Fighting Force was the victim of some unrealistic expectations upon its release, so I figured it was time to give this side-scrolling beat-em-up another look. Many gamers (including myself) expected it to be the 3D incarnation of Streets of Rage (Genesis, 1991). I recall having a bunch of friends over to give it a go, but they were not impressed. The opening sequence features a helicopter dropping off our heroes on a city street with an amazing digitized skyline looming in the background. The chunky characters and blocky urban environments looked fine, but the game itself was awkward to play. The camera was never positioned correctly, and thugs would always linger just outside of the frame. It was hard to tell where you were supposed to go and there were a lot of invisible walls. Factor in lengthy and frequent load screens and you have one big party killer on your hands. Fighting Force was a disappointment in its time, but when I revisited the game's single player mode I was in for a pleasant surprise. The camera isn't great but it's a lot better since there's only one character to focus on. The responsive controls include punch, kick, grab, and jump. The shoulder buttons are used to run and execute hilariously floaty jump-kicks and super-effective slide-kicks. The triangle button pulls double-duty as the back-punch and grab move, which was a horrible design decision. The fighting action is satisfying enough thanks to pixelated blood that splatters with each kick and punch. You can even attack thugs when they're down! Weapons like bats and clubs pack a whallop, and the pistol lets you shoot thugs point-blank in the face. After running out of bullets, you'll throw your gun, and it's pretty funny when that turns out to be the knockout blow. Fighting Force is loaded with unintentionally funny details like that. When defeated, goons drop huge wads of cash and sometimes even gold bars. Despite being decked out in black suits, the henchmen still don silly names like Bruiser, Snakey, and Punk. You can kick a soda machine and enjoy a refreshing beverage while goons hang back and wait in their fighting stances. Why aren't they firing their weapons? As in Streets of Rage, bad chicks tend to be decked out in sexy dominatrix outfits. Fighting Force has its share of eye candy, and the office that looks out over the harbor at night looks really spectacular. The game is fun while it lasts but it's hard to progress. Health packs are few and far between, and the endless stream of thugs eventually wear you down. You'll get further if you play with a partner, but that requires both players to make a concerted effort to stay close to each other. It's possible to harm one another, so don't stand too close! This is an oddball title for sure, but there aren't many games like Fighting Force, and retro gamers should get a real kick out of it. © Copyright 2011 The Video Game Critic.

Review contributed by ptdebate of the RPG Crew and edited by the VGC.
A dramatic event during the first act of Final Fantasy VII is one of the most talked about moments in gaming history. In this near-silent video sequence, a well-liked character is murdered by a mysterious villain. This gives cause to mourn not only to the other characters but also to the player, who without warning permanently loses an essential member of his party. The twisting, turning narrative of Final Fantasy VII is punctuated with surprises like that, sometimes comedic, sometimes dramatic, and sometimes both. The balance between silliness and gravitas is something that would come to define the Final Fantasy series. The story is a wickedly satirical take on modern society. When an powerful corporation threatens to drain the planet of its life force, the planet fights back! Throughout the 40-hour-long journey you'll control a total of nine characters that can be taken into battle in any combination of three. The battle mechanics are turn-based but operate on individual "cool downs". This results in constant, overlapping action in contrast to the stop-and-go feel of other turn-based games. In addition to using common spells like Fire, Cure, and Haste, characters can discover and equip abilities that grow more effective over time. This easy-to-grasp form of advancement also allows for a moderate degree of customization. The charming graphics are highly detailed, with urban landscapes that mark a departure from the medieval-themed RPGs of the past. The hand-drawn 2D backgrounds occasionally transition into CGI sequences, making stunning use of the PlayStation’s storage and video capabilities. Likewise summoning deities to your aid will conjure up sublimely imaginative 3D-rendered sequences. Although the quality of the polygon models may not compare favorably to modern titles, the absorbing story and accessible gameplay earns Final Fantasy VII the status of an immortal classic. This is Final Fantasy at its very best. © Copyright 2018 The Video Game Critic.

