Play Bleach DS - Souten Ni Kakeru Unmei (J) Online

Bleach DS - Souten Ni Kakeru Unmei is one of those rare anime fighters that actually nails the feel of the show. You start off with Ichigo and a few other characters, swinging zanpakuto like it’s nobody’s business—the controls are simple at first, just slashing and dashing, but then you realize there’s a whole layer of flashy special moves and counters to figure out.

The story mode follows the Soul Society arc, so if you’ve watched the anime, you’ll recognize all the big moments. What surprised me was how smooth the combat feels for a DS game—characters actually clash swords mid-air, and pulling off a well-timed Bankai never gets old. The sprite work holds up, too, with some surprisingly fluid animations for Ichigo’s Getsuga Tensho.

It’s not perfect—some stages drag a bit, and the AI can be either brain-dead or weirdly relentless—but for a portable Bleach fix, it’s way better than it had any right to be. If you’ve got a soft spot for the series, this one’s worth dusting off the old DS for.