Last year's One Piece: Grand Battle didn't have enough meat on its bones to warrant a purchase, but the same cannot be said of the follow-up, One Piece Grand Adventure. Namco Bandai and developer Ganbarion have taken everything that worked in the last game and tossed in a hefty amount of additional content, and while the combat is fairly mindless and flawed compared to other brawlers, I've been having fun pummeling opponents and playing mini games.

At its core, Grand Adventure is a weak man's Power Stone. You select one of 24 characters from the popular series (a roster that includes Monkey D. Luffy, Crocodile, and Buggy the Clown) and toss them into 20 detailed arenas full of all sorts of power-ups and pitfalls. But unfortunately, while it's fairly easy stringing combos together and beating the snot out of the AI, the controls aren't very reliable. Objects can be picked up and thrown, but it's a bit difficult lining up targets. The same goes for punching them. The combat is such that wild button mashing will result in these absolutely brutal special maneuvers, but actually landing them is oftentimes a bit of a challenge. However, while the fighting isn't technically sound, the flaws aren't really that big a deal. More often than not, moving in the AI's general vicinity and pressing X will result in someone getting their butt whipped thanks to the new Accel-Heat System, which allows players to easily pull off crazy attacks from the series. But Capcom's Power Stone 2 this is not. The weapons aren't nearly as cool, the fighting isn't as good, and only two people can play! You can select from 50 support characters that'll champion your cause and lend a helping hand, but that's it. One-on-one fighting? Way to kick it old school, Namco Bandai!

In addition to setting up tournaments and adjusting options to multiplayer matches, there's also a series of mini games to enjoy, and most of them are quite entertaining. One challenges you to steer through a large duck, another tasks you with breaking boxes before time runs out, while another drops you in front of a gigantic snake and challenges you to avoid being eaten.

All of that stuff is fun, but the primary reason why the game's worth looking at is the new single player component, dubbed Adventure Mode. You select one of a handful of characters, then take control of a pirate ship and sail the high seas looking for treasure. There's several maps that you'll explore, each of which contains a series of islands full of danger, and by danger, I mean some punk that's going to attempt to knock you on your ass. But most times, the fights can be won easily, and the rewards are worth the time invested.

Adventure Mode is decent enough because the developers have pumped it full of variety, but I want it to be so much more than it is. I really want to take full control of the ship and sail around like I can in Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, but instead, all I'm doing is choosing an island and watching as the boat floats to it and that's not fun at all. Furthermore, I can't move on to the next map without completing the current one, which is a curious design given the fact that The Wind Waker has been out for years. There's so much potential, but instead of mimicking one of the greatest games of all time and creating this evolving world, Namco Bandai aimed for the bare minimum.

Thus far, I really don't know how I feel about this game. I really like the kooky voice acting as well as the visuals, but I'm growing bored. Namco Bandai has continued to publish games that, while they're faithful to the franchises they're based on, lack variety. Grand Adventure contains more content than most, but I'm still waiting for the anime game to beat all anime games. It doesn't have to be this sweeping epic that contains a constantly evolving world. I'm not necessarily looking for a Wind Waker knockoff. I just want the parties involved to put in some extra effort. Support for only two players? Why not four? Why not six? Hell, why not an online multiplayer mode? These anime shows are rich with colorful characters and exotic locales. The content's already there, but sadly, the videogame developers aren't holding up their end of the bargain.

If you're interested in One Piece Grand Adventure, the game will be shipped on August 29th and GameDaily will post a review shortly thereafter.