Power Stone 2 Review

Original Release:

Japan: April 27, 2000

North America: August 23, 2000

Europe: August 24, 2000

Game Details:

1-4 Players

VMU enabled

Standard Controller, Arcade Stick

Jump Pak enabled

VGA box

Gameplay

Power Stone 2 takes the solid foundation laid by the original game of the same name, and ups the ante in just about every way imaginable. The game makes major alterations and improvements in many areas of the game. Where the original was a traditional 1on1 arena fighter, the sequel supports and encourages 4 player battles (making ample use of those 4 ports on your DC) and expands it ten fold to accommodate the action! These arenas are a major showcase for the game as well as playing a major role in the gameplay dept. as players can once again interact with them in multiple ways to battle against their opposition(s). The roster has been modestly updated with an additional 6 fighters joining the fray and weapon selection has been IMMENSELY expanded from the original. Gameplay modes include the traditional "Arcade" (3 levels of 4 man battles, and 2 bosses), "1on1" (similar to arcade mode but in a 1on1 format), "Original" (essentially the games equivalent to a Versus and Training mode all rolled into one), "Adventure" (a mode where you go through the game in an attempt to collect currency, items and weapons to be used in all modes) and the "Item Shop" (aka Mel's shop. Take all your money, items and weapons collected and spend, sell, trade or even mix to unlock every item locked in the game). In terms of replay value, the games sheer amount of unlockables will keep single players occupied. Oh and of course lets not forget about those stones, I'm talking about POWER STONES! Just like the first game, these power stones appear throughout a fight. First to collect 3 is rewarded with a super version of your character and gains access to special attacks and super moves (Power Drive and Power Fusion respectively) which is controlled by a gauge seen underneath your life meter. Changes made to the rule book of the first game include the removal of the kick button (thus gone are air dive kicks and 1 of 2 power drive moves) as well as the game dropping over 7 Power Stones at a time as oppose to just 3 by default rules.

Graphics

This game may not be the highest graphical achievement set on the Dreamcast, but man oh man is it SO pretty! Sharp, fluid, super colorful and wonderful texture models all running at a pretty constant 60fps. The game is simply eye candy from top to bottom thanks to its array of special effects ranging from transformations to ridiculously pyrotechnic projectile supers to even the actual stage background themselves. The game is yet another result of a wonderful Sega NAOMI arcade production that is once again perfectly ported over to the Dreamcast. From personally putting many hours on this game at the local arcade, i can assure that PS2 on the Dreamcast is arcade perfect! Oh! and i'd like to add, PLEASE play this game with aid of a VGA box if you can. The game completely benefits from the 480p visual enhancement!

Sound

This category is great in just about all respects from my point of view (or ears lol!). The announcer, while cheesy, adds to the scope of the action and is easily understood compared to the first game. Sound FX are a plenty and sound awesome from slashes, punches, bullets and all sorts of mayhem in between. The characters themselves have great Japanese dialogue that really add to their fun personalities. The music is a wonderful mix of orchestral and cartoon like themes that elevate the world of Power Stone 2 (it has almost a very playful Soul Calibur type of musical flair). Listen to "Extra Stage 3" and you might get what i'm talking about ;)

Conclusion

I'll be honest, After being such a big fan of the first game with its solid 1on1 foundation, i was a bit skeptic and turned off by the direction that was taken with PS2 and its emphasis on multiplayer and larger role of stage interaction. I truly felt that the importance of the actual traditional fight was somehow tainted by party type antics and weapon dependency. As time went on and after investing much time in the game over the years however, i see that my concerns could not be further from the truth. There is an amazing reward given to those who wish to master the game and actually play it in a semi competitive sense (there is a respective scene out there that play it in a competitive nature believe me). With 4 experienced players, the game becomes a delicate balance of skill, reflex, uncanny decision making and (due to its random nature) some luck.

