Cowboy Bebop

"An anime-based video game that's actually good. So of course it's not coming out here."

Riddle me this: A PS2 game is made based on one of the most popular anime series of the last 10 years. You get the game, you hype it, you dub it, get it all ready for US release and then what do you do with it? Well, if you're Bandai Namco, you quietly cancel it and never mention it again. It's not like being lousy has stopped other anime tie-in games from being released over here, so how bad could Cowboy Bebop for PlayStation 2 be?

I couldn't tell you what the story of the game is, due to my not being able to understand Japanese and all, but as far as I can tell it starts with the crew going after a bounty as usual when Spike finds a small digital recorder with a song called "Diamonds" on it, a song from 50 years ago (I think). Though they go after more bounties the song keeps coming up with Spike meeting some record producer with a bounty on his head who has two younger bounty hunters after him... one of whom is the son of a space pirate... and well, even though I can barely comprehend what's going on, it looks like Bebop, it feels like Bebop, and if you're like me, the first new Bebop story since the release of the movie is reason to celebrate.

The bulk of the game is a 3D beat-em-up where you get to play as Spike, Jet or Faye. The story is linear, so you never get to choose who as. The characters break down like you'd expect: Jet is strong but slow, Faye is fast but weaker and Spike is well-balanced. The combat feels stiff at first but then you learn that the game doesn't want you to just mash on the buttons like you would in Final Fight. If you do, you'll get maybe three hits in before leaving yourself wide open. Instead, to get a long combo going you have to tap in a rhythm. Don't worry, it's not like DDR or anything with an onscreen gauge to follow, you simply tap the button again at roughly the same time you land a hit. This makes you have to adjust your strategy based on how many enemies surround you and who you're playing as. Long combos are good when you can focus on a single enemy (and are using a stronger character who can finish off a foe in fewer hits), but when you're swarmed it's better to dish out quick punishment all around while you reposition yourself. Combos are important because they build up your "Cool" meter, which can be used to execute a hit-everything-around-you attack or initiate a brief period of invulnerability and increased speed . You also get a "tension gauge", used for defensive maneuvers. Holding down R1 will block any attack (except some boss techniques) but steadily drains the tension gauge, leaving you vulnerable if it runs out. But if you time a press of R1 just as an enemy is about to hit you, you pull off a counter that can KO in one hit and gets a snazzy slow-mo close-up to boot. Nice.

There are a couple of other modes including Max Payne-like shooting levels, complete with bullet-time skills. I like how dependent the shooting sections are on taking cover and how you can use the environment to your advantage by say, shooting explosive barrels or a sign hanging above where a baddie is hiding. But the aiming controls are a little too sensitive, the camera is placed a little too close to your character and most annoying, you cannot turn around. There are levels where you'll proceed down an alley and if you move past some guy you missed, he'll shoot you in the back and the only thing you can do to get him back in view is walk backwards. The other major mode is flying, which feels like the old After Burner games. You see through the cockpit of your ship as you chase someone or flee from someone, combat doesn't really enter into it. You have no control over your path, all you're responsible for is dodging shots and other obstacles coming at you. Like other games that try to do a lot of things, no part of Bebop is especially brilliant, but they're all reasonably fun and you never get stuck doing one thing for too long.

So it's a decent game that's even better if you're a big Bebop fan. If you're thinking of playing this game yourself but are worried about the language barrier, you can rest easy that you don't need to be fluent in Japanese to make it to the end. Ed drops hints to you throughout the game and even though I couldn't read them, it wasn't hard to figure out what needed to be done since either you're told a certain button will come in handy or the camera will focus on something important. I enjoyed the game throughout but truly fell in love after a later level where Jet has to search for hidden bombs on the Bebop. Walking through a 3D reconstruction of the Bebop that lets you see how all the rooms connect is too geektastic for words. The cel-shaded character models look great, the frame rate is smooth with only occasional slowdown and the backgrounds have a nice degree of detail and destructibility. The lip-sync during cut scenes can get lazy, but the facial expressions and mannerisms are very true to the characters and the new faces blend in seamlessly. Soundwise, the effects are adequate but the game gets big marks for the excellent voice work by the original cast. It's nice that Yoko Kanno's music from the show is used, but it's disappointing that the same 6 or so songs get used over and over. Knowing how much great music there was in Bebop, that's just wrong. I also would've liked more music during the cut scenes, which for the most part have none.

I think it's a damn shame this game will likely never see the light of day over here and I can not fathom why this must be, especially considering how much localization work has already been done. Cowboy Bebop for PS2 is a great piece of fanservice and the game itself isn't bad at all, honest!

Graphics:
+ great cel-shaded characters, smooth animation, nice destructible environments
- bad lip-sync during cut scenes

Sound:
+ terrific voice acting, uses same great music as the show...
- ...but the same few pieces of music are used over and over

Control:
+ An admirable spin on the good ol'-fashioned beat-em-up
- Controls during shooting segments frustratingly limited

Value:
+ 8-9 hour adventure, decent variety of gameplay, some fun unlockables, a joyful revisit to a great anime series
- Unless we're lucky, we'll never get a translation

I gave it a 7/10 based on the merits of the actual game. But the Bebop fan in me gives this an 8/10 for how pleased I was to experience these characters one more time and how well the game honored the property.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 03/02/07