Title Power Stone Manufacturer Capcom System/Year Sega Naomi Genre Action/Fighting Players 1-2 players Ports Dreamcast Overview In the 19th century people are strong believers in superstition and legend. Adventurers seeking fortune and glory search the world for a legendary treasure which has the power to make dreams come true. This treasure is known as – the Power Stone! Thus reads the introductory cut-scene to Power Stone. Power Stone was Capcom’s first attempt at creating a polygonal fighting game which operated within a true 3-D environment. Like most other 3-D fighters, each battle is a one-on-one affair. However, that’s where the similarities end. In seeking to make a 3-D fighting world which fully exploited the then current technology to the full, Capcom succeeded in crafting a most unique gaming experience. Graphics 9/10 Power Stone’s graphics are sharp, clean, and beautiful.The lighting and blur effects used during the game (particularly during a Power Change or a Power Fusion) are amazing taking into consideration the technology of the time, and the flame effects are also spectacular. There are no problems with slow down or dropping frame rates in the game, despite the fact that the action is often non-stop. In short, Power Stone truly highlighted the power of Sega's Naomi board. The home conversion of the game looked just as good as its arcade counterpart- a marvel of graphical programming for the Dreamcast. Gameplay/Controls 8/10 As was noted above, Power Stone’s game play is not similar to that of most other 3-D fighters; it can really only be compared to that of the Square fighter Ehrgeiz- and even that is a tenuous connection at best. Power Stone’s game engine allows true freedom of movement in any direction, at any time. Characters can at any time leap onto and off of walls, climb massive poles and pillars, or hide behind corners. The environments of the game are extremely detailed, with many stages having a plethora of tables, jars, crates or the like. These can be picked up and hurled across the level at your opponent. In addition, weapons which can be wielded against your opponent appear on the stages at intervals. These weapons include guns, flamethrowers, lengths of pipe, Molotov cocktails, swords, and shields.The more physically powerful characters can forego these more mundane weapons and actually uproot the aforementioned pillars found in many of the levels and swing them about as though they were oversized baseball bats. And then, of course, there are the Power Stones themselves… The match begins with each fighter carrying one Power Stone. As the match progresses, the third and final stone will appear at a random location on the stage. A map locator placed at the bottom of the screen indicates where this unclaimed stone lies. Characters can be relieved of the stone(s) currently in their possession in a number of different ways. Striking an opponent with thrown or wielded objects, throwing the opponent, landing a combo attack or striking the character with a jumping air attack are all viable attack options. Accomplishing any one of these will knock the struck character in one direction while the liberated Power Stone flies away in another direction. Loose stones can then be acquired by running over them. If the gem is not acquired, then it eventually fades away, to return to play by re-materializing in a few moments. The major objective to be accomplished (even more so than KO’ing your opponent with fisticuffs) is to have all three stones in your possession at the same time. This will activate your character’s “Power Change,” during which the Power Stone’s ability to transform dreams into reality will temporarily recreate your character as a super-powered version of himself. Players who are able to activate their Power Change gain a significant offensive and defensive advantage, so successful gamers will quickly make the acquisition of the Power Stones a major part of their strategy. It is worth noting that certain combo strings and weapon attacks will deprive an opponent who is carrying two stones of both gems at once. Other combo attacks will only relieve the opponent of a single gem. There is no blocking in this game; the only time that any attack can be ‘blocked’ is if a randomly appearing shield should be seized by one of the fighters - and this still leaves one vulnerable to being thrown. It is possible to catch items thrown at one by the opponent by pressing the button at the exact moment that the item would ordinarily strike. Attacks can also be dodged by pressing the D-pad in any direction at the instant that the opponent attempts to land a punch or kick. The result of these factors in combination with the presence of the game’s weapons is a frantic game pace. Combatants in Power Stone are thus compelled to constantly remain in motion so as to avoid attacks while seeking to acquire the Power Stones. All in