With all of the traveling we did this month I got way behind on my import game reviews for our Land of the Rising Fun section. Now that the cons are over I finally had time to sit down and play some games. As always I'd like to thank Travis over at VGD for supplying the games. With that said I give you the "Land of the Rising Fun Hat Trick"
Gungrave
Playstation 2
THIS GAME IS AN IMPORT TITLE! YOU WILL NEED A JAPANESE PS2 OR SOME WAY TO PLAY JAPANESE GAMES ON YOUR US PS2.
Gungrave is an anime inspired cell shaded action game. Anime fans take note, the characters were designed by Yasuhiro Naito, creator of the Trigun series and they look absolutely amazing. In fact everything about this games visuals is top notch. The cell shaded environments look like they are straight out of an anime movie and the gorgeous cut scenes after each level are a perfect reward. Gungrave doesn't really offer anything new in the gameplay department. You will find yourself faced with wave after wave on cookie cutter bad guys and all you have to do is mow them down. Aside from your standard guns you only get one other special weapon. The coffin you carry on your back can be used to deliver a devastating super attack, however you have a limited number of shots with it. Gungrave will go into a cool burst attack if you hold down the square button rather than tapping it wildly to shoot. During the burst attack Gungrave basically just shows off, spinning his guns around as he fires. It looks cool but that's about it. Aside from the cut scenes the game is pretty much all in English. As the intro cinema rolled on full of Japanese dialogue I was worried I would miss out on some important plot tips or instructions. Then as the first level started the words "KICK THEIR ASS!" appeared on the screen and I knew I hadn't missed much. The instruction manual might as well just have one page in it with those words as there really isn't much else to this game. Maybe if it took more that a couple hours to blow through the entire thing from start to finish that wouldn't be so bad. As it stands you can see everything Gungrave has to offer in one sitting. Apparently the idea is that you are supposed to go back and try and get better times and scores on each of the levels. I'm sure there are plenty of people who are into that sort of thing but I'm not one of them. Gungrave's stellar visuals also come at a price as you will encounter quite a bit of slowdown during the game. The frame rate drops like a prom dress whenever you get more than two or three enemies on the screen. Mix in a frustratingly unmanageable camera and some less than intelligent level design and Gungrave ends up being somewhat of a disappointment. It's definitely an import friendly title. It's full of English and very easy to just pick up and play. I just wish there was a bit more game there.
Auto Modellista
Playstation 2
THIS GAME IS AN IMPORT TITLE! YOU WILL NEED A JAPANESE PS2 OR SOME WAY TO PLAY JAPANESE GAMES ON YOUR US PS2.
Wow this game is really a sight to see. Auto Modellista is a cell shaded racer from our friends at Capcom and boy does it ever look sharp. From the moment the opening cinema kicked in our jaws were on the floor. Screen shots really do not do this game justice. Until you see these beautifully detailed, cell shaded cars rocketing around a track you can't understand just how good this game looks. The effects when driving are also a real treat. As you fly through these tracks you'll see speed lines extending off your car. It's an effect straight out of a comic book and it looks fantastic. Other effects like rain, backfires and drafting are also equally cartoonish and equally cool. The interesting thing about Auto Modellista is that judging it by the way it looks you would expect a very "arcadey" racing experience out of it. In reality Auto Modellista is much closer to Gran Turismo 3 than it is to say, Ridge Racer on the racing game curve. You won't be power sliding through any of these turns. The game is short but that's only because it's really designed to be played online. By playing it online you can unlock new cars and tracks. I am looking into picking up a broadband adaptor and trying to get online with it. If I am actually able to do this I will give you an update and let you know how it went. Until I get online with it though Auto Modellista's best modes is probably split screen with a friend. The computer AI during the single player is pretty poor and you'll find yourself blowing past it most of the time. However split screen against another person is an absolute blast and the game still runs a respectable frame rate and suffers from little or no slowdown. The main menus are all in English and it's easy enough to figure out which button is the gas and which one is the brake. If you want to go into the garage mode and start customizing a car and saving it's progress your going to need a translation FAQ but those are easily available. It's an easy import and certainly worth the effort.
The King of Fighters 2000
Dreamcast
THIS GAME IS AN IMPORT TITLE! YOU WILL NEED A JAPANESE DC OR SOME WAY TO PLAY JAPANESE GAMES ON YOUR US DC.
Playmore continues to release Dreamcast ports of their popular Neo-Geo titles and I couldn't be happier. The latest SNK game to makes its way to the little grey box that should have ruled the world is KOF 2000. This isn't going to be a review of KOF 2000 so much as a review of its port to the DC. KOF 2000 is a great game but it's really just a continuation of the systems and concepts introduced in KOF 99. It doesn't represent the leap forward that KOF 2001 does but when we are talking about KOF more of the same isn't really a bad thing. Playmore has done an outstanding job with the presentation of all their ports and this latest one is no exception. The cover art and instruction manual are both beautiful and second only to the DC port of Mark of the Wolves in terms of quality. The visuals continue to be rock solid once you load up the game as KOF 2000 boasts one of the best intros and interfaces of any SNK title. The presentation is certainly nicer than KOF 99 and surprisingly sharper than 2001, which after looking at 2000 appears to have been a step back. Playmore has added a boat load of new levels to the DC version and this serves to solve one of the major gripes many players had with the original version. A lack of quality and quantity backgrounds in KOF 2000 is no longer a sticking point as you will see levels from not just every KOF title but many other popular SNK games like Samurai Spirits and Fatal Fury. Occasionally this can be a bit distracting as some of the older backgrounds are often the wrong scale for the current characters or may even include background elements that look downright silly by today's standards. Overall though the inclusion of so many new levels keeps the gameplay fresh and adds a lot of value to the port. Playmore has also included a new soundtrack to the game and it's really very impressive. KOF 2000 also doesn't suffer from the same sound effects problems that Last Blade and Mark of the Wolves did. Finally Playmore has included a Puzzle mode which while simple is sort of entertaining. By completing a series of sliding puzzles you can unlock various character art and promotional materials for the game. KOF 2000 sports some of the coolest artwork of the entire series so playing through the puzzles and gaining the extra art is actually very rewarding. The game is almost entirely in English. You won't have any problem navigating the menus or choosing characters. The cut scenes are all in Japanese but it's not hard to find out what the plot of the game is online if that is something your interested in. Playmore has gone above and beyond to make KOF 2000 more than just a port and their efforts paid off. KOF 2000 is a great addition to any fighting game fans library and a must have for fans of the series and collectors as it represents the final game made by the original KOF team.
If you have any questions about importing games just ask the guys at VGD or consult the import gaming FAQ we did a while back.
-Gabe out
