Box Copy
2348: Earth Federation began
research on weapons that capture the untapped potential of the human
mind. Dr. Edward Blistein, the mysterious researcher, discovers the
secret to humanity's sixth sense: Plasma Power. But it was soon revealed
that humans were brutally used as test subjects in his experiments. In
the wake of an intergalactic outcry, the mad Dr. Blistein was sent into
exile.
Now, Blistien forms the
Fourth Empire, a vengeful group of rebels intent on bringing forth
revenge on the planet. Earth must assemble an elite band of plasma
warriors to battle the Fourth Empire and Blistein's vindictive
conspiracy. All of Earth's hopes rest in this project, Codename: Star
Gladiator.
Discussion
So Capcom has had some pretty big misses in 3D fighting games (Final
Fight Revenge), some hit or miss titles (all of the Street Fighter EX
series), and a sudden epiphany with the next generation Street Fighter 4
series. Truth be told, there was a small little gem on the PlayStation
that got over-shadowed by all of Capcom’s 2D Goodness: Star Gladiator!
Ignoring the Square-Enix naming problem (how can it be the final crusade
in the first chapter?), the storyline is a relatively lax one – you’re
one of a special group who gets to go kick the ass of the resident
genius scientist. You see, he sort of tested on a bunch of humans to
figure out how we can use our sixth sense – Plasma Energy, to its
fullest extent. Since testing on our buddies is a no-no, you and a very,
very assorted group of characters get to fight each other to go
toe-to-toe with the creepy scientist guy.
Like other early 3D fighters, the control layout focuses on a 4-button
layout of Two Attacks, a Kick, and a Block Button. The combo system is
laid out in a branch system, where you can bounce back and forth between
all three Attack Buttons in specific ways. If you check out the training
mode, you can study how the branching system works.
I have to admit, I’m not one for 3D fighters, but Star Gladiator has a
nifty charm to it when looking through nostalgic eyes. The graphics are
impressive because they are not as muddy or slightly blurry like other
fighters. The players move very well, stages are vibrant, with a good
variety of things to look at. The characters are all unique, missing the
usual lead-character-clone and tired, cliché alien types. SG’s aliens
are both amusing (one uses Yo-Yos) and genre breaking (a T-Rex looking
chap who actually can use his arms to wield a skull topped staff).
Everything looks very nice through an S-Video feed, and the music and
sound effects play their part without getting in the way.
The game’s nowhere near the depth of say Soul Blade, but it’s light
years ahead of War Gods and the like. If the new generation fighters
aren’t doing it for you, give Star Gladiator a whirl. You may be
surprised.
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Trivia
- Variant release into
the Fighters Edge series. See below.
- Worth 10 Points in
the Fighters Edge Program. Not sure why this is only worth 10...did
Capcom think it was an inferior game? Almost everything else was
worth 20!
- Star Gladiator does
something pretty nifty in Training Mode - it provides the combo
chart so you can see what flows into which branch. Even cooler, when
you are playing, your button presses, if successful in a combo, will
appear in the small window underneath your health bar. This way both
you and onlookers can figure out just what you're doing, allowing a
community approach to move discovery.
- Humble opinion:
Blistein himself looks like Darth Vader and Shao Kahn had a love
child with Tron.
- I just realized that
the back of the regular release case has completely different text
than the Fighters Edge version, which is what I used for the Box
Copy section. Ugh...
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