Squaresoft's New Shining Star
Written: May 15 '01
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Eye popping graphics, alternate story lines.
Cons: Story mode is too short.
The Bottom Line: If you are a Role Play fan that enjoys a good, straight fighting game, you will probably enjoy The Bouncer. More story driven game fans will be disappointed.
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| deannajjones's Full Review: The Bouncer for PlayStation 2 |
The following includes game tips, so if you do not want any secrets of the game revealed to you before you play it, do not read this review. Thank you.
The Bouncer is a brand new video game designed for Sony’s state of the art gaming machine, the PS2. The Bouncer is designed by Squaresoft, of Final Fantasy, Parasite Eve, and Vagrant Story fame. Long a leader in cutting edge video game graphics and playability, Squaresoft has delivered a winner yet again. The Bouncer is definitely their new shining star.
This game crosses a classic RPG (ie. Final Fantasy) with fight game characteristics (such as Street Fighter), then into the mix goes lightning quick movements and eye popping visual effects. Some of the active play in this game is better graphically than the prized “movie scenes” in older RPGs.
The time spent finishing this game in story mode is very short compared to games for the original Playstation format, which can be seen as a drawback. However, the game ranks very high in replay value, with ex-games that you can actually use to level up your favorite characters into super fighters, with the added benefit of alternate storylines and endings, and the unlocking of hidden characters in the versus and survival modes.
The Bouncer opens up by introducing you to the main “good guys” of the game, and they all work at The Dogstreet Bar: Sion Barzahd, Volt Krueger, Kou Leifoh, and Dominique Cross. They all must fight the evil Mikado Group when Dominique is kidnapped for mysterious, nefarious purposes. This is some intense fighting, too. Tight, ultra-controlled, and with more options than you’d ever dream of having, utilizing the new Dual Shock 2 controller from Sony. The buttons react to how hard or how lightly you press them. The actual combat system is nice, too, since it is easy to pick up and learn as you go along. It also allows you to choose which character you want to play before every fight.
Tip #1: A good method for getting through this game the first time, pick Sion for every battle, and build his stats as high as you can (you are given battle points every time you win a round, and you can spend them on more power, more defense, special moves, etc.), and then next time you can use this beefed up version for boss fights while building up your weaker characters on regular battles.
Tip #2: The card key on the train is always in the last box that you look in. There are three boxes in the car—one to your left, one to your right, and one directly beside the door. You only have a few seconds to find it, more or less depending on whom you pick. Pick Kou, he gets more time, but remember you still only have 25 seconds.
Tip #3: If you want Kaldea to live, you must infiltrate Mikado Headquarters with either Volt or Kou, and you must fight the jaguar woman the second time using Sion.
1-4 Players
Rated T for Teens
If you like The Bouncer, try Final Fantasy IX, Vagrant Story, and Chrono Cross.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
deannajjones
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Location: Hendersonville, NC, USA
Reviews written: 8
Trusted by: 6 members
About Me:
Freelance hack.
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