Product description
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Power Stone is a very fast-paced revolutionary 3D fighting game
that combines true fully interactive worlds with spectacular
graphics never seen before. Use anything in the breathtaking 3D
worlds to gain the edge against your enemies. Also, unleash your
character's true strength by collecting three Power Stones to
transform your character into a raging super-being, capable of
executing deadly power fusion moves. There are 8 different
characters with unique abilities and fighting characteristics and
a huge arsenal of weapon power-ups.
.com
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Packed with all the energy and over-the-top moves of a Jackie
Chan movie ( /exec/obidos/ASIN/0790729849/${0} ), Power Stone
revitalizes the fighting game genre with fully functional 3-D
combat environments and frenzied strategy. Face your nent in
a London courtyard and you can hurl café chairs and tables at him
before taking him out by swinging around a lamppost. Or fight in
a dilapidated shopping mall, and beat your foe down with a giant
stuffed teddy bear after tossing him through a storefront window.
Each multilevel combat area is stocked with crates, barrels,
clubs, even ray s, and everything can be used as a weapon.
Interactive fighting environments are fun, but what really sets
Power Stone apart are the power stones. Collecting all three
stones transforms the character into a superbeing, unlocking new
and devastating attacks. Since the overall goal of the game is to
beat up your nent, and the superform lets you do the most
damage, competition for the stones is fierce.
If you're tired of the standard fighting game formula and want a
little more, Power Stone is the game for you. It's a perfect
translation of the arcade hit, and the uncomplicated, frantic
combat will bring a grin to many a jaded gamer's face. --Mike
Fehlauer
Pros:
* Easy to learn, fast-paced gameplay
* 11 unique, multilevel, interactive fighting environments
* Great use of VMU
* Smooth, vivid, arcade-quality graphics
Cons:* Game may be too frantic for some players
Review
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Capcom's got more than a decade invested in the fighting-game
business. Most of Capcom's fighters have followed in the
footsteps of the Street Fighter games, keeping the same basic 2D
gameplay. While the company has ventured into 3D in the past,
nothing it's done has been even remotely like Power Stone.
Yes, Power Stone is technically a fighting game. But it's hard to
compare it to your standard fighter. For starters, there's no
block in the game. So all of the defensive maneuvers consist of
staying out of the way of your nent's attacks. This isn't
nearly as hard as it sounds, given the game's 3D nature. Rather
than pressing up to jump, you use the Dreamcast's analog pad to
run around the arena in any direction. So you're free to run away
from your nent's larger attacks. The rest of the game's
control is equally simple. You've got a jump button, a punch
button, and a kick button. The rest of the buttons are used to
execute combinations of the three main buttons, making throws and
super moves easier to execute than in the three buttoned arcade
version.
The of the game is the same as every other fighting game, but
the methods you use are quite different. For example, there
aren't really any special attacks. Your standard character won't
be shooting fireballs or doing dragon punches. Instead, you must
use the arena as a weapon. Each playfield is littered with
crates, benches, signs, and other items that you can pick up and
toss at your enemy. There are also various items that pop up,
including hammers, s, pistols, flamethrowers, Gatling s,
and rocket launchers. But the main items in the game are the
three power stones.
At the beginning of a round, each fighter starts out with one
power stone. The third stone eventually spawns at a random
location in the arena. Getting all three stones shifts your
fighter into overdrive, complete with a costume change. While
powered up, each button press unleashes a super attack, usually
resulting in a projectile. Each one of these attacks takes up a
bit of your super meter. There are also super moves that do a
significant a of damage and usually look pretty flashy, as
well. These supers use up the rest of your bar, turn you back
into your regular self, and scatter all three of the gems around
the arena. Given the explosive nature of the supers, it's in your
best interest to get the gems and, obviously, keep your nent
from getting them. If your enemy possesses a stone, you can hit
him a few times (or less, with stronger attacks or items) and
cause him to drop the stone. So, most fights revolve solely
around the stones and the jump kick (which automatically points
you at your enemy and causes him to drop a stone if the kick
connects) to keep your nent from holding any stones for too
long. A cheap tactic, yes, but also an effective one.
Unfortunately, jump kicking at your nent gets pretty old
pretty quickly. The one-player game picks up some of the slack,
as there are quite a few things that can be , including
three characters, three VMU minigames, a different camera mode,
and additional items that weren't in the arcade version of the
game.
The graphics in Power Stone are well done. The polygonal fighters
are nice and smooth. The fighters are designed in a very cartoony
style, and the stages are all incredibly nice. However, portions
of the game (some of the more extravagant super moves, or when
players are on fire, in particular) are plagued with slowdown,
marring an otherwise explosive display. The game's sound effects
and music are very good, but the announcer's voice, which you
hear mainly when you are picking up or dropping a power stone, is
stupidly annoying.
All in all, Power Stone is a very fun and unconventional fighter.
It's easy enough for even non-fighting game fans to pick up the
basics extremely quickly. However, the excitement is short lived.
Expect to enjoy it immensely for the first week or two, but don't
expect to find very much long-term fun. --Jeff Gerstmann
--Copyright ©1999 GameSpot Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction
in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written
permission of GameSpot is prohibited. GameSpot and the GameSpot
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