, with their story unfolding via narration between each fight (rather than just having a beginning and ending). Sometimes you’ll even have a choice of mission to play and some scenarios will be different, such as reaching a certain number of hits, fighting a regenerating enemy or fighting someone who has some goons with them (although the game doesn’t suit multiple opponents).

It’s a decent game, but the core gameplay is quite basic and it all looks a bit drab.

Fine

This game, to all intents and purposes, feels like a more refined next-gen evolution of Saphire’s earlier four-player battler, Xena: Warrior Princess on N64.
Geraint Evans, NGC Magazine #72

Remake or remaster?

There’s not that much unique stuff here.

Official Ways to get the game

There is no official way to get Barbarian.