Guilty Gear Dust Strikers
- April 25, 2006 13:56 PM PST
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Dust Strikers retains all the premiere qualities that made its home console versions stellar, and adds to that the winning formula of the Nintendo DS' exclusive stylus and dual screen gameplay format.
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Guilty Gear: Dust Strikers isn't just an ordinary port of a preexisting fighting game, it's an entirely new beast. Dust Strikers retains all the premiere qualities that made its home console versions stellar, and adds to that the winning formula of the Nintendo DS' exclusive stylus and dual screen gameplay format. Fans of the Guilty Gear series will be happy to see that all their favorite characters, stages, and character specific special moves are included in this portable edition, and that Dust Strikers sports an entirely new story chapter in the Guilty Gear lineage.
SLASH!
The main deviance from the home console Guilty Gear titles is the inclusion of an expanded gameplay environment. You'll be able to fight in both screen spaces of the DS in every stage thanks to the inclusion of multi-tier platforms that are strategically sprinkled around the fighting environments. The added room has also allowed Arc System Works to expand the matches from traditional one-on-one matches to four player all out no holds barred versus brawls. The levels also feature power-up items and traps that spontaneously spawn during a bout, which add a little diversity to an already furiously hectic game experience. Additionally, the touch screen comes into play when triggering acquired power-ups.
Dust Strikers sports four traditional prerequisite modes, which includes Arcade, Story, Versus, and Challenge modes, as well as, two brand new modes, RK-Factory and Mini Games. The coolest addition is the RK-Factory Mode which allows you to customize the Robo-Ky character with unlockable preset moves. This is the ultimate Guilty Gear move customization mode. You'll be able to switch out moves, and increase or decrease specific move coverage and deficiencies, and then take your Frankenstein creation out onto the battlefield.
Must Every Fighting Game Have a China Level?
The Mini Game Mode allows you to play seven eclectic mini-games, including Balance Game, Polish the Yo-Yo, Note Capture, May's Dolphin Show, Venom's Billiards, Hit Down, and Sword Master. Each game employs the traditional d-pad and stylus controls in a unique way. While you may think that including various non-related mini-game content is a cheap way to extend a titles gameplay, you should take note that receiving a high score in these mini-games unlocks Robo-Ky move sets for the RK-Factory Mode. The better you are at these mini-games the more Robo-Ky move sets you can acquire. Multiplayer Mode offers wireless versus matches with up to four players simultaneously onscreen in a last man standing match up --quick, clean, and bloody.
While the additions and customization features are stellar augmentations to the Guilty Gear formula, there are a few unbalanced issues in the game. The inclusion of larger environments with multiple platforms also takes away from a traditional aspect of the Guilty Gear series--aerial bouts. The new levels are so cluttered with multiple platforms that lead to the top stylus screen that it's almost impossible to juggle foes in mid-air because either you or your foe will land on a platform --effectively ending any chance of a juggle. The new environments also limit ranged combat and Dust Strikers has eliminated homing attacks entirely.
Why Not Purgatory or Nirvana?
However, the coup de grace is the scaled down character sprites and graphics. The DS' shows its limitations when it comes to graphics and sprites in Dust Strikers. With four characters present in any given match, Arc System Works has reduced the size of the characters to pitiful dimensions which takes away from one of the Guilty Gear series strongest features --large luxurious graphics.
It's too bad that Guilty Gear: Dust Strikers had to sacrifice some of its progenitors strongest features to enact new and engaging gameplay changes because the new enhancements for Dust Strikers really do add something new to the franchise, however; judging the entire game as a whole leaves it wanting.