all, Power Stone is an interesting game. Because of the lack of real defensive options in the game engine, there isn’t as much depth as one would hope for. It is worth noting that because of Power Stone's game play, the faster, more agile characters tend to have an advantage. Also, the game has an undesired tendency to revolve around aerial kick attacks, since these descend downwards at a rapid speed (imagine Akuma’s aerial Tenma Kuujin Kyaku as being performed by every character).Nonetheless, the fast pace of the action and the ‘anime’ feel of the game make for a pleasurable experience. Since an enormous part of Power Stone's "fun factor" is the result of Capcom's approach to character and level design, I would be remiss if I didn't take a moment to discuss those here. Power Stone features ten characters which are completely new to the Capcom universe. These designs were done by top-notch creators Akiman and Hideki (Ishikawa). There is, in general, a good mixture of the general ‘fighting game types’ that many have come to expect from fighters in general and Capcom in particular. Here’s the cast: Falcon (known as Fokker in Japan) is ostensibly the hero of the game. This British aviator is a pugilist who does battle in a flight suit. Falcon is a balanced character who possesses neither outstanding advantages nor outstanding weaknesses. Rouge, the mysterious Gypsy, completes one-half of Power Stone’s female character quota. She has great foot speed and does high damage with her flame-based combo strings. Wang Tang is a Chinese youth who possesses extraordinary Kung Fu ability. He is on a quest to recover a great treasure for his master, a Chinese monk. Wang Tang’s outstanding ability is his agility. His Power Change is particularly fun to activate, as it is an obvious homage to the ‘Super Saiyans’ of the popular Japanese anime Dragonball Z. Ryoma is a Japanese samurai who is traveling the world searching for strong opponents. (Now where have I read that before?) His katana and wakizashi give him great range when striking, but can leave him vulnerable if he misses an attack.. Ryoma also does very little damage when he throws objects. Ayame is the other female character in the game. The star of a traveling troupe of performers, her nickname is ‘cherry blossom dancer.’ In reality, however, the youthful Ayame is a ninja under orders to recover the Power Stone for her master. Ayame has very weak attack power, but compensates for this by being the fastest character in terms of foot speed. Her attacks during the Power Change also do an exceptional amount of damage. Gunrock, the massively muscled miner from Dawnbolta, is one of the two strongest characters in the game. Items thrown by him do the most damage of any of the characters, and he is able to uproot pillars and use them as weapons even without activating a Power Change. Gunrock is quite slow, however. Jack is the requisite ‘strange character.’ Is he a demented madman…or an otherworldly visitor? All that’s really clear is that he attacks rapidly with unpredictable strikes. For some reason, Jack reminds me of Voldo from the Soul Calibur series. Perhaps it’s the two characters’ love of sharp edges and bandages. Jack’s unpredictability in combat is intended to compensate for his low attack power. Galuda is a noble Native American who hails from the West. Galuda has overwhelming power and isn’t as slow as Gunrock. He is the other character capable of uprooting and using posts as weapons without activating a Power Change. Kraken , the sub-boss, is a pirate of the high seas. His character design is almost satirical; instead of the hook replacement for the lost hand that one might expect, Kraken sports a massive vise clamp. When his Power Change is active, Kraken’s dreams recreate him as Death itself. His attack range in this form is tremendous. Valgas is the game’s final boss. A monster of a man, Valgas does tremendous amounts of damage with his grabs even without the Power Change. With the Power Change activated, his power level and balance greatly resemble those of the stereotypical SNK final boss. The character design for Power Stone is very cartoony, with bright color elements and greatly simplified facial features. This cartoony style has served Capcom well in the past, and they once again do a fine job of utilizing it here to create a diverse cast of likable characters. As for the game’s level design, I must say that in my humble opinion Power Stone features some of the best and most original level design to be found in any of Capcom’s polygonal fighting games. Nearly every stage features a host of different items which can be wielded, and many stages also feature danger zones which must be avoided during battle. For example, Gunrock’s stage is an ore smelting facility. Not only must one avoid the furnace in the middle of the stage, you must also be wary of the conveyor belt which leads to a