Power Stone (DC) by Brian

Capcom

Overrall Score - 5

Fun at first, but it lacks depth.

      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.

 

 

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