Review contributed by ptdebate of the RPG Crew and edited by the VGC.
How do you follow up what is widely regarded as one of the greatest games of all time? In the case of Final Fantasy VIII, the answer is to rethink everything. Instead of playing it safe with well-established mechanics, the designers took traditional Final Fantasy gameplay and turned it on its head. Instead of equipping equipment you equip magic. Depending on how you spread it over your characters allows you to emphasize certain attributes over others. This highly customizable system lets you really dig deep into the numbers but presents a much higher learning curve than previous games in the series. The process of acquiring a sufficient amount of magic can be tedious, as it must be "drawn" from enemies and specific locations. Unfortunately if you choose to cast magic associated with an attribute, that attribute will decrease with the number of cast spells. The exploration and flow of combat remains relatively unchanged from the FFVII, but the 3D graphics have greatly improved, with human models rendered with a high level of detail. The story is a wild ride through a series of action blockbuster set pieces. Sullen military academy student Squall is joined by his classmates in an escalating series of missions. The encroaching foreign kingdom of Galbadia is revealed to be manipulated by a powerful sorceress with diabolical intentions. Running from a giant mechanical spider through a crumbling city, redirecting half of a train that’s still moving to kidnap a president, thwarting an assassination attempt, and invading a military base to avert a missile launch are just a few of the situations you might find yourself in during the first half of the game. The story attempts to awe and delight the player at every beat, but with varying degrees of success. The main villain is a red herring, and the real villain barely gets little characterization, leading to numerous fan theories about her origins. The strongest aspect of the story is the relationship between the two main characters, which gradually blossoms into a endearing romance. The phenomenal soundtrack has depth and range, including moody atmospheric pieces, waltzes, bombastic orchestra and choir pieces, and a lyrical piano ballad. This game has high aspirations but some of its bold new ideas don’t always land on two feet. Once you learn how to properly manipulate its systems, however, Final Fantasy VIII proves a satisfying, memorable experience. © Copyright 2018 The Video Game Critic.

The back of this game's case reads "the #1 arcade hit comes home!" Hey - I like the sound of that! Fisherman's Bait feels like the kind of game you'd find in the back of a Colorado sports bar, maybe with a built-in rod controller. The visuals combine digitized scenery with polygon graphics to good effect. First you select your location. There are three lakes with about seven spots each to select from. I like the idea of digitized scenery but it looks grainy. The scenes are just static images with "wave effect" trickery to simulate shimmering water. The pond locations are bland but the city spots are more interesting. You'll often see "shadows" of fish lurking just beneath the surface. A simple power meter is used to cast your line. The left thumbstick moves your rod and rotating your right stick reels. It's a pretty neat system! Once you get a bite you'll battle the fish as the tension meter spastically shoots up and down on the right side of the screen. The key is keeping it out of the red, and sometimes it's necessary to press the shoulder buttons to let out some line. Occasionally you'll see a close-up of the fish running or leaping out of the water, adding some excitement. If it's not a "game fish" (bass) you don't get any credit however, even if it's a big juicy rainbow trout. It's a shame there's no way to "cut bait" when you clearly have the wrong kind of fish. Once you reel in your catch there's some fanfare as its size and weight are tabulated. The games are timed and sometimes the timer will run out while you're reeling in a big one. If you have a continue be sure to use it, as you'll pick up off right where you left off. If you're good like me you can enter your initials as one of the "top anglers", saved to memory card. I noticed that the #3 angler was "GIL". GIL!! While not particularly compelling, Fisherman's Bait is a perfectly good lightweight diversion for a summer afternoon. © Copyright 2019 The Video Game Critic.

