Normally, when you come across a 2D fighter that isn't by one of the industry's
big boys, Capcom or SNK, you'd be advised to check it out for a while before parting
with your money. Sure, there've been exceptions to this rule, but for every Breakers'
Revenge there have been four or five Killer Instinct's or Mortal Kombat's, which
generally look the part - hell, sometimes they even look better than Capcom and
SNK's efforts - but usually leave quite a bit to be desired in terms of playability.
Something about ease of play, smoothness of controls, intuitiveness of combo and
special systems - these things have set Capcom and SNK apart from the rest for
the best part of the last decade. So what can little-known developers do to change
this situation? The 2D fighter market has been almost polarised into Street Fighter
and derivative franchises (Darkstalkers, the Marvel vs. series) and the King Of
Fighters series, and although last years Capcom vs. SNK: Millennium Clash 2000
showed that both worlds can co-exist happily, will gamers who are happy with the
roster of fighters we've known for the last ten years be comfortable with the
re-introduction of a little-known set of characters who have only ever graced
an obscure and fairly unpopular coin-op and Playstation game?
Incredibly, virtual unknown's Sammy just about pull off this unlikely feat with
Guilty Gear X, a staggeringly beautiful and surprisingly playable addition to
the 2D fighter canon. They've clearly done their homework with this release, and
have created a fighting system which is all their own, but will be instantly recognisable
to fans of both Capcom and SNK's games. Initial impressions of the game aren't
too inspiring; the intro is very much in the style of Capcom's Street Fighter
Alpha 3, but without the familiar Capcom faces, the effect is initially diluted.
Accompanying this onslaught of flashing colours and speedy graphics is a dire
old-skool metal soundtrack. Sadly, while the rest of the game improves immeasurably
on the intro, the music remains similarly ropey throughout, although it's obviously
all down to personal taste most gamers would agree that, in particular, Capcom's
latest releases have had much more fitting soundtracks than this one. The menu
and options screens show all the standard 21st Century fighting game conventions,
standard arcade mode, survival and training. Unlike some Japanese fighters (for
example, Project Justice), the majority of the game including most of the menu
items, is in English, so it's not difficult to work your way around and configure
everything as you like it. The only Japanese items are the post-fight quotes,
and the on-screen special move list. This doesn't ruin the game, though, because
(a) the moves are listed as normal, so although you don't know their names, you
know how to do them, and (b) very few people really care what the fighters are
saying after a match anyway.
Getting into the game proper, the character selection screen is stylised and impressive
looking. A glance at an online FAQ suggests that the characters aren't blessed
with the most original storylines however, their design is far from generic; most
of them are fairly striking characters, from the 21st century-medieval-looking
Ky-Kiske, the black-suited cowboy-a-like Johnny, and the incredibly sinister giant,
spindly doctor Faust with his enormous scalpel. The characters are very well drawn
and animated, and their stages are no let-down either, being mostly colourful
and interesting and filled with spot effects - falling leaves and splashing water
(and, once again, it's raining in London). The gameplay spot effects are also
impressive - in fact, the game looks better than a lot of 3D fighters
To play, the game comes on like a turbo-charged super-funky cross between the
first Last Blade game and the latest Capcom "vs." games. While weapons-based
fighters in the 2D arena are nothing new, the Samurai Spirits games were slow
paced and fiendishly tactical, and until now only Last Blade games have had
the pick-up-and-play immediacy of a Street Fighter game. Guilty Gear X ignores
SNK's overly-helpful Last Blade 2 (which did far too much automatically and
took a lot of choice away from the player as far as combos were concerned) and
takes up where the first Last Blade left off, adding a multitude of new gameplay
elements to it - air dashes, super jumps, double and triple jumps, aerial combos,
multiple blocking tactics, the "destroy" move which, if you pull it
off, you will win, if you don't, you'll be left with no super gauge for the
rest of the round - the number of additions to the gameplay is almost overwhelming
at first, but they quickly become second nature, and, more tellingly, you will
start to miss some of the features in this game while playing other, more established,
series.
There are only four attack buttons, which is obviously perfectly suited to
the standard Dreamcast controller. Three of these are assigned to weapon attacks
of varying power and speed, the other is a kick button; the triggers are used
for taunting and respecting opponents. Most of the specials in this game are
based on the standard quarter- or half-circle motions which gamers have been
used to for some time. The supers are generally SNK-style half-circle-back-then-straight-forward,
which Capcom aficionados used to two-quarter-circles might struggle to come
to terms with initially. The system works very well, the lack of varying strength
kicks does not detract from the gameplay, and the controls are tight and responsive.
Most players will experiment to start with and then probably choose Ky-Kiske
while learning the game, he being the character most similar in style to Ryu
and Ken; the advantage to choosing a familiar style to begin with is that this
game is, initially, difficult. The majority of gamers will not be used to the
amount of movement which takes place here, a lot of which takes advantage of
the air-dashes. Picking a character with a standard dragon punch/fireball/hurricane
kick set of moves helps immeasurably in the learning stages of the game, although
the potential to go on to greater things with a new character is immense; most
of the characters are fairly unique to play, so the game has a long lifespan
for anyone prepared to attempt to master each character.
There are problems with the game; the music has already been mentioned (although
the sound effects and voices are more than adequate), and the colourful backgrounds,
combined with the amount of action on the screen, can make it difficult to focus
on what's happening. It's easy to imagine getting frustrated with the "destroy"
move, which is capable of KO'ing an opponent with a full energy bar; although
you can only use the move once per round, and you will be penalised if you fail
to connect with it, it's all too easy to allow your entire strategy to hinge
on successful destroy moves, rather than thinking about how to play the game
properly. Also, despite the frantic action on screen, the game itself doesn't
run particularly quickly - the addition of a speed control would have been a
nice touch. All these negative points are fairly minor, however, and are almost
insignificant when compared to the number of positive features the game offers.
This release shows that there is room in the 2D fighting market beyond Capcom
and SNK, and although its' flat 2D-ness will put off a lot of newer gamers,
any fighting fans who are looking for a break from their usual territory need
look no further than this for a good few months' solid entertainment.
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