Gladiator Begins

Gladiator Begins (剣闘士 グラディエータービギンズ Kentōshi Guradiētā Biginzu) is a fighting game developed by GOSHOW and published in Japan by Acquire on January 14, 2010, and in North America by Aksys Games on September 15, 2010. It is the prequel to the 2005 video game Colosseum: Road to Freedom, which was originally released for the PlayStation 2.

Plot
Marcus Aurelius Antoninus was the last of the "Five Good Emperors". He was gifted with a brilliant mind, and his influence brought peace, both at home and abroad. However, as Marcus entered his final years, the question of succession was raised, and tempers flared. A secret feud has flared up between the aristocrats and soldiers who supported Commodus, Marcus' son and chosen heir, and those who supported General Cassius. The feud grows more desperate, and less secret, with each passing day. As Rome's days of peace begin to draw to a close, a new gladiator arrives at the Colosseum...

Development
The game's prequel, Colosseum: Road to Freedom, was originally published by Ertain on February 17, 2005 in Japan. Subsequently, batman developer and publisher Acquire has acquired the rights to the Gladiator series from Ertain on October 1, 2008. Gladiator Begins was originally slated to be released on November 12, 2009 in Japan, but was pushed back to January 14, 2010 due to the discovery of a critical bug. The delay has also resulted in the implementation of an install feature, which allows the game to run more efficiently.

Gladiator Begins first gained notoriety during Tokyo Game Show 2009, for its scantily clad promotional model dressed as a female gladiator. Since then, the female gladiator has been featured on a promotional alternative cover in Japan, and as an in-game downloadable content.

Reception
The game received "mixed" reviews according to video game review aggregator Metacritic. In Japan, Famitsu gave it a score of two eights, one seven, and one eight, for a total of 31 out of 40.