9/10

Capcom vs. SNK 2 Review

Original Release:

Japan: September 13, 2001

Game Details:

1-2 Players

VMU enabled

Standard Controller, Arcade Stick

Jump Pak enabled

VGA Box

Gameplay

2001 marked the sequel to 2000's fighting game of the year Capcom Vs SNK. Capcom quickly went to work to hammer out much of the player feedback that was taken from the first installment and addressed just about all issues in one form or another. The fighting roster has been beefed up with about 12 new fighters representing both companies while the entire roster from the first game return intact. No longer are the fighters move lists divided in 2 from the first game (EX versions) and the innovative but restricted fixed ratio system has been modified with a more flexible free ratio system, allowing players to freely tailor 4 points of strength between teams of 3, 2, or even just 1 fighter. The 4 button scheme from the first game is now replaced with a more Capcom traditional 6 button style of play. The groove system has also been expanded from 2 to an astonishing 6 types of grooves to select from allowing your team to fight under similar game rule mechanics from famous SNK and Capcom fighting titles like SF3, SF Alpha, Samurai Shodown and so on. Gameplay wise, the Dreamcast version is as faithful to its arcade version as possible especially when compared to other home ports that were released later on. For the single player enthusiast and score fanatics, the game revolves around a "groove point" system which essentially determines your score in real time based on how well you attack, defend and counter the opposition.

Storyline

Two monster corporation at war. One solution. A massive martial arts tournament is held to eliminate conflict between both parties...

Graphics

Visuals are a mixed bag. The high res backgrounds of the first game are now replaced with polygonal 3D ones, thus making those classy 2D sprites seem a bit more pixelated than before. On the subject on 2D sprites, while the SNK roster has been redrawn for the CVS series with much improvement over SNK's Neo sprites, the Capcom cast (save for shotos, Bison, Chun Li, Maki etc, etc.) have sadly been ripped straight out of their Alpha series incarnations making them look older and muddier when compared to their newly drawn rivals. The SNK like visual presentation from the first game has unfortunately been removed with no awesome stage intros to be seen. Overall though the Capcom design team have managed a solid visual upgrade with the aid of flashy collision sprite effects, an improved HUD design as well as solid artwork stills for the entire cast and a very cool news cast-like presentation that really elevates the epic merger between these 2 fighting dynasties. A lot of these positives just mentioned are enhanced even more with the aid of VGA 480p, but at the cost of lower res 2D sprites (Damn that Morrigan looks ubber pixelated!)

Sound

This area also makes some changes compared to its previous effort. While CVS1 went for a heavy electro-techno soundtrack that is even influenced into the game announcer, CVS2 throws more variety your way with multiple genres in music representing funky rap, jazzy tunes and then some. The announcer while a bit annoying, emulates that of a TV broadcast commentator that once again compliments that news cast like presentation. Overall the game has solid audio, but somehow fails to have the impact that CVS1 had.

Conclusion

As much as I loved the first Capcom Vs SNK over its sequel, there is no denying the more varied and solid effort executed by the latter. While its obvious Capcom Vs SNK 2 makes less of an effort to please both sides of the fence in favor of the Capcom fight fans, the games newly revised ratio system, team structure, and character expansion makes for an amazing crossover fighting game that is deserving of its long time loyal fanbase.

8/10

Evolution: The World of Sacred Device Review

Original release:
Japan: December 16, 1999
North America: December 16, 1999
Europe: December 16, 1999

Game details:
1 Player
Standard Controller
VGA Box
VMU Compatible

Gameplay
Evolution: The World of Sacred Device is your typical RPG. If you've played Skies of Arcadia (which you probably have if you're reading this) you'll be very familiar with this. But Evolution is basically about grinding and grinding. (Grinding meaning that you go around killing creatures to gain experience and level up.) It has the same battle mechanism as Skies of Arcadia, Grandia, Final Fantasy, etc, etc. That could very well be a good thing. But in this case I feel that it's a bad thing; it doesn't bring anything new to the genre. If you've played these games before, it'll be a bit boring. It's the same thing over and over. And, worst of all, there's an awful lot of text. When in cutscenes, the game turns into a button masher. This makes the game a little unclear because it isn't a linear RPG. I often found myself clueless about what I'm going to do. I could run around for hours, just to find the right character, the right building and so on and so forth. While you could blame for being lazy and not reading the text, well, there's too much text.

