Fighter Maker 2

"Time for my definitive review. I'll tell ya what you need to know."

Wow. Here is what you need to know for this game. It is not for the faint of heart. I am about to tell you something that other reviewer may or may not have told you, but it is the most important thing you HAVE to realize. What you have to know is that this game is something that will drive you mad with frustration when you first pick it up if you are expecting an easy interface and thinking you will have made a good fighter in a few minutes hours, or even a day. It will take you weeks to make a fighter with enough moves to actually be called a fighter. And even when you have made the fighter, the gameplay isn't that great. PSM said it best. ''You get out what you put in with this game.'' If you put in 10 minutes worth of effort into this fighter, you will get 1 minute worth of satisfaction.
For the very dedicated, this game will be a rare gem. If you can put weeks and weeks into this game, and can put up with the insanely difficult interface, and are buying this game because you wanted to build the ultimate fighter, and not because you wanted to fight with him in an extremely spectacular game, by this. In the rest of thsi review, I'll let you decide for yourself what to think of this game, and see why I gave it a 9.
Graphics: This games graphics are not really that bad, despite what everyone tells you. The bland and uncreative interface it what pulls the score down. I'll give the graphics a 6. I'd give them a 7 if the menu and interface was more attractive, but it's not. The chracter models aren't bad, although the faces could use some work, but they're just not goo either.
Sound: I'll give the sound a 3. This is the worst part of the game. Boring, forgettable music, very basic grunts and sound effects, and no ring announcer make the game very much silent much of the time. The sounds actually hurt this game more than anything else in the game, save the bland interface and menus.
Game play: Mixed bag here. There are two parts to the game play. The fighter custimization itself, and the actual gameplay. I'll divide these into seperate parts, as they are the biggest part of the game. I'll starts with the actual fighting game. It's somewhere in between tekken and Virtua Fighter 2 and 3. Controls like Virtua Fighter, but alot of the attacks you would only see in Tekken. The control of the chracters are tight, and they do what they tell you to do. They do however, take a long time to get up, and the gameplay frequently feels like you're playing Virtua Fighter in it's beta stages. The game just feels-unfinished. I give it an 8
Game play custimizaton: Here is where the game shines. I give it a 9 here. It is only less than perfec because of the limited appearance editor, which doesn't let you change alot. 5 faces for males and females, and blurry ones at that. Limited clothes options and inablity to change height and weight hurt this part of the game. The moves editor is the charm. I'll leave it at this. Think up any move in the world that you have thought up in your head: Unless you re thinking about projectile attacks, ala Mortal Kombat, you can make that move using this games engine. IF and only IF you are willing to put in the time, because when you first try and make a punch if you were expecting easy you will be sorely dissapointed. You might even be ready to quit. So be prepared. I give this part of custimization a 9, because of it's difficulty and bad cameras.
Final Note: If you are buying this game to make a fighter, you won't notice MOST of it's bad points. If you are buying it for anything else, you will hate this game. If you wanna program a fighter, and are willing to be frustrated, and put in alot of time, this game can end up being a 9. Otherwise, you'll give it less than a 1.
Rent or Buy? You never really know with a game like this. I know plent yof people that thought they had what it took to program for this game and didin't. Rent it first, and see if you have what it takes. I f you like the game-no, if you LOVE the game buy it, and you'll be in for many many many months of fun. Maybe even years if you are making more than one character. But try it first. Rent first, then buy if you are enjoying it, because this game can't be fully appreciated in a rental.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 01/06/03, Updated 01/06/03