Play Original Story From Fairy Tail - Gekitotsu! Kardia Daiseidou (J) Online

I picked up Original Story From Fairy Tail: Gekitotsu! Kardia Daiseidou back in 2010 on the Nintendo DS, a time when licensed anime games were everywhere, and Hudson Soft put this one out. It's a side-scrolling beat 'em up that drops you right into the Fairy Tail guild's world, with all the main characters represented in that super-deformed, chibi style the DS handled so well.

You control Natsu, Lucy, Gray, Erza, or other guild members, moving screen by screen through urban and dungeon environments, punching, kicking, and using magic attacks to clear waves of enemies. The main goal involves progressing through the story by defeating bosses and uncovering a conspiracy in the capital. Combat relies on simple combos and special magic attacks that you trigger with button combinations; it's straightforward but has a nice weight to hits, and swapping between characters breaks up the repetition. The difficulty is pretty manageable, never too punishing, and the pacing keeps things moving without much grinding. It feels like a solid, no-fuss brawler that makes you smile when you pull off a big fiery Dragon's Roar with Natsu.