|
The title of this game seems
almost intentionally misleading. Groove On Fight may
sound like an original game, but it's actually the third title
in the eternally disappointing Power Instinct series.
This installment of the series offers new tag-team play
mechanics, but despite this feature, it's only marginally
better than the first two Power Instincts (and nowhere near as
good as the fourth, which was handed off to a more competant
outside developer) thanks to painfully stiff control and
animation to match.
 Look,
I'm not an unreasonable man. I don't expect a smaller
company like Atlus to perform at the same level as industry
giants like Capcom and SNK, but even they should be expected
to do better than this. It's not just the limited
animation that makes Groove On Fight feel less lively and
dynamic than other fighting games... there's just no life to
the characters' poses, gestures, and attacks. After a
few rounds, you'll swear that the fighters put too much starch
in their laundry, or that they've got splints tied to their
arms and legs.
The stiffness of the animation is
so pronounced that it even affects the gameplay. Groove On
Fight just doesn't have the satisfying flow of Capcom's Marvel
vs. series. Even the tag team feature is more
restrictive... instead of switching characters at will, you
must physically tag your partner, who stands on the sidelines
waiting to assist you. If you get hit during this
exchange, the tag won't take place, and your character will
continue to get pounded by your opponent. Sure, it's
more realistic this way, but it's also incredibly
aggravating... when you're on the ropes and you desperately
need your partner's assistance, you don't want to be cheated
out of it due to an unnecessary technicality.
To its credit, Groove On Fight
does have more inspired character designs than what you'd find
in the generic Street Fighter series. Of course, at the
same time, the game's cast of fruits, nuts, and flakes have a
long way to go before they're as charming as the stars of
Capcom's other legendary fighting game, Darkstalkers.
The characters in Groove On Fight include such oddities as a
scantly clad futuristic cop, a nutty professor pulled out of
an 80's music video (she blinded me with science!), and the
Sailor Moon-esque Popura, who you may recognize as Clara from
Atlus's far more appealing Purikura Daisakusen. As
strange as they are, even they don't hold a candle to Bristol,
who starts out as a kickboxing Max Headroom and eventually
transforms into Rob Zombie's satanic stunt double. Hey
man, I'm just here to review the game, not to make any sense
of it.
Anyway, that's the long and short
of Groove On Fight. If you're so addicted to Saturn
fighters that even the excellent games by Capcom and SNK
aren't enough to satisfy your craving, Groove On Fight will
give you the quick, dirty fix you need. However, anyone
else who already owns the far superior Marvel Super Heroes vs.
Street Fighter won't be down with this groove. |
|
Groove On
Fight
Atlus
Tag-Team Versus Fighter
 
Your partner is always there for
you, even if they've been knocked out. Simply stand over
their battered body and press down and both punch buttons to
throw them at your enemy. Crude, but
effective!
Minimal. Each character's
comments are in Japanese, but that's about it.
Borrow a cup of patience from a
neighbor, 'cuz it'll take around twelve seconds to load each
fight. Even cut scenes take a bazillion years to
load!
Solis, the game's time-hopping
police officer, bears a stunning resemblance to G2, the
android cop from the direct to video Disney film Inspector
Gadget 2.
|
