Arc Systems brings their niche PS fighter in sequel form to the PS2.
Given the massive followings Namco, Sega, SNK and Capcom have acquired with their respective fighting franchises through the years, few companies have been willing to enter into the heated genre for fear of rejection simply because it’s different. In the midst of the PlayStation’s popularity, Arc Systems released a frantic, high-quality 2D fighter called Guilty Gear, garnering the developer much fanfare for its flawed, but respectable entry. Biding its time, Arc System has followed up with Guilty Gear X, originally developed on Sega’s NAOMI hardware, and it has now arrived on the PlayStation 2.
Too many wannabe 2D fighters have tried to introduce their own elements to the genre, while still sticking to a proven formula. As such, characters eerily similar to Street Fighter’s Ryu or Ken often pop up. Guilty Gear X avoids this potential pitfall by amassing the most deranged bunch of individuals this side of Time Killers. Whatever your obscure fetish may be, Guilty Gear X should fulfill it; you get sailor girls wielding ship anchors twice their size, a tall bag-for-a-head monstrosity who decimates his enemies with a reaching pole; a women whose only weapon is her lengthy hair; and an assortment others. Certainly an interesting group, and each has some interesting varying playing mechanics that make it worth spreading playtime among each of them.
Arc Systems nicely took advantage of the NAOMI hardware with Guilty Gear X, and this has transferred over to the PlayStation 2 well. Guilty Gear X easily has some of the most impressive 2D visuals to have ever graced a fighting title. The amount of detail that the artists have been able to scribe into each of the game’s characters is noticeable from the first match until hours later when players are pulling off character's spectacular looking specials. Individual pieces of clothing flap in the wind while fingers tap against a sword and feet bounce from left to right in anticipation of the fight’s start. Screen shots are a good indication of the individual detail, but partial downfall comes in the form Guilty Gear X’s animation. Compared to, say, Street Fighter III, Guilty Gear X can seem a bit choppy at times, albeit still mighty impressive.
Accomplishing character moves in the normalized fashion has been avoided as well; pulling off a Ryu fireball move was only able to net me anything useful with a character or two, unexpectedly. Which is not to say that the moves are completely unconventional, since many of them are, but several require a bit more button manipulation than players might be used to in the standard fare. Guilty Gear X also incorporates several useful air moves, such as a quick dash left or right following a jump or a complete double jump. This can be combined with air cancels to create a new layer of fighting dynamic that works to make Arc Systems’ fighter even more frenzied than it already is.
Gamers tired of AI sitting around while the player whoops their ass will be more than satisfied with what Guilty Gear X has to offer; let me tell you, on the default difficulty, the AI is a formidable opponent like none other. Perhaps this editor simply lacks the hardcore skills needed to master the frantic fighting art, but it was certainly a struggle to reach the bosses of Guilty Gear X, and making it pass their violent tests caused a certain Dual Shock 2 more than its fair share of damage.
As far as game modes are concerned, Guilty Gear X has the basics covered, with an inkling of extras. Arcade Mode, VS, Training and Survival Mode are all self-explanatory, with Recording Mode allowing gamers to record a round’s worth of images to a memory card at the cost of 16 memory blocks and Watch Mode merely being two AI characters fighting without any direct player control.
Guilty Gear X is certainly no fighting game revolution, but it always nice to see an outside player try to push their way into the mainstay-fighting arena. It has solid game mechanics, excellent visuals and one of the biggest assortments of freaks for characters ever. Tecmo was able to come out of nowhere to put their Dead or Alive series on the map, and hopefully Arc Systems can stick around and show gamers they have what it takes.
