Kamen Rider Kabuto

"This game definitely walks the pathway to heaven, but isn't good enough to rule over everything."

Like it has been with the Rider franchise lately, every new rider series gets it's own fighting game, and Kamen Rider Kabuto is no exception. Being the 35th Anniversary series of the franchise, one would think this game will be a great one. And the game definitely delivers up to the fan's expectations. Time to start the review...HENSHIN!!!

Story - 5/10

Much like the TV series, the main premise of the game is that a meteor has fallen on Earth seven years ago, and along with the meteor the alien life forms called Worms came along with it. It is now up to the riders to save the world, and our big man on this one is Kamen Rider Kabuto. It's interesting to notice that the game mixed some story elements from the TV series and the movie.

Graphics - 8/10

The graphics on this game are good, considering the size of the game and that it's in CD format. The riders look very much like how they look like in the series, with every detail put in. The same can be said for the worms themselves, as well as the locations used. The special effects do a good job of portraying the fights and the different rider abilities, and the animation is smooth. Although compared to other games around the time of it's release, it looks pretty sub par, and could have been improved some more.

Sound - 6/10

You'll be pleased to know that the sound effects are the same as that in the show. The voice actors for the show also does the voices for this game. The background music is pretty nice, but the real deal in the music is with the inclusion of the first ED/battle theme for the show, which is "FULL FORCE" by RIDER CHIPS. They also used the OP/intro song "NEXT LEVEL" by YU-KI. I never found out if "Lord of the Speed" by RIDER CHIPS and Kagami's VA is in the game. The music gets really repetitive sooner or later though, specially the usual background music.

Game play - 8/10

This game is a mix of fighting and beat 'em-up, with a good number of characters to choose from, some of which are to be unlocked. This game plays pretty much like every other 3d fighter nowadays, where the characters can move in an open arena and pull out combos on each other in the hopes of beating them to the ground. The game has a good number of modes, ranging from the three part story mode to the survival mode, of which is the main means of unlocking the secret characters. As with the other rider series, this game also has it's own gimmick system, which is the Form system and the Clock Up system. Form system means that most Riders and Worms have two forms. Masked and Rider form for Riders and Pupa and Molted form for the Worms. Clock Up system is like a souped up bullet time: For a certain amount of time, everything around you slows down to a crawl, and your opponent can only keep up to your speed if they clocked up too. You can only use it though when you are in Rider Form, and you can only use your finisher when you are clocked up. The clock up system adds a nice layer of strategy for the game, since you have to time your clock up well to get the most advantage out of it. Even form changing can affect whether you win or not. Although of course, this game has it's own set of problems too. There are some problems with the camera as well as with the movement. Most of the time on the stages where there are more than two characters fighting, the camera will often zoom out too much and won't follow your character, making it hard to see your character or pull off combos with it. The game doesn't allow you to re-adjust the camera which is quite a drawback. As for the movement, more often than not your character will charge too much into the combo that they miss the enemy altogether. Or whenever someone gets tossed into the air during Clock Up and you find out the air block isn't working on you. Add the horrible camera with that and you'll be in for some trouble.

Difficulty - 8/10

The game has four difficulty modes: Very easy, Easy, Normal, and Hard. If you're new to fighting games, then I'd recommend easy for you, as normal difficulty can be quite difficult with the ai, specially for one not used to the game yet, specially when you put the Clock Up mechanic into play.

Replay Value - 8/10

Quite a number of modes and difficulty will keep you hooked for a while. The number of unlockable characters and the different methods of unlocking them will also be sure to keep the player busy for a long while. Overall, this game has enough replay value in it for it to be played for a good while.

Final Words

This is a pretty good fighting game overall, with lots of replay value and some interesting mechanics which actually add a lot to the game play. I'm not a fan of fighting games, but I find this a nice enough distraction to keep me away from my other games for a while. If you're a fan of the series, this is a must have game, as nothing can be much cooler than seeing your favorite riders duking it out against each other, along with the villains. If you're just a casual gamer, you may find this fun, but not as much as a fan of the series. The game is all in Japanese, but it doesn't take much to understand the controls and menus. Overall, a pretty solid game, considering it's a game made for kids who watch the show.

Final rating: 7/10

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 05/23/07