Power
Stone (DC)
Power Stone is what Ehrgeiz would have been if Squaresoft could
make a good fighting game. Unfortunately, it took Capcom, the king of the fighting game
genre, to get it right. As it
says on the back of the case, it's "the first go anywhere, grab
anything fighting game on the planet". In
Power Stone, you run around in a small area that is anything from a city
street-corner to a pirate ship, pick up random objects to throw at or
smack your opponent with, and try to collect all three power stones to
become a temporary god.
The first thing I noticed was how the game played nothing like
Street Fighter. There is no
blocking, no special moves (excepting those when powered up by the power
stones), and no combos
that involve more than just smacking the same button a bunch of times.
The only game I can think to really compare it to hasn't been
released in this country yet. While you've got your basic punch, kick, and jump, most of
the time you're just picking up tables to wing at your opponent, or a
handy rocket launcher. My
favorite weapon is the handgun because it rarely misses.
The game was really designed for two-player action, which becomes
obvious when you notice that the yellow power stone almost alway
materializes somewhere that's convenient for your computer opponent.
It's not thinking, it's cheating!
The graphics weren't as good as Soul Calibur's, but then Soul
Calibur didn't have as much stuff going on.
The graphics are good though, however a bit too cartoonish for my
taste.
The sound was at least as good as Soul Calibur's.
The only problem was that I can't figure out what the announcer
says on the character selection screen.
I don't know why it aggravates me so, but it does.
Personally, I think they would've done good just to have left it
out.
While it is a great game for the first few days, it lacks the depth
of Street Fighter that kept you playing.
With only eight playable characters and not much variation between
them, the game gets redundant after a while.
All the game really needed was a few basic special moves for each
character. Well, hopefully
they'll get that part right next time.
All in all, it's a good rental, but I wouldn't buy it. All
I can say is wait for the sequel, if ever there is one. Overrall
Score - 5 |