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Powerstone

Dreamcast (Japan)

1-2 players

The wonderous words graced my screen with more power than ever before, as I powered on my Dreamcast and the infamous Capcom logo appeared goosebumps filled my entire body. A slow countdown started up 3...2....1....and the intro began, thus beginning the first fighting game experience for ZeroTolerance on his next-gen console.

You are greeted with tons of options at the start menu including Arcade, Vs., Options, and a Gallery so to speak. I am not sure what this is yet, but then again it has to be good, I mean come on it's Capcom! Then after choosing your mode of play you are taken to the character select screen. The game starts off with eight selectable characters and contains two bosses. I imagine they are playable somehow, just not sure of how yet. You have Fokker, a British Pilot, WangTang, a martial arts expert, Ayame, a female ninja, and the others just have to be seen to be believed!

The game's storyline is different in many aspects. It involves an ancient treasure called the Power Stone. It is a secret artifact that has the power to make any dream come true. Each warrior is on their own quest to retrieve the Power Stone and duel with each other in order to make it there first. The environments are absolutely astonishing, ranging from Jack's stage where you are in a room with two glass cases on opposite sides of the room that can be broken and the light posts can be picked up to smack your opponent with. Other stages contain such things sand traps, spinning blades, heat vents, and monkey bars that can be hung from while still fighting! There are many, many other things that are present, but it would take me days to describe them all you will just have to see it to believe it.

The control is very different from any other Capcom has ever done. You can use either the control stick or the digital pad to move around with and the buttons are laid out as follows. One punch button, one kick button, one button for grappling, and one for jumping. There is no block button, which may turn off some players, but trust me you get used to it and it eliminates the cheap player who is always holding it down to stay alive.

The detail in this game is unbelievable, it is like watching 3-D animation. The characters animate so nicely you would think they were hand-drawn. The stages sport water, reflective/transparent glass, and the sand effects. This game is just beautiful to look at and so wonderfully animated. Capcom has done and amazing job of making the characters look so animated in true polygon 3-D.

With so much good stuff to say about this game you must be wondering if there was anything I didnt like about it. Well the difficulty is just plain agitating, I mean I spent a good hour and a half just fighting the last boss and still could not beat him. This game is one of the hardest fighting games ever created and will take even the most skilled of gamers months to master its unique style.

In the end this game is definitely one of the best fighting games I have played to date. It is amazing in every category from control to graphics to just plain fun. It is Capcom's first Dreamcast game and it is definitely one fo the best games out for the system to date! Everyone should give this game a chance especially fighting game fans, you will be in heaven!

Graphics--9.5

Sound--9.5

Control--9.5

Replay--10

OVERALL--9.5

Definitely one of the best fighting games ever created!!!

ZeroTolerance