Standard anime-style brawling
The 2D fighting genre is not exactly one that is short on great titles, with the likes of the mighty Street Fighter franchise standing alongside the likes of Guilty Gear, Samurai Shodown and many others. Dogma is a little known release that mixes anime-style graphics into the usual formula to create a fighter which is less than spectacular but which is worth a few brief rounds. The game does stick to pretty much all the established conventions of the genre, pitting an array of colourful characters against each in one-on-one combat with the simple aim of knocking each other down via an extensive array of punches, kicks and special moves. Of course, each character has their own unique abilities, with some of them also having access to weapons. Only three modes of play are available, including the story one where you engage against all of the characters in turn, and single-player and two-player versus, where you simply take on either a computer controlled or human opponent. In most ways, Dogma really is very much an average fighter, with little to recommend it over other similar titles. Visually, it's a bit of a mixed bag and while the anime style may appeal to some, with its bright, cartoon-like sprites, the obsession with Japanese schoolgirls is hard to fathom and many of the characters do look very similar. The moves available are reasonably varied, if unspectacular, with the nine characters also handling quite differently and which does add some replay value. However, unless you have played every other 2D fighter out there, Dogma is going to be fairly near the bottom of the list when it comes to choosing a new one and there are better examples out there.