With you, as your sidekick, you have a girl. Her name is Linear, ironically enough. She follows you wherever you go. And, as always, the AI is stupid. She jumps when you jump, she talks when you talk and she makes the game freeze for a split second when jumping. And you can't prevent this. The only option you have is not to jump. The gameplay itself is pretty decent. If you don't mind repetetive gameplay, it's a nice play. I found the different skills and spells interesting. You also focus on different aspects like attacking or healing. I just let my sidekick be the healer and I did the dirty job. Because someone's got to do it.

Storyline
It features a story. But a very complex story. If you read all of the text it may be a bit less complex... But if I understood it right, you have to find this device. Hence the title ”Sacred Device”. After that Linear gets kidnapped. And, yes, you'll then have to go rescue her.

Graphics
For me, this was the highlight of the game. Even though the graphics have a cartoon-manga style, they still look pretty good. Lighting effects are great. During the cutscenes, the character models look great and they are designed well. Although, when running around in villages, the colors are kind of vague. They are very similar to Skies of Arcadia.

Sound
The music is great. It fits the different environments extremely good and compensates for the repetetive gameplay. But some of the soundtracks are a bit annoying.

Conclusion
If you got tired with Skies of Arcadia (or any other RPG for that matter) and want to try something new but similar, try it out. If you just got the flu and you're staying home, try it out. You might find it entertaining if you like the genre. But as a real conclusion, this is your generic turn-based RPG.

6.5/10

Street Fighter III: Triple Threat Review

This is another CD AGES review, but we still didn't get him set up with an account to post on the blog. I didn't think it would be quite fair if I wrote a review of something that I worked on so much, so he handled this duty.

Game Details:
1-2 Players
VMU enabled
Standard Controller, Arcade Stick
Jump Pak enabled
VGA box

The talented group known as "RDC" has gone for broke with their latest (and 50th) DC release. Out of their efforts comes a trifecta of pure fighting game bliss in one convenient package. Aptly titled Street Fighter 3 Triple threat, The entire legacy of SF3 (New Generation, 2nd Impact Giant Attack and 3rd Strike) is expertly crafted and collected on one content packed disc. CD AGES here once again, and i first would like to extend my sincere gratitude to the group for not only making this dream project a reality, but for also letting me review their marvelous effort :)

Gameplay
Right out the gate, the innovative gameplay features that SF3 has been renowned for are quite lengthy. Lets go over them and analyze a few:

Parry- Also known as "Blocking" in Asia, a parry is an offensive maneuver that nullifies an attack and allows you to counter with an attack of your own. This is the meat and potatoes of SF3.

Leap Attacks- Also known in some circles as a "RIP" attack or a Universal Overhead (UOH). This is an offensive tool available to all characters. This new attack provides you with a means to open up your opponents defenses. Simply put, it's a valuable overhead attack.

Super Arts- A fancy term for super moves, what sets "Super Arts" apart is that a player now must select only 1 of 3 super moves to use in battle. Each Super Art is tailored to a particular style of play, complete with an independent meter size and stock limit.

Dash- A mechanic seen in other fighters from SNK and Capcom, it makes its welcomed debut to the SF series. Can be used to advance or retreat.

Super Jump- Higher jump altitude than a normal jump, many fans of fighting games have seen this mechanic in other fighting titles.

Target Combos- Essentially a type of chain combo, TC's are character specific and unique to each. Some characters have one, some have many, others have none.

Stun Gauge- A gauge seen underneath the life bar, this gauge dictates how much damage a fighter can sustain before succumbing to dizzy state.

