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Power Stone Review
Noel Brady
00/12/0000
Capcom recreate the fighting genre.
Every now and again, a game comes along that amazes everyone. A game with wonderful graphics and wonderful gameplay to match. A game that grabs a truly original concept and makes it fun. A game like Power Stone.
In essence, Power Stone is a beat-'em-up. The eight main characters are huge, lumbering barbarian-like men thrown together with the usual mix of nippy, Japanese ninjas and leather-clad females. However, Power Stone is not your usual bog-standard beat-'em-up. From your first game, it's easy to see why Virgin were so damn angry when Eidos snapped the European publishing rights from right under their noses, and it's very easy to see why Eidos were willing to pay large sums of money to get their names on each and every copy of the game. So, how is Power Stone different to the creme de la creme of beat-'em-ups?
For starters, bouts take place in fully interactive, truly 3D arenas a la Bushido Blade. Everything from pub courtyards to Arabian palaces are included, each littered with movable objects such as crates, chairs and pillars all of which are just dieing to be flung across the room at your opponent. Meanwhile during a bout you can go for a walkabout, whether or not you're taking a good kicking.
The standard jump, kick and punch moves are pretty basic, but weapons- hammers, swords, pistols, time bombs and many more- make an appearence to help spice up the action. These weapons only last a limited time and they must be used wisely if victory is your wish. The bazooka, for example, may be extremely powerful, but you only get four shots and your fighter is slowed down considerably.
There's a character to please everyone in the line up, from the very English Edward Falcon with his Biggles scarf and flying helmet to a bizarre mummy direct from Egypt with the unlikely name of Jack! Each has an array of moves to master and keeping to beat-'em-up tradition, it's the weaker looking ones that can often cause the most damage. Defeat the big bosses and you will open up the option of playing one of them in your next fight.
The most important items, however, are the Power Stones which give the game it's name. Each character starts carrying a stone, with a third appearing at random a few seconds into the fight. Strike with a heavy blow or a combination of quick hits, and your opponent drops a stone. Go on to collect all three and, for around ten seconds, you enter Power Drive mode, transforming you into a super-strong alter-ego character with at least four different energy-sapping super-attacks available. There are no blocking moves, so the only way to survive such attacks is to utilise clever evasive techniques, or get in and finish your opponent real quick.
Graphically I simply can't fault Power Stone . The resolution is so high that each character appears perfectly smooth, there are none of the polygon glitches or sharp edges in the character's bodies that we've come to expect from the PlayStation and Saturn. The stages are minutely detailed too with a beautiful authentic English pub in Falcon's stage where you can even read the menu on the board outside, there's a fountain bubbling away in the courtyard with water that looks good enough to drink, and the lighting effects on the indoor stages with flickering flames and light shining through windows is superb. Even when two characters are super-charging, throwing items around and dashing about there's hardly any slow down in the game.
Played with friends, Power Stone is an absolute riot- highly amusng when neither player knows what they're doing, and highly rewarding when you finally get to grips with it. In fact, as a multiplayer game it ranks as a true great, combining fun, over-the-top action with a subtle hint of strategy. One minute you think you're on the way out, the next you're in Power Drive mode and dumping on an opponent from a great height.
As a one-player game, Power Stone is equally rewarding. It's extremely challenging and offers a fair amount of depth too. Power Stone is actually a port from a Naomi-based arcade game, but Capcom have gone to the trouble of adding a slew of hidden bonuses to increase longevity. For example, complete Power Stone in Arcade mode to reveal an extended options screen which allows you to tinker with various settings.
After the disappointment that was Virtua Fighter 3tb, Power Stone is a surprise hit. Everything from the presentation to the gameplay is flawless, and then it's got the original concept of truly immersive stages. It certainly beats the pants off Sega's own creation and, although it may not match up to Soul Calibur, it's still a great title that everyone should and must own.
