Bleach DS Series

This page contains a list of Bleach games released on the Nintendo DS


 * Bleach: The Blade of Fate
 * Bleach: Dark Souls
 * Bleach: The 3rd Phantom
 * Bleach: Flame Bringer

Bleach: The Blade of Fate
When the Nintendo DS had released its second model, The DS Lite, in June 2006, its overall popularity went sky high. It was after this technical baby boom that Sega stared working with Tite Kubo(the creator of Bleach)to create the first Bleach 2D fighting game in early 2007. The game would be called "Bleach The Blade of Fate", and would feature characters from the hit TV show and manga series fighting it out on the small duel screens. It would include a story mode, a versus mode, a training mode, a challenge mode, and other typical things you would find in any decent fighting game. The story mode follows Ichigo Kurosaki, and his attempts to rescue Rukia Kuchiki, after being taken to the Soul Society to be publicly executed for the crime of giving some of her powers to Ichigo. After you beat the last challenge as Ichigo, other chapters are unlocked, letting you play as and unlock new characters to use in the games other modes. The thing that set the game apart from the then popular Naruto titles, was its extreme attention to detail. Fans of the show would almost instantly understand the battle system, the special moves of each character, and subtle references only someone who breaths Bleach would understand. It was very easy to pickup and play. Sega put a lot of love and care into making this a game that was true to its source material, and not just trying to cash a pay check.

Bleach: Dark Souls
Following the huge success of "Bleach the Blade of Fate", another game had to be made. In mid 2008, the US was told that a new Bleach fighting game was in the works. This one would include a new game exclusive story, as well as expanding the 28 characters to a huge playable cast of 44! New characters included Kukaku Shiba, Ikkaku Madarame, and even a giant hollow known as a Menos Grande. The story mode plays as a web of events forming paths, allowing the player to choose what mission you wanted to do, and when you wanted to do it. The missions themselves are complex, as its not as easy as swinging your sword a few times and moving on. Some missions require you to collect objects, dodge obstacles, and even answering trivia related to the series. While every mission uses the same 2D fighting graphics, it was nice to see some effort was put into making this a fun game. The game also introduced grids the allowed you put certain color blocks on them to give your character minor stat boosts, such as moving faster, and jumping higher. You could purchase these blocks with points your earned from the arcade and story modes. Like the first game, Sega put a lot of hours into giving fans of the series and its previous game a good title that you could pick up and play. It was nice to get an upgrade on an already addicting game.

Bleach: The Third Phantom
With two successful Bleach themed fighters on the most popular portable gaming device on the market, Sega and Tite Kubo thought that a change was in order. Sega paired up with Tom Create to bring a new angle into the next Bleach DS game. This time the Bleach characters would fight it out in chibi form in a tactics style RPG with a new combat system. When the game was first announced, there was an outcry from Bleach DS fans. Some thought that a turn based game was not the right direction for the series, others thought it was a dream come true. The story is brand new and written by Tite Kubo like in Bleach Dark Souls, however it featured canon characters of the later Bleach series, such as Ulquiorra Cifer, and Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez. The game itself plays out more like a Bleach novel, as the story exists entirely in text, accompanied by the occasional animation picture. Its also worth mentioning that when you attack an enemy, you get a well choreographed battle scene using the same 2D sprites from Bleach Dark Souls and Bleach the Blade of Fate. The game starts you out picking your gender and name, and then moving on. The story begins fifty years before the start of the original series, starting with your selected characters childhood, and then becoming a Soul Reaper along with your twin of the opposite gender. From here the actually plot unfolds. The Arrancar Arturo who once raised havoc in the Soul Society has returned with an army of hollows to destroy it once and for all. But all is not lost! You along with an selected army of fellow Soul Reapers face against Arturo and remove him form the Seireitei. During a particularly tough battle, your main character is driven into a portal that takes him/her 50 years into the future, where he meets Ichigo and other well known Bleach characters. The game is tailor made for lovers of games such as Final Fantasy Tactics and Tactics Ogre, providing action packed battles that can take anywhere form five minutes to an hour. After you beat the main game, you unlock the Bleach Tower in which you can fight every playable Bleach character in the game and unlock them.

Bleach: Flame Bringer
With the new step that Bleach the Third Phantom took, Tite Kubo and Sega are trying something special for the newest release of the Bleach DS series, Bleach the 4rth Flame Bringer. The game was released August 4 2009 in Japan, and has yet to make a North American release. From trailers and posters, we can assume its a side scrolling game that features Ichigo plowing through hordes of enemy soul reapers in an attempt to once again save Rukia in a Zelda/Mario like story. The story seems about Rukia's Zanpaktou (Sode no Shirayuki) turning red and making her become hostile. (this is plot all info we have as of 12-18-09) The game play looks fast paced, which should give dislikers of Bleach the Third Phantom something to look forward to. It also uses some of the characters models from Shattered Blade, Dark Souls, and even some hollow models from Third Phantom.