EX- Introduced from 2nd Impact onwards, EX attacks are upgraded versions of special attacks. They consume a portion of the Super Art gauge and performed by pressing 2 punch or kick buttons depending on which special move is chosen to EX.

with these great gameplay features mentioned... the truth is, perhaps the biggest contributor in terms gameplay to this trilogy comes from its roster of fighters! In a bold (and quite frankly controversial) move, Capcom chose to drop all previous World Warriors (with exception of Ken and Ryu) in favor of a fresh cast complete with a new protagonist to represent this new generation of Street Fighter! While this decision really hurt the popularity of this series among the fans during it's release, the truth of the matter is that its the reason why this installment has the longevity its earned for itself. Its the brand new legion of fighters that many have chosen to attempt to learn (and ultimately master) what has been a true hallmark to the trilogy of SF3. Gameplay differences between all 3 versions are small yet make major alterations to the flow of battle. "New Gen" definitely feels solid but lacks overall while "2nd Impact" feels like a step in the right direction with the inclusion of 4 additional fighters, EX attacks, throw teching, and a bonus round aimed to teach. The final release known as "3rd Strike" feels completely fleshed out and masterfully updated, with 4 additional new fighters and 1 returning legend in the fan favorite, lady thunder thighs herself Chun Li, bringing the roster up to a respectable 19 characters to choose from. The game also updates the formula of it's previous release with a tremendous re-balance, an overhaul of the throw mechanic, a command update to the "leap attack" as well as modest changes to block and parry mechanics of the game.

Storyline
So long M.Bison and Shadaloo syndicate! The Illuminati and its chosen leader Gill, are planning to rule the world... not much else here.

Graphics
Unleashed into the arcades in early 1997 with brand new arcade hardware under its hood (in the form of Capcom's proprietary CPS3 board), New Gen makes use of the new tech in every form imaginable, even in an inspirational sense. Considering that new hardware can lead to broader possibilities for designers to exploit and a fresh start, New Gen does exactly that and more. But lets keep on topic and talk about the graphics of the SF3 trilogy. To say the SF3 series is a powerhouse of 2D animation is an understatement. The graphics alone separates the SF3 series from it's monumental pedigree, making it feel like a whole new world. Animation to just about every action on all characters in the cast is incredibly fluid and painstakingly smooth. Elena's idle stance is almost hypnotic with her insanely fluid Capoeira movement, Dudley's idle stance is impressive to watch as he freely switches from southpaw to orthodox stance in seamless fashion, and Remy's crazy amount of animated movements in random fashion like stroking his hair from his face and hand gestures (i could swear i once saw remy tighten the ring on one of his fingers) leave me in awe. The graphics are easily what set this chapter of the street fighter series apart from the pack and made many take notice especially during their respective runs in the arcade market! If only Capcom continued to the explore and
build upon the realms of 2D animation in their current releases :(

Sound
By all accounts it appears that the vibe Capcom chose for the SF3 Trilogy in respects to it's music revolves around a distinct urban underground hip hop type of atmosphere. While New Gen and 2nd Impact have some distinct and catchy tunes, the overall soundtrack feels a bit bland and lacks the proper execution that was heard in 3rd Strike. With that said, 3rd Strike has perhaps one of the most awesome, if not impactful soundtrack you will ever hear in the SF series overall. The audio dept as a whole took a major step forward with the final iteration of SF3. The entire roster was re-voiced to much praise and the entire soundtrack was redone with a better sense of conveying that hip hop sound Capcom was trying to accomplish from the first installment (thanks to their collaboration with a few talented artist and studios). In all honesty the hip hop, jungle, bass like tunes really compliment and add to the atmosphere of SF3.

Conclusion
Its no secret that the "3" series has been known as the least successful point in the history of Street Fighter, Be it due to its new cast of characters, mechanics that were perhaps less user friendly or simply due to its time of release when the arcade industry was on life support. Regardless the reason, one thing is for certain, its biggest accomplishment for the series lies in the proper evolution of the fighting game formula that it's predecessor set to establish. Thanks to this compilation, the stepping stones to achieving a near perfect fighting game will not be lost to the ravages of time and instead be available on our wonderful Dreamcast consoles:)

10/10

Announcing Street Fighter III: Triple Threat for Release on February 7th

This isn't necessarily a new announcement if you've been following the ReviveDC Project since our month of Street Fighter. I've mentioned it several times, but I don't think I've ever divulged too many details. So, this will be the full scoop and include some screenshots. Please note: these screenshots were NOT captured on a Dreamcast. When the game is played on the DC, there will be a task bar along the bottom as the game is based around the XDP web browser. Also note that the XDP team had no hand in this game.

