Zootopia Arena

Zootopia Arena is a fighting game for the Nintendo 3DS and Wii U. This game uses 3D graphics and a 2D style of gameplay. The story of the game is basically our heroes saving the world from a faction of vengeful foxes bent on the extinction of all other species.

Menu Controls
It's pretty simple. You move the cursor using the D-Pad. The Left Control Stick/Circle Pad works too. To select stuff, hit the A button. To go back to a previous menu, hit the B button. There's also a Back command you can use in some menus.

Battle Controls
As mentioned above, Zootopia Arena uses a 2D style of gameplay. You move the characters by pushing Left and Right on the D-Pad or by pushing the Left Control Stick/Circle Pad left and right. To make your character run toward the enemy instead of walking toward them, push the Left Control Stick/Circle Pad in the direction your character is facing, then quickly push it again in that same direction and this time, hold it in that position. The character will keep running until you either move the Left Control Stick/Circle Pad again, let it go, attack, or get attacked. To make your character do back-steps instead of just walking away from the opponent, do like you would if you were gonna make them run, but instead, push the Left Control Stick/Circle Pad in the direction opposite of the direction your character is facing. You can also dash and do back-steps using the D-Pad. Push Left or Right once, then quickly push it again. If you dash forward, then hold down the button to keep dashing.

To make your character jump straight up, push the Left Control Stick/Circle Pad upward. To make your character jump forward, push the Left Control Stick/Circle Pad up and to the direction the character is facing (If they're facing right, then push the Left Control Stick/Circle Pad up and to the right to make your character jump forward). To make them jump backwards, push the Left Control Stick/Circle Pad up and to the direction opposite of the direction the character is facing (If they're facing right, push the Left Control Stick/Circle Pad up and to the left to make your character jump backwards). You can also jump using the D-Pad. When you jump over your opponent or vice versa, you and your opponent will automatically turn around to face each other again.

To make your character crouch down, push the Left Control Stick/Circle Pad down. Once again, you can also crouch with the D-Pad. You can't move while crouching, but you can attack while crouching.

To make your character block attacks, push the Left Control Stick/Circle Pad in the direction opposite of the direction your character is facing and hold it in that position or push and hold the directional button that matches the direction opposite of the direction your character is facing. Under normal circumstances, this would just make your character move backwards. But, if you do this while the enemy is attacking, the character will automatically block the attack unless the attack is unblockable or the character is blocking in the wrong area (Low attacks cannot be blocked by a middle guard). To block while crouching, push the Left Control Stick/Circle Pad down and to the direction opposite of the direction the character is facing (If they're facing left, push the Left Control Stick/Circle Pad down and to the right). Pushing Down-Left or Down-Right on the D-Pad will also work. Again, it depends on the direction your character is facing.

Now for attacking. Attacking is mapped to the A, B, X, And Y buttons. Each character has a set of Combo Attacks done by pressing these buttons in a specific order (For example, Y, Y, X). Each character also has a set of special moves done by moving the Left Control Stick/Circle Pad a certain way, then quickly pressing one of the attack buttons. Again, using the D-Pad also works. During a fight, you can access your character's move list from the Pause menu. How the command inputs are shown depends on the direction your character is facing when you pause the game. For example, let's say the character has a move whose input consists of Down-Right-A. That's the input you'd see if the character is facing right. If they're facing left, you'll see the input as Down-Left-A.

Now, for throwing. To perform a throw, get close to your enemy, then hit the R button on the Game Pad/Nintendo 3DS to grab the enemy. You can't block a throw, but you can escape by pressing the R button before the throw is executed. You have to be quick, though, because you'll have little time to escape.

Unless I'm missing something, I think that about covers it for the controls.

Stage Themes or Character Themes?
Zootopia Arena uses both of these and you have the option to switch between them. In the game's Options menu, there's a Battle Music setting in the Audio section. The two choices are Stage Themes and Character Themes and, as stated above, you can change this setting. There are some songs in this game that play regardless of your current Battle Music setting. These songs are songs that play during fights between two specific characters. Anyone who has played Blazblue and used match-ups like Ragna vs. Hazama or Noel vs. Tsubaki should know what I'm talking. The main villain of Zootopia Arena also has what's known as a boss theme. This plays when you face this character at the final stage of Arcade Mode and also when you face this character at certain points in Story Mode.

Modes
Every fighting game's gotta have a multitude of modes to choose from. Here are the modes present in Zootopia Arena.

Story Mode
Here, you play through the game's story. First, you play the game's prologue. There's not much here. It's just a scene showing you the beginning of the story. Once it's finished, you then begin playing through the characters' individual stories. At first, only Judy Hopps' story will be available. But, after you clear it, more characters' stories will become available to play through. Basically, you gotta clear characters' stories to unlock other characters' stories. Once you clear each and every character's story, you will unlock the True Ending. This is where the story's final scenes and final battles take place. Clear the True Ending and you beat Story Mode.

Story Mode also has what are known as Extra Stories. You unlock these by clearing certain characters' stories. These stories basically show things that happened prior to the events of the game. These Extra Stories are just lines of cutscenes to sit through. There's no fighting in these whatsoever.

Arcade Mode
Here, you choose a character and then you fight your way through ten stages. Most stages have you fight a random character, but Stages 4, 8, 9, and 10 have you fight a specific opponent. Which characters you face in Stages 4, 8, and 9 depend on the character you pick. Basically, those characters are your characters "rivals". As for Stage 10, most, if not all characters will face the game's main villain at Stage 10. If you manage to beat Arcade Mode, you'll see your character's Arcade Mode Ending and then you can watch it again at any time in the game's Gallery, which we'll get to later.

Versus Mode
Here, you pick two characters, pick a stage, and then the two characters have a battle to see who wins. Can be played by one player or two players.

Survival Mode
This is much like Arcade Mode except if you lose once, that's it. Game over. Also, instead of just ten stages, you keep on fighting enemy after enemy until you finally do lose.

(This article is incomplete. More will be added later.)