I never expected a company like Capcom to venture into the full-motion video arena, but they went all-in with Fox Hunt. This interactive movie employs real actors, exotic locations, and video footage spread over three discs! You play the role of a goofy young guy fresh out of Bruce Campbell's School of Overacting (or is it Jim Carrey's?) His mannerisms are so exaggerated he can't even pick up his car keys without hamming it up. Hijacked by the CIA, he's trying to deliver a briefcase to the Russian mob. Like most "laser disc" games you watch video clips and are prompted to take action at specific times. In the opening scene however you actually have some freedom to explore your apartment. You press the directional pad to turn, resulting in a video clip pointing you in a new direction. If there's room to walk forward you press up and watch your character move to a new spot. It's a strange sensation unlike anything I've experienced. If you remain still a short clip loops, giving the impression your game is broken. Since the different areas of your apartment don't fit together in a neat grid it's easy to become disoriented. Once the storyline gets rolling the game feels like random scenes patched together. The gameplay almost completely trial and error, and the chase scenes in particular require rote memorization. Save often, as you'll frequently find yourself on the wrong end of a death scene. Fox Hunt features real actors George Lazenby, Timothy Bottoms, and Rob Lowe (!) Their performances are very much tongue in cheek and the game plays out like a comedy - only without the laughs. Seriously, this game tries to be funny all of the time and doesn't succeed once! The audio and video quality is substandard, probably the result of compressing nearly two hours of video onto three CDs. Fox Hunt may have some value as a collector's item. The fashion, music, technology, and cultural references are a fascinating slice of 90's culture. Your character's "CD-ROM" reader looks a heck of a lot like an iPad! Fox Hunt may inspire curiosity, but enjoyment? Not so much. I'd recommend watching it on YouTube instead. © Copyright 2016 The Video Game Critic.

This obscure baseball title turned out better than I expected. Grand Slam is baseball without all the boring parts. The intro features an announcer yelling stuff like "alrighty then" so you know this is going to be a little bit zany. Grand Slam has a Major League Baseball Players Association license but not the MLB. That means you get all the players but teams are only identified by cities and strange logos. It looks odd how in player photos the symbols were removed from their hats. I wonder how long it took some guy to do that? The game itself offers two pitcher-batter views. When batting you get a behind-the-batter view and when pitching you are behind-the-pitcher. Both work great. The players have a digitized appearance and seem to assume their real-life stances. The batting feels different than most baseball games. Instead of swinging ahead of the pitch, you need to hold back until the ball floats in. It's easy to hit once you get the timing down. The pitching controls are solid. You get a list of pitches to choose from and an inset window lets you view the catcher's signal. After choosing a pitch a two-press golf-style meter is used to throw. It's both quick and challenging. Once a ball is put in play the fielders chase down fly balls pretty much automatically. The commentator says goofy stuff like "Line drive! You could have hung your spring laundry on that one!" It's fun to whip the ball between the bases. Unlike real baseball, the players exhibit a sense of urgency, quickly scurrying back to the dugout after being called out. The only person not in a hurry is the announcer who tends to drag out each batter's name. "Now batting... Rooooobertooooo Alllllomar!" I guess they wanted to get their money's worth from that player association license. The semi-digitized stadiums are good approximations although they could be sharper. The pixelated crowds look awful. Overall I enjoyed playing Grand Slam. It's all the excitement of baseball but without the major time investment. © Copyright 2020 The Video Game Critic.

Grand Theft Auto (GTA) was controversial due to its criminal violence, blood, and profanity. It wasn't a best-seller however until Grand Theft Auto III (Playstation 2, 2001) gave the series its third dimension. The crude, flat graphics of this game are a far cry from the virtual 3D world of GTA3. The overhead perspective doesn't always give you a good angle, since buildings and overpasses often block your view. The graphics aren't particularly good, with tiny people and pixelated scenery. The sound effects are amusing however, especially the "splat" of running over pedestrians. There's a car radio, but it doesn't play anything worth hearing. GTA's action is a mix of car driving and on-foot mayhem, and you receive mission instructions from pay phones across town. You'd be wise to carry out your dirty deeds without generating much commotion, because once the cops swarm they will drag your criminal-ass right out of your vehicle. A handy yellow arrow always points to your next destination, and it's absolutely necessary considering there's no map or radar display. As you can imagine, constantly following this arrow starts to feel tedious after a while. The missions are somewhat challenging, but that's mainly due to the controls. The directional pad controls your direction, but you need to hold down buttons to run forward and backward, which is awkward to say the least. The driving is even worse. Not only does it seems like you're always turning in the wrong direction, but your car constantly gets stuck. It also doesn't help that the layout of the city is so poor. I've never seen roads that zig-zag through town (except that one in San Francisco), but in this game they're quite common. In light of the frustrating gameplay, the blood and profanity seem more silly and gratuitous than offensive. GTA2 was a slight improvement, but the series didn't grow teeth until its third installment. © Copyright 2003 The Video Game Critic.

