Guilty Gear X-2

Genre: Fighting / Martial Arts, Action, Side-Scrolling
Platform: Playstation 2 / Game Boy Advance / Dreamcast / Windows
2001 Sammy Entertainment Inc., Arc System Works . Screenshots and images courtesy of Amazon.com

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Amazon.Com Product Description:
Guilty Gear X2 is a new sequel in the mega-popular 2D fighting series set in the 22nd century. The discovery of a new sustainable energy dubbed Magic is expected to eradicate polluting and conflict-inducing tecknologies. Instead, Magic is used to create terrible biological weapons called "Gears." Guilty Gear X2 revives the fighting tournament designed to find humans skilled enough to thwart the Gear threat and give the world a fighting chance. Game features include: 6 new characters, totaling 20 fighters in all. Eight play modes, including new modes (Mission, Story, and Gallery) that build on the series' story-driven action. Electrifying new features and battle maneuvers, such as the all-new Burst Gauge, Bomber Attack, Aerial Throw and others. Entirely new moves, improved fighting system and enhancements to trademark Guilty Gear moves such as "dust attack," "roman candle," and "instant kill."

Street fight-what? >>> by Demoncaller777
First and foremost, let me begin by saying Guilty Gear X is my favorite fighting franchise. I have loved this game ever since the first time I rented it, and the first GGX I played was GGX2. It makes use of the phrase "Minutes to learn, years to master" very well.

This game is, of course, a fighting game, so you'd want responsive controls, and fast executing attacks and block-techniques. GGX2 delivers. You'd be suprised how responsive this game is. The instant you insert a button combination on your controller you're doing it. No lag whatsoever. This game gives you many ways of defending yourself as well, and you'll quickly learn why no lag is very good. Gameplay can be anywhere from "Low speed dramatic fight" to "So fast you play faster than you think". Don't worry, though. You may be thinking that all the best stuff is hard to perform. 'Fraid not. All the moves are unusually simple to perform, and anything that takes multiple button pressed down simultaneously (i.e. Roman cancels or instant kill mode) can be changed to one button presses on the controller. This ends up being very helpful, as it helps you make tremendous combos.

I'll admit, I still am a tad lost on the story. I have played, and own every Guilty Gear, but all of them never tell too good a story in Story Mode. The most information I've gotten has been from other players. I never thought Sol (Bad-guy) was old. He's over 150 years old (states so in instruction booklet of GGX). I never would have known. One of the new characters' (among six new), I-no, comes in to the story as just someone looking to fight Sol, then later you see she works for someone...but who? It's never explained. Just some weird guys in hoods.

This is a 2D fighter which means whenever you play it, bystanders will say "This game's graphic's suck". That's not true. The graphics are all in the attack effects. The are beautiful looking, and are intricately animated. They're colorful, and really bring in your attention. No attacks are skimped out on, either. All of them are fantastic looking. They all match the characters, as well.

On the subject of characters, there are 6 new, as stated before. The new characters are Slayer, I-no, Bridget, Zappa, and, I assume, the previously hidden characters Dizzy and Testament. But let me say that no other fighting games have had characters quite as quirky. You'll find something you like about at least one character, if not all. You can fall in love with these characters (Sadly, I fell in love with I-no the first time she ripped her shirt off after owning me). What other game has a character that's "An average everyday guy...who is sadly possessed by demons", or "A young teen from a rich family who was raised as a girl, but is actually a boy...and dresses like a nun for some reason"? None, that's what. Some characters are just flat out cool (Sol, Kliff, Johnny) and other's are just freaky (Zappa, Faust) and some are Chinese chef's (Jam). Some are corpses that are controlled by evil shadows (Zato-1 A.K.A. Eddie). Don't forget about the guy who accidentally time travels all the time (Axl-Low). All the character's a stunningly original, and brilliant. Each of them is perfect for the game, and all of their moves match their personality.

The sound in the game is fine. Definitely miles above GGX and its robot announcer. All character's voices are in Japanese, so if this doesn't appeal to you...then...turn off the sound, I guess. The voices all match the character's, however, so it all "feels" right.

This game is easily replayable. Chances are, you won't fight on the highest difficulty for a while, in which time you can play one of the many game modes, and the very difficult "Mission" Mode. Matches in this game can be won in one second. This is not a joke, or an exaggeration. Literally one second...Once you unlock Gold Johnny, which involves you investing lots of time into this game. Never fear, however. Every moment spent on this game will be time well enjoyed.

PLAYER STATUS:
DIFFICULTY: Moderate
COMPLETION TIME: 90 hours at least
HIGHEST LEVEL ACHIEVED: N/A
RATINGS: Gameplay 10; Battle 10; Story 7; Visuals 8; Characters 10; Sounds 8; Replay Value 9