Street Fighter III: Triple Threat is a compilation of all three Street Fighter III revisions; New Generation, 2nd Impact: Giant Attack and Third Strike. All games are preserved in their original state. Nothing was ripped or downsampled in this compilation. Third Strike is the retail Dreamcast version; think of Triple Threat as a companion piece to RDC's Third Strike Arcade Edition release. Sort of how Double Impact compiled the two "irrelevant" versions of Street Fighter III alongside Third Strike. The changes in Arcade Edition aren't things that a new player would be concerned with.

Typically, a compilation disc isn't much to write home about. The menus are usually pretty bare and unimpressive. That's not so for Triple Threat.

Triple Threat's Main Menu

Triple Threat will cover all of the bases that a full retail release would, and take it a step further. It's not good enough for ReviveDC Project to do a compilation disc that's a blank page with start options for all of the games present. Triple Threat also includes unique move lists for each game. This means if you look at a move list for New Generation, you'll see only the character's moves for that specific game.

Alex's New Generation move list next to his Third Strike move list

The move lists were painstakingly double checked thanks to CD AGES, who spotted quite a few mistakes in the original New Generation and 2nd Impact move lists. It would seem that Capcom can't write move lists, as they were taken from the Double Impact manual.

That's not the only bonus here though; the game also includes all of the art galleries that were included with Street Fighter III: Third Strike Online Edition released for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 last year. Dreamcaster ripped all of the images from the game, and there were a lot of them. It took me a few days just to sort them. Then they were resized to be viewed on the Dreamcast easily and sorted into galleries for each of the characters

Chun-Li's art gallery

All of the images in each gallery can be clicked to view a larger version of the image. Other extras include game saves for all of the games which unlock Gill in New Generation, Gill and Akuma in 2nd Impact, and Gill in Third Strike.

Since the Street Fighter III games are very technical, how-to-play guides are also included on the disc to help newcomers understand some of the more complex systems of the game. The guides are taken from Eventhubs, and should help greatly in understanding Street Fighter III fully.

Topics covered in the beginner's guides

Triple Threat will be ReviveDC Project's 50th release, so it's only right to make it a big one. Hopefully you all enjoy it a lot; it was a lot of work and it's been a long time coming.

Marvel vs. Capcom 2 Review

Hey guys, this is CD AGES' first RDC review. I know it says comradesnarky as the author, but it's not mine. We just haven't gotten him set up with a blogger account yet.

Original release:
Japan: March 30, 2000
North America: June 29, 2000
Europe: July 16, 2000

Game Details:
1-2 Players
VMU enabled
Standard Controller
Arcade Stick
Jump Pak enabled
VGA Box

Gameplay
"Select Your Heores...!"
Select a team of 3 from a massive roster of 56 total characters representing both Marvel and Capcom favorites like Strider, Ryu, Thanos, Sabertooth, with premiere appearances from Cable, SonSon, and Jill Valentine to name a few.
"Select Your Assist Type...!"
Select from 3 unique assist types for each character, affecting how your team members will aid and support each other in battle (This is a MAJOR aspect in high level gameplay so experiment and choose wisely).
"Cool Decision...!"
Fight through 7 AI controlled teams to finally face the Boss (Arcade Mode). Other modes include Versus, Training, Score Attack and Secret Factor (a shop where you can exchange your currency earned through playtime in return for unlocking half of the roster as well as additional colors for all characters and addition stages). Controls take a major departure from the Street Fighter's traditional 3 Strength system in favour of a 2 strength system with an assist button taliored to each member of a team. This new button scheme not only makes the game comforatble to play on a standard DC controller, it also makes the game more accessible for newcomers. Capcom expands on the formula of the renowned VS. series with 3 man tag battles (as oppose to 2), and make great strides in expanding the assist mechanic first introduced in MSHvsSF. New features added include a fitting cancel system (cancel specials into hypers on the fly), a delayed hyper combo system that allows you link all 3 characters Hyper combo into one another for serious damage, and last but not least, the dreaded Snapback feature that allows the user to force tag an opponents support member onscreen.Additional mechanics that have been a staple to the series like push blocking, hyper hops, dashes and magic series combos are all accounted for in this installment.

