The Bouncer

"Get Bounced!"

I usually try to stay away from games that cost less than $10.00 but a friend vouched for The Bouncer, so I gave it a shot.

Premise
The Bouncer is an old fighting RPG from Squaresoft for the PS2. It's nothing earth shattering but it is well worth the $6.00 I paid for it. The game centers around three bouncers at a club called "Fate"; Sion ( a fairly balanced fighter who looks like Sora from Kingdom Hearts at age 20), Volt (a big slow brute of a man with two small horn spikes coming out of his forehead and a "No-Escape" logo on the back of his jacket, featuring a Cactaur in the classic “NO” circle-slash), and Kou (a thin wise cracking dude with a full body tattoo and possibly the best fighter of all three since one of his attacks helplessly juggles an opponent in the air).

Story
Dominique, Sion's good friend, is kidnapped from the bar by some ninja guys who work for Makado (a generic evil all powerful mass corporation, seen frequently in RPGs set in modern or future times), and you three head out to rescue her. The story is mainly played out in cut scenes in between fights. If a player does not want to sit through a story, all the scenes can be skipped. On the other hand, if a player wants to get more involved with the story, the game provides little fragments of dialogue from key moments in the characters past during the loading screens. The game also has a few secrets which can be uncovered through game play… as well as a surprise that is absolutely awesome about halfway through the game.

Last Words on Premise & Story:
The main focus of the story isn't unique…evil corporations have been a motif in gaming for a long time, however the game is a fighting game with RPG elements which isn't something seen very often. It also has an interesting story which is handled in a way that if you want to just play a mindless “beat um up” game, the story won't be intrusive but if you want an in-depth story you can indulge in that too. That makes the game enjoyable for many different levels of players. Basically the story in nothing mind blowing but it is intriguing and very well presented.
Premise & Story – 4/5

Game Play
Game play mainly consists of live action fights in which you control one of the three bouncers, chosen before the brawls begin. Most fights are won by defeating all of your enemies, but some fight (boss fights) can be won by completing a certain objective (defeating the boss). A fight is lost when the character you control is knocked out (even if the other two allies are still both alive). The character you choose plays a role in what details of the story will be revealed to you in the scenes. Another thing to consider when choosing a character is that your character will be the only one gaining experience (called Bouncer Points or BP in this game) from the battle. A set amount of BP is gained from every battle, however extra BP can be earned by delivering the final blow to your enemies. Once you've earned BP, you can use it to buy increases in one of three stats Life, Power, or Defense; Life is your health, the more health you have the more damage you can take before you fall; Power is your attack, it governs how much damage your attacks do to your opponents; Defense is defense, it governs how effectively you can block attacks and how much damage you take from enemy attacks. You can also use BP to buy new, more powerful moves for your fighter. After you have spent a certain number of BP on your bouncer he gains a rank. The ranks are G, F, E, D, C, B, A, and S.

One of the two complaints about this game is with the fixed camera. Not being able to freely move the camera made the fighting somewhat more difficult in certain situations in which all enemies were below the camera so that it was impossible to foresee attacks and block them. Most of the time, the camera was not a problem, but there were a few situations in which it cost me. The second complaint is seen as the major flaw of this game. The game is SUPER short. Those looking for a long drawn out adventure spanning over several hours, if not days or weeks, will find themselves disappointed when they are able to play through the game within half an hour (assuming they beat all the battles on the first try which is not a hard task to accomplish).

Replay Value
The major success of this title is replay value. Yes, while it will take you 20 minutes to get through the game once, you can restart the story from the beginning with the stats and attacks and BP your characters earned in the first time through so you can level up your characters even more (In fact it is impossible to get a character to the Rank of S the first time through a game… even if they fight EVERY battle and kill everyone themselves… there just isn't enough BP to be gained in a once through). It is actually a good thing that Square made this game short and sweet, because it will take at least 3 play-throughs in order to see everyone's scenes and 5 play-throughs to see every single ending in the game. For example, on your third time playing through the story on one game, the final boss will get a new third form of himself which you have to fight after the first two, the hardest form of them all. Replay also lets you unlock characters for the games extra features, such as the final bosses third form.

Extras
The Bouncer has a versus mode for up to 4 players playing team battle or battle royal, you can unlock different characters (like the bosses) in the game which you can then use to smash your friends into a pulp. The game also has a survival mode in which you use one of you characters selectable in verses mode to play through 10 levels of increasingly difficult enemies, without getting your life recharged. The final extra is available in game. If you choose to be Kou in the section of the game in which the bouncers are separated, your mission isn't to beat up everyone on the way… instead you are supposed to pretend to be an enemy ninja and convince the patrols you are one of them, it's not too difficult (I did it flawlessly on my first time, though I probably got lucky on at least one spot) but, it is very enjoyable.

Last Words on Game Play, Replay Value, & Extras:
The Bouncer effectively mixes RPG and Fighting games together to create something golden. The “leveling up” system is very quick and simple and you can use your BP to increase your bouncer however you want and are not restrained to a predetermined ability or skill adjustments based on what level you are becoming, adding the ability to form different strategies for leveling up. Having to choose which character to use in each battle throws in another smidgen of strategy to this game. A mobile camera would have been nice but the camera was 90% effective stationary. Although the game is short, it has excellent replay value which makes the games short length actually a little beneficial because you will need to play through multiple times. Throw in the Verses mode, to play with you friends (a welcome feature to a one player game), and a Survival mode to give yourself a REAL challenge, as well as a happy little in-game diversion from fighting if you play as Kou, and you have great game play that more than makes up for a camera that is a hindrance on a rare occasion. To sum it all up, The Bouncer delivers a very enjoyable game play experience.
Game Play, Replay Value, & Extras – 5/5

Graphics
Cut scenes are always good with Squaresoft. The Bouncer is no exception. It's out of game graphics might not be “superb” or “amazing”, but they seem to warrant more that “good” or “ok”. In game graphics are decent… nothing mind blowing but everything is easily recognizable and has fairly good realism as well.

Soundtrack
As for the music quality, there isn't much to be said. It does not really stand out. It is an average soundtrack. There is no real grand main opening theme like other Squaresoft RPGs have; none of the music gives me the urge to do a little dance in my seat while I play. I don't find myself humming tunes from The Bouncer, in fact I probably couldn't even recognize most of the songs if I heard them out of the game, but I don't find myself muting my television while I play the game or stuffing cotton balls in my ears, screaming "MAKE IT STOP!!!" In other words the music is average.

Last Words on Graphics & Soundtrack:
The games graphics and music aren't bad but I can't sing praises to either one of them.
Graphics & Sound – 3/5

Last Words on The Bouncer:
The Bouncer is betrayed by its low price point. The game is well worth playing and keeping around. It might not be headed to the hall of fame, but it's definitely worth digging out of the bargain bin of your local game store. Its game play is set up so that different types of gamers can play at whatever level they like best. A gamer can get involved in the story and lives of these characters, or simply bash some heads in. Add in the fact that your hours of playing this one person game can translate into skill to beat you friends up in verses mode and you have an RPG that does not totally isolate you from society.

Final weighted score: 8.4/10

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 07/06/06