Battle Arena Toshinden, released as Toh Shin Den[a][b][2] in Japan, is a 1995 fighting video game developed by Tamsoft and published by Takara for the PlayStation.

[3] It was one of the first fighting games, after Virtua Fighter on arcade and console, to boast polygonal characters in a 3D environment, and features a sidestep maneuver which is credited for taking the genre into "true 3D.

[9][4] Critically acclaimed[10] for graphical innovations like gouraud shading and transparent effects,[11] Toh Shin Den was a popular early title on the PlayStation[2] and it spawned sequels starting with Battle Arena Toshinden 2, as well as manga and anime adaptations.

Holding the backward directional button allows the player to block basic attacks and reduces most of the damage from opponents' special moves.

Unlike many fighting games of the time, it was possible for a player character to accidentally fall off the arena with a miss-timed run or special move, resulting in some unique tactics.

The inspiration of some of the characters came from the Japanese tradition of bushido;[17] Takara had already published SNK titles including Samurai Showdown based on similar themes.

In an interview, Takara boasted that the game had more realistic three-dimensionality:[17] Virtua Fighter uses 3D characters, but the fights and attacks take place on one plane, in the same direct line.

[24] Despite this, Takara later announced that the game is to be ported by Nextech/Sega to the Sega Saturn as Toh Shin Den S in Japan and as Battle Arena Toshinden Remix internationally.

The character select screen depicts original anime art by Tsukasa Kotobuki instead of rendered models and these also appear in the story mode.

Earthworm Jim, which was the property of Playmates, was added as an exclusive guest character, with his unique arena music, but he only uses the moves of Rungo Iron.

[29][30] The game is based mostly on the original PlayStation version, but it includes a slightly altered story mode and two appearances from Battle Arena Toshinden 2: the characters Uranus and Gaia (without his armor).

The original release in Japan came with an outer paper box depicting many of the characters in anime, illustrated by Tsukasa Kotobuki who also did the Toshinden manga art.

A soundtrack CD featuring arranged versions by the original composers, Toh Shin Den Retake & Remix, was released by Sony Records in April 1995.

[10] On release, Famicom Tsūshin scored the PlayStation version of the game a 30 out of 40,[43][60] and gave it first a 9 out of 10[44] and later a 10 out of 10 in their Reader Cross Review.

[45] In an early 1995 interview, when asked which PlayStation game he was most impressed with so far, Ken Kutaragi answered Battle Arena Toshinden.

They commented that while the gameplay lacks originality and good reaction speed, the 3D aesthetics and graphics make it a much more powerful experience to play than a typical 2D fighter.

[53] Maximum made note of the graphical and gameplay innovations such as gouraud shading, rotational backgrounds, dramatic camera angles, and the sidestep.

They however remarked that the poor quality directional pad on the original PlayStation controller "just isn't built for taking diagonals and quarter circle rolls", making it irritatingly difficult to pull off special moves.

Though they assessed the game as good overall, they advised gamers to instead hold out for the PlayStation port of Tekken, which they felt to be far superior in every respect.

[65] While Rob Allsetter of Sega Saturn Magazine greatly praised the visuals of the game and judged the button configuration to be superior to that of the PlayStation version, he criticized the "slow" gameplay and the limited variety of moves, concluding that Battle Arena Toshinden is "still decent enough, but ... lacks the speed and depth of its more illustrious successors".

[71] Maximum's Rich Leadbetter stated that it fails to recreate the graphical effects of the PlayStation original, which he opined were the only saving grace of an extremely dull game.

[72] Following the game's release on PlayStation Classic in 2018, Jamie O'Neill was critical of "slow, unresponsive controls for moves like Special Attacks" and the lack of any story mode, but praised the "energetic" soundtrack and the innovative ability of circling opponents.

[32] From the beginning there was a manga tie-in with characters drawn by Tsukasa Kotobuki, alongside a number of other anthology comics in Japan, including from Hobby Japan, a monthly series by Takeshi Takibayashi on Monthly Shōnen Ace (with elements from Toshinden 2),[12] another comic published by Softbank Creative,[73] and one by Kozumi Shiita published by Enix.

[76] Additionally, shortly after the game release came an official strategy guide published by Tokuma Shoten named Perfect Fighting Book.

release An intended prequel named Toshinden Next was given anticipatory promotion in a 1997 issue of the Japanese video game magazine Dengeki PlayStation.