Storyline
"The Chronicles of Battle Will Now Unfold, This is...!"
When doomful shadow covers hope, warriors join. In search of the Abyss, which is suppose to bring BLAH BLAH! The real story, Capcom still has the rights from Marvel Comics to milk the VS. series one more time. At their disposal is the best arcade hardware in the form of Sega's marvelous NAOMI hardware, and with that the once in a lifetime opportunity to recycle just about every sprite ever designed, over a decade of Capcom fighting titles milked for all its glory, all bundled with some of the most ridiculous fighting mechanics ever conceived. Unethical and immoral...perhaps. A recipe for success...Absolutely!!!

Graphics
"Get Ready to Kick butt, Engage...!"
The games visuals and presentation are a result of the games arcade roots. As mentioned, the game was originally developed for the NAOMI hardware (an equivalent to a more powerful Dreamcast) so the conversion process to the DC is nothing short of perfection. While the character sprites don't benefit from the powerful hardware, everything surrounding these pixelated pugilists Do! The HUD is crystal clear, the hit sparks as well as special effects are
overhauled. More obvious though, every background stage is in 3D, displaying in beautiful 640x480 resolution. Playing in VGA mode may make the character sprites looks more terrible, but the overall picture onscreen looks ultra sharp and vividly colorful (Worth it for the latter if you ask me).

Sound
"Oh Man, I Almost Had Heart Attack There...!"
Here's where the game throws you a massive curve ball! While the sound effects are adequate and typical fighting game fare, they are drowned by the games soundtrack which is composed of purely jazzy inspired tunes coupled with likewise harmonious vocals that in no way compliment the games blistering pace and visuals. It's almost as if Capcom consciously chose the most unfitting music genre for this game! What other reason can there be!

Conclusion
"Don't give Up, Challenge Again...!"
It's been 12 years since it's release to the gaming world but MVC2 has obtained not only a cult status among fighting game enthusiasts, but also a longevity that I personally feel has yet to be toppled (due to its long overdue sequel lacking those arcade roots that served its younger sibling so well). After countless ports on other consoles, the Dreamcast version of MVC2 remains unanimously at the top without question. While it may lack the style and finesse of Soul Calibur, or the deep technical values of 3rd Strike, it's sheer replay value is unrivaled when mixed with the proper community.

8.5/10

ADK World (NEO4ALL) Review

Original release:

November 10th, 1995

Game details:

1-2 players

Standard controller

VGA box

The following game was not officially released for Sega Dreamcast. It is emulated using NEO4ALL RC-4 developed by chui. This is an evaluation of the emulation of the game as well as the game itself.

Using Team RDC's release you can play this game as though it is a commercial game with only a brief loading screen.

Emulation

It's all good here since there's not much going on in the game. There's some graphical issues in the background of one of the stages in the 19YY minigame though.

Review

I'm just going to lump everything together here, because there's not much to say about this disc. It's an ADK fan disc which has some mini games and a whole lot of Japanese text. There's two mini games that you can play. One is called 19YY which takes the form of a side scrolling shmup. It's not very fun. There's also ADK Dome which is a card battle fighting game. It's basically rock, paper, scissors as far as I could tell. This isn't terribly fun either.

The main draw of this disc seems to be an abundance of information on ADK games as well as what appears to be some fan art. If you don't have any Japanese in your language arsenal, I'd pass on this. I don't feel comfortable giving this a review score since I can't understand 99% of it. The mini games don't make it worth a play though. I suppose the best recommendation is to proceed if you're curious.