The Bouncer

"The Bouncer is more a case of unrecognised potential than being a bad game"

If you can, throw your mind back to early 2001. No doubt whether you were a hardcore or casual gaming fan, the hype surrounding Square's cinematic fighting epic would've reached you in some shape or form. The game was touted to have huge, colourful and explosive battles ala Hollywood action movies combined with interactive backgrounds, all wrapped up in the Squaresoft package. Seemed like a pretty sweet deal. But as Square started to press copies out into shops 2 days before the millenium Christmas in Japan, reports were coming through that this game wasn't actually all that. The battles were more akin to a badly choreographed and slowed down Tekken and the game had the least interactivity of any game since the 16-bit age. Perhaps these reports are slightly exaggerated, but everyone jumped on the hatewagon, blissfully unaware that even with it's flaws, The Bouncer is still an above average beat em up which technically excels.

At it's core, The Bouncer is a throwback to the old school beat em ups such as Double Dragon, Fighting Force and Final Fight, yet polished with RPG elements and finished with a whole heap of style. The fighting system is a deeper version of these games with a few twists. Of course you could just mash the buttons until everything falls down, but much of the enjoyment comes out of creating chains - killing more than one enemy in a small amount of time, and working with your teammates, as well as using your special moves to your advantage.

The game has an experience system akin to a simple RPG, you gain BP (bouncer points) for laying enemies out. There's a bit more to it than that though, as creating chains to gain BP adds another level to the fighting system, giving you large rewards for skillful target choosing. At