Passion Republic’s excellent arena brawler, GigaBash, has never once in its lifespan disappointed in its DLC output. After knocking it out of the park with a Godzilla pack, followed by an Ultraman pack, many fans assumed that was the extent of things. Thankfully this ended up not being the case, with the release earlier this year of the Godzilla Nemesis pack, which added King Ghidorah and Hedorah to the game’s already stellar lineup of both original Kaiju and licensed characters. And now, just a few short months after the release of that expansion, the developers have decided to grace the player base with yet another excellent two-pack of characters: the ‘Mighty’ DLC.
As many fans correctly assumed from both the name and the teaser trailer, this new expansion would theme heavily around the Power Rangers franchise, but what fans incorrectly assumed is that it would be yet another licensed DLC. Due to the mess of rights in international markets on the Power Rangers IP, the developers made the decision to make these characters more widely available for fans worldwide (the Ultraman DLC isn’t even available in Japan or mainland China for this same reason). So instead of getting the Megazord and Goldar as playable characters, Passion Republic created R.O.J.A.K. (Robot of Justice Against Kaiju) and Balzarr to stand in for the iconic characters. And suffice it to say, both are excellent additions to the already-stacked roster in the game.
GigaBash is a registered trademark of Passionrepublic Games Sdn Bhd in Malaysia and other countries.
First up is Balzarr, the rare quadruped Kaiju. It fits with him being lion-themed, but the developers went the extra mile by giving him not one, but TWO scorpion tails, akin to the mythical Manticore. Taking inspiration from mythology is always a surefire way to create a memorable creature, and Balzarr here is no exception. Not only is he a striking design, his personality and playstyle set him apart as a standout from in the roster. His fast attacks and parries make him an exceptionally fun character to play around with, allowing him to pull off insane combos and juggles much like Gigaman in the base game.
R.O.J.A.K., comparatively, is on the opposite end of the spectrum. It takes a more slow, methodical approach to combat, not unlike the game’s other mech character, Thundatross. It has some really unique quirks to its playstyle; landing an attack using each individual body part will provide R.O.J.A.K. with a speed and attack boost for a limited time, making it even easier for players to bash enemy monsters. Aside from that, its overall gameplay feels a tad clunky, but given that the same can be said for Thundatross, the likelihood that this is by design is rather high. It’s definitely a character that takes some practice and getting used to before taking it into the online multiplayer arena.
GigaBash is a registered trademark of Passionrepublic Games Sdn Bhd in Malaysia and other countries.
As Power Rangers stand-ins, both characters are easily identifiable. Passion Republic wasn’t going to let any silly rights issues stand in the way of giving players what they want, and it seems like they were successful! Not only are both characters great additions to the GigaBash roster, fans seem pretty thrilled by them one way or the other. While it may have seemed for a while that the game had reached the end of its support, Passion Republic has proved once again that they are far from done with the game.