Critics largely wrote off this fighter in 1998, mainly because it was a 2D game released at the height of the 3D fighter frenzy. Little did anyone know this series would actually prosper on the next generation of systems. Guilty Gear conforms to the tried-and-true formula popularized by Street Fighter II, with basic attacks, special moves, and blocking by holding the joystick "away" from your opponent. Certain Guilty Gear characters tend to wield weapons, giving the game a Samurai Shodown (Neo Geo, 1993) flavor. Despite its derivative mechanics, Guilty Gear's artistic style is all its own. The bizarre characters and unconventional backdrops tend to defy description. There's the hot blonde Milla with her killer hairdo (she will literally kill you with it), the heavy-metal inspired Axl, an anchor-swinging girl named May, and the hulking behemoth Potemkin. The imaginative locales include scenic palace courtyards, the wings of a flying plane, and mysterious occult sanctuaries. Guilty Gear's graphics are stylish but somewhat pixelated. Contests inexplicably commence with the words "Heaven or Hell!", and conclude with "Slash!". Players with an arcade-style joystick will love this game as they execute crazy, satisfying combos. Guilty Gear's gameplay is slower and less chaotic that most modern fighters, so you can actually tell what the hell is going on. Guilty Gear has some interesting original features, like special moves listed on the load screens (great idea), health meters that "peel off" layers (not so great), and eye-popping "instant" kills (ouch!). I like how this game retains its original Japanese voice samples, but that grinding guitar background music has got to go. I was also disappointed that high scores and rankings are not saved to memory card. Still, Guilty Gear is fun to play, and 2D die-hards will certainly want this in their collection. © Copyright 2005 The Video Game Critic.

This amazing 2D shooter was never released in the States because the overlords at Sony Corp Entertainment America (SCEA) initially banned 2D games for the original Playstation. I only recently discovered Gunners Heaven (aka Rapid Reload) through an old issue of Game Players magazine highlighting the Japanese PS1 launch. A rapid-fire, run-and-gun shooter, Gunners Heaven is the spiritual sequel to Gunstar Heroes (Genesis, 1993). You select between two characters: Axel Sonic (?!) and Ruka Hetfield. Gunners Heaven truly lives up to its name with non-stop shooting that obliterates every soldier, cannon, and mech in sight. As with Gunstar, you can dangle off platforms, firing around in all directions. The over-the-top explosions reminded me of Metal Slug (Neo Geo, 1994) but with no hint of slowdown. Your default weapon is so potent it seems downright gratuitous to power it up! You can toggle between other weapons on the fly and you'll discover uses for each one. The electricity gun is great when fighting two foes at once and the flamethrower is ideal for concentrated attacks. The level of destruction in this game is exhilarating but the generic stages feel more like an afterthought, with enemy clones attacking in the same repetitive patterns. Ascending upward is awkward because the controls make it difficult to jump and fire at the same time. But hey - you don't throw away a Cadillac just because it has a dent in it. Oversized bosses like a mechanical knight have digital health counters and it's fun to wear them down. You only get one life in this game and there's no save. You do however get endless continues. The game's upbeat soundtrack embodies that exuberant, feel-good spirit of the 90's. Playing Gunners Heaven is pure joy and it's a crime this was never released in the States. Note: This game only runs on a Japanese (or modded) PS1. © Copyright 2020 The Video Game Critic.