| Front Cover |
Game Details |
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| Platform |
Sega Dreamcast |
| Genre |
Fighting |
| Publisher |
Sammy Corporation |
| Developer |
Arc System Works Co., Ltd. |
| Language |
English |
| Release Date |
2000 |
| Links |
All Game Guide
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|
| Personal Details |
| Index |
277 |
| Collection Status |
In Collection |
| Original |
No |
| Purchase Date |
18/11/2004 |
| Purchase Price |
$1.00 |
| Condition |
Copied |
| Completed |
No |
| Instruction Manual |
No |
| Players |
1 |
|
| Product Details |
| Format |
CD-Rom |
| Devices |
Gamepad
Joystick |
| Region |
Japan |
| Nr of Disks |
1 |
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Description
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A few years ago, a little known game developer known as Arc System Works quietly came out with a 2D fighting game called GUILTY GEAR for the Sony PlayStation in Japan, and while it didn't catch on like wildfire, it exuded some of the best gameplay and artistic flair in a 2D fighter at the time. Arc System Works truly had the potential to take on the big boys, Capcom and SNK for the 2D fighting crown. Fast-forward to today and, lo and behold, Arc System Works is back with a sequel called GUILTY GEAR X, and with the increased RAM and CPU power on the Dreamcast, as well as tons of more experience, they have set the new benchmark for all 2D fighters to come.
GUILTY GEAR X is simply amazing to look at. When you first pop in the game, you'll be stunned by the high-resolution and the gorgeous graphics. This game is the first 2D fighter to utilize the Dreamcast's high-resolution mode, and what a difference that makes! It's like you are truly playing an anime, as all the characters, backgrounds and special effects are so crisp, sharp and full of vibrant color, that they really are like anime! Besides the high-res graphics, Arc also took advantage of the Dreamcast's 3D effects capabilities as all the hits and super moves show off some amazing 3D special effects that really add a nice polish to this already beautiful looking game.
And, to properly show off the graphics, there are the absolutely wonderfully creative fighters at your disposal. From Sol Badguy (no joke! that's his name), to Ky (those two are the Ryu and Ken of this game), to the beautiful and fun Jam Kuradoberi (a Chinese kung-fu waitress), to the wacky and demented Faust (who attacks with a giant scalpel), the characters are unique (for the most part) to say the least.
Perhaps it is that uniqueness, or creativity, that really makes GUILTY GEAR X stand out so much from the crowd. At first, one might find the standard 4-button layout "typical" (Punch, Kick, Slash, Hard Slash), but after a bit of practice and just messing around, one will soon find that the characters (sans Sol and Ky) play nothing like the other 2D fighting games! It is in the gameplay, then, that GUILTY GEAR X really shines. Look at Axel Low, a British fighter and time-traveler, who fights with dual sickles bound by a chain, with a mix of a counter move (where he can reverse nearly any melee attack), and long offensive strikes. In addition, he has a devastating uppercut move that can combo easily. Or look at Venom, who fights with a cue stick and uses magical billiard balls. On the surface, that sounds horribly cheesy, but when you play him (and in the context of the game), it makes total sense. He can magically create balls in the air and "set them" like setting up a shot on a pool table(!), and he can then summon a magical cue ball attack and knock them around in any direction on screen (at various angles). But underneath the wackiness, there is a very solid game engine, with tight control (akin to true STREET FIGHTER, rather than the sloppier "Versus" games) that really helps the game along.
Some highlights of the fighting engine include double-jumps (you can jump twice in the air), Dead-Angle Attacks (like Alpha Counters) and Roman Cancels (you can stop any attack / combo immediately to do some other move). In addition, you have a "Tension Gauge," which is your super bar. It fills up as you go on the offensive, but it slowly decreases and even completely empties out if you are constantly on the defensive, blocking, or running away (turtling)! This is a wonderful gameplay aspect that really encourages more direct, offensive fights, rather than trench warfare as seen in some bouts of SF and the like. And, of course, the Super Attacks and "One-Hit Death" moves are some of the most spectacular looking moves in the game, with the highlight being Jam's classic tribute to old school, Hong Kong kung-fu movies.
The only downsides to this otherwise wonderful game are the lack of any real story or endings (just one still screen at the end), and the poor audio quality. I don't know whether Arc ran out of money / space on the GD-ROM, but the voices and music quality are pretty bad—sounding like 4-bit, 11khz, mono—and most of the time, you need to turn off the music to even hear the voices properly. The music, while poorly recorded, is wonderful, hard-core heavy metal guitar music. It's so rare to hear well-composed metal that this is a great aspect that returns from the original game.
GUILTY GEAR X for the Dreamcast is yet one more shining example of an awesome game for a great system. It only adds to the baffling questions as to why the Dreamcast did so poorly in sales, when it has so many great games for the system that the others don't have. In the end, from the amazing graphics, to the creative and refreshing characters, to the terrific gameplay, GUILTY GEAR X is the hottest and coolest new 2D fighter on the market.
Rating: 9.1 / 10.0
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