"Treasure's genius work of a fighting game."

Yuu Yuu Hakusho: Makyo Toitsusen is a brilliant fighting game based on the anime and manga series. Treasure has developed great titles for the Sega Genesis, but since this was only released in Japan, it would be difficult to get this game.

Story

Fighting games usually have a story. While this one doesn't actually have a main one, it is based on the Ankoku Bujutsukai Arc (Dark Tournament) and the Sensui Arc (Chapter Black). The stages are all from the series, such as the Ankoku Bujutsukai stadium, Makai, and Reikai. The playable characters are Yusuke Urameshi, Kazuma Kuwabara, Kurama, Hiei, Genkai, Chuu, Jin, Toguro Ototo, Toguro Ani, Itsuki, and Sensui Shinobu. The story mode is basically advance through the stages and win.

Gameplay

The battle screen has the number of characters in the match, which can be up to four players, obviously a stamina bar, and a reiki bar. Since there are four characters, Treasure decided to make two sides for each stage for the characters to move along too, just like Fatal Fury. The smooth and responsive work of the controls is understandable. For the buttons on the Genesis, A is a strong attack, B is a weaker attack, C is blocking, Y is to switch sides on the stages, and X and Z are for dashing or parrying depending on the direction on left or right. A+B at the same time can restore energy on the reiki bar, which is used for special attacks. Button combinations execute special attacks, and they are easy to memorize and use for each character.

Multiple modes are for gameplay, Story, Versus, and Tournament. Tournament has eight fighters with four players able to join and battle out in style to be the best. A Loser's Bracket is also included. Versus deals with 4 modes, All-Out, Team Battle, Training, and Records View. All four players can participate in all of them. Story is one player only, but earlier said, it deals with no plot. The difficulty modes are Easy, Moderate, Hard, and Very Hard. While the computer can easily be pummeled in a tough manner in the easier difficulty, the harder ones prove that they are no pushovers.

Graphics

The graphics are great for a Sega Genesis. Most of the time the sprites are animated and clear. The background is an excellent display, an example is that the Ankoku Bujutsukai stadium starts as a background in the morning and goes through the day past the afternoon and night, and clouds in various stages move across the screen slowly.

Sound

While most of the music is new, some of them are from the anime itself. Hohoemi no Bakudan, the opening theme, Anbaransu na Kiss wo Shite, one of the ending themes, and the music that plays for an episode preview. Lyrics aren't available but the music is made out fine and simple. It can be all heard in the sound test menu in the game.

Recommendation

If you are a fan of the anime or manga, it is a nice deal to get this game. For a fighting game, it is a good try for fans of the genre too. Remember that the game is only in Japan…

Final Score: 9/10

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 11/11/04