"Is It Really That Hard to Get It Right?"

Yu Yu Hakusho is licensed by Funimation, and I bought this game because I love the show. This game is based off of the Dark Tournament Saga of Yu Yu Hakusho, hence the title. But enough about that, let's get to the review.

Gameplay: 6/10

Naturally, you can move back and forth and sidestep left and right in this game. It's a Fighting Game, so that was to be expected. But for the fighting, it's not that great. The controls are very sluggish, but you finally get used to that after a while of playing it. Unlike most fighters, it is very easy to launch your Spirit Moves. Also unlike most fighters, it is very easy to block Spirit Moves. By a simple guard (X Button), your opponent takes no damage and you lost Spirit Energy. It gets really old, really fast in that aspect. Your opponent loves blocking. I don't understand what happens here, but meh: If you shoot a Spirit Move at an opponent while they're getting up, they will keep laying down and getting up. Well, you can jump at the very least. That helps sometimes.

Story: 9/10

Well, the story of this game follows the anime. This starts Yusuke's most difficult case yet, the Dark Tournament. The game very closely follows the story, so anyone who has seen The Dark Tournament Saga of Yu Yu Hakusho knows what to expect. It usually follows a pattern of: Fight -> Cut Scene -> Fight -> Cut Scene. It begins with you in a fight against Toguro, just like Yusuke had to do at the beginning of this saga in the anime.

Sound: 2/10

I gave the music a chance, but it was not good...at all. It's basically the same music that comes in other fighting games. If you're like me, you'll find yourself with the TV on Mute and the radio on. They can do better.

Graphics: 8/10

The graphics are cel-shaded. They look really good too. If you compare this to some other games on this system that are cel-shaded, you'll realize that they could have done better on this too. The areas look really cool, especially when you're blowing them up. Don't get me wrong though, the characters look really cool.

Replay Value/Play Time: 4/10

Well, I only found myself playing again to unlock the characters. Once you finish that, this game gets pretty boring. The story mode itself won't take that long to finish, and I doubt you'll care enough to go through Arcade Mode or Dark Tournament Plus.

Final Recommendation:

Well, if you like Yu Yu Hakusho or you catch it cheap, then it's not that bad to have. It's more for rent or when you can catch it on sale, like I did. Most people that don't like Yu Yu Hakusho will not like this as a game, because it is, for lack of a better term, average fighting game.

The true average of my rating would be 5.8. However, we'll round it to a nice 6.0. Really, it's better than the last Yu Yu Hakusho game, but they could still do better.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 11/29/04