Project Justice

"A game that really does justice."

Yet another Capcom fighting game. Haven't we been kept interested (or bored) with its various new fighting games like Street Fighter Alpha 3, Marvel vs Capcom 2, Tech Romancer and Power Stone 2? It seems that releasing another game based on fighting genre is a must for them, and somehow, here comes a 3D sequel fighting game to Playstation's Rival Schools.

This game has been released quite some time and I first picked it up, after reading a magazine review that gives this a high score. After I somehow failed in defeating the evil final boss of the story mode loads of times, I chucked this game out until now when I realized that it's still fun to play after all.

Graphics - 9.3
Generally, the graphics are very impressive so I'm going into detail of every graphical aspect that I can find. Firstly, the character modelling in 3D is just fine, from the face to every part of their body. But of course, don't expect realistic facial expressions as there will be almost none. All you will find would be cute and funny hand-drawn cartoons spread throughout the game. The colours that are used are quite bright and cheerful, based on the stages.

The background, on the other hand, are in 3D, which makes them looked very nice and interesting. There is even a mode that lets you look around in the background and see the immense detail they had put on the stages' background. Not to mention that the lighting effects are also fine, where you can see most of them when the characters charge up or use projectile attacks.

Music - 8.9
The background music's okay, sort of the usual type you'd expect from a fighting game but when you're concentrating in it, I doubt you'll listen to it. Sound effects are nice when you're fighting with every single move your character have, so is the Japanese voices that are used for every single character, including your narrator.

Gameplay - 9.5
So here's where you're going to get interested: the gameplay. Of course, it varies on people's interests but I think Project Justice's way of fighting is rather unique and funny, compared to other games. Yeah, there is the usual punches, kicks, two-way projectiles, fireballs but there are also other various ways of fighting too. Didn't think you can attack using your trusty camera? Think again. There is a character called Ran (obviously a reporter) that used her camera and flash to hurt another opponent. You even have you reload your camera with another film halfway, after you had used it for some time. Crazy, isn't it?

Oh, not only that, you can control lots of other characters with their own strange attacks. Momo, with her tennis racquet and tennis ball where she either smashes the ball around or whack other opponents with her racquet. There is also Natsu with her volleyball and you guess it right, she used it (or practically serve it) against another opponent. I can go on a list of other characters if I want to, and did you notice that most of this out-of-ordinary characters are mostly involved in the sports. You can use Roberto the footballer, Nagare the swimmer, Shoma the baseball player and loads of other wacky ones (though they don't appear as one) in the game. And yeah, you can control a handful of teachers too.

Other than that, there is also two types of team techniques (you need to have a team of three characters). One is the Team-Up technique, by pressing either X+A or Y+B buttons. Depending on which character you summon (out of the other two), they will either attack the other player, heals you (Life Up) or fills your power bar to the maximum (Guts Up). But the Team-Up technique itself will use 2 power bars. And the other one is the Party-Up technique, where all 3 will attack the other player together, bringing an instant death or near-death. Again, depending on which characters you choose will affect how your entire party with attack your opponent. But despite all this almighty greatness, there is a catch. You need to be near your opponent in order to use this, and he or she must not be blocking (or you could say, guarding).

Sounds difficult? Not really. Of course, you must do it at the correct timing, like when your opponent is going to attack you. It's easy when you know what to do. There are also the usual modes, like the Arcade mode which is divided into another 2 modes, Story mode or Free mode. The Story mode will allow you to play with the story, but you will have to select which High School you want to play as. Also, you will be restricted to use a few characters as the story progress. The Free mode allows you to use any character, but it does not have a storyline.

The Story mode is not at all linear, though some of them are. To go to another story branch, you'll need to fulfill certain conditions like, do not use a Team-Up Technique. You know, you can expect to have these kind of 'story branches' if you had ever played Tech Romancer before. Of course, as you play through the game, you will be able to unlock more characters, other than just a bunch of characters in the beginning.

Controls - 8.6
It's not that hard to use any character, with the 'high punch, low punch, high kick and low kick' system. And to use the Team-Up and Party-Up techniques are even easier. Other than that, it can be really difficult and annoyingly hard to use a character's move or special power.

Story - 7.8
The story is not that intriguing, but it's more of a 'evil-comes-and-we-had-to-save-the-world (um, sorry), school'. Interestingly, when you play as students (or teachers) from respective high schools, you will find that almost all schools will meet each other and their stories are somehow connected. And, you will fight the same boss for each school. Sigh.

Replay Value - 8.3
Even though there are several modes that allow up to 4 players (like the Tournament Battle), you'll sometimes have to wait quite a long time until it's your turn, or sit and watch boringly at the computer fighting against another computer controlled character. The only good mode that you will find more fun playing against a friend is the good ol' Versus mode.

Overall - 9.1
This game is almost similar to Tech Romancer, but cancel out the robots, add loads of funny characters, beautiful graphical environment, Team-Up and Party-Up techniques, and you'll get a game that really does justice to your money. If you're up to fighting games, then this game should be your choice.

Justice
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+ Beautiful graphics and background.
+ Real funny characters.
+ Story and versus mode should keep replay value high.

Revenge
- Fighting games... again.
- The story is not that great, with the usual idea.
- You'll be waiting for quite some time in the Tournament Battle.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 01/01/02, Updated 01/01/02