rock crusher. The arcade version of Power Stone has a 3 button set-up: Punch, Kick, and Jump. Pressing Punch and Kick simultaneously allows the player to pick up and wield weapons or to throw the opponent. Pressing Punch+Jump or Kick+Jump during the Power Change activates one of the two character-specific Power Fusion attacks. Character movement is controlled through the use of an 8-way joystick. For the Dreamscast, character movement in Power Stone is controlled through the use of either the D-Pad or the Analog joystick. Button X on the controller punches as well as throws objects. Button Y kicks and utilizes seized weapons. Button A jumps, while button B grabs opponents as well as picks up objects. The Right and Left triggers are used to activate Power Fusion super-attacks once a Power Change has been initiated. When playing either the arcade or Dreamcast version, the simple control scheme makes learning to play the game a snap. Controlling one’s character in Power Stone is surprisingly easy. The camera is not problematic, and the controls are quite responsive. One can choose to run in any direction at any time, but a flick of the control stick in the direction of the enemy instantly re-orients the character. The finely-tuned controls accentuate the furious pace of the game, and make playing Power Stone fun rather than frustrating. Sound/Music 9/10 Power Stone also excels in this area. The music scoring is both well executed and original. In any game which features a diversity of geographical locales, the challenge of the music design team is to create a score which accurately reflects the ‘feel’ of those different locations. Music composer Tetsuya Shibata (who also created the scores for Rival Schools and Street Fighter Alpha 3, among other titles) accomplishes this task deftly, and additionally imbues the game’s music with an adventurous feel almost reminiscent of the score to Raiders of the Lost Ark. This is particularly true of the score which accompanies the game’s ending Staff Roll. Finally, the effect sounds and character voices for this game are also exceptional. Each character sounds unique and has an assortment of different statements to make for every situation (a pity that those exclamations are usually in Japanese, though…). The game’s announcer is larger-than-life, and speaks without a trace of the usual Engrish. With cries of “Yes!” whenever you acquire a stone and “Oh No!” whenever you lose one, the announcer really helps to make the game’s experience immersive. This is also goes for the sound effects for the game. These are a mixed bag of realistic and cartoony sound effects. For example, the pistols and bazookas sounds just as you’d expect, but the sound that an uprooted tree or post makes is a humorous-sounding pop. Great stuff. Replay Value 8/10 (This section deals almost exclusively with the Dreamcast version of the game.) The presence of a multitude of unlockable features was something which nearly every Capcom game made during the Dreamcast era excelled in, and Power Stone is no exception. Each character has a different ending. Additionally, there are a host of unlockable features all gathered together under the name of “Power Stone Collections.” These include four different unlock-able weapons, two new game modes, three VMU games (at the time, Sega’s VMUs were intended to function as sort of a poor man’s Gameboy), three unlock-able characters, and galleries for the game’s creation art, music, and endings. Repeated forays through the game’s story mode, as well as playing the VMU games was required in order to unlock all of the game’s various features. Unlocking enough features in the Collections would also unlock the ‘Extra Options’ menu of the game, which allowed one to increase the number of available Power Stones and alter the effects of the Power Change itself. As with most fighting games, however, Power Stone is most enjoyable if there’s some other human to play against. This usually comes as a strike against a game’s replayability, and Power Stone loses a point or two here as well. Despite the many unlockable features and the surprise power of the final boss character, the game’s AI just isn’t as much of a challenge as a determined sibling or an arcade rival. Overall 8/10 In my opinion, Power Stone stands alone as the first and perhaps only true 3-D fighter ever designed. The experiment to create a game in which two fighters can literally go anywhere seems (for the moment, at least) to have been abandoned by Capcom; certainly, its unique formula has not been duplicated by any other major game maker. Nonetheless, that does not dilute the sheer enjoyment that Power Stone brings to those who can appreciate it, and for that reason it comes highly recommended from this reviewer. Whether you encounter this game in the arcades or as a disk for the Dreamcast, give it a try. It's well worth the effort. - by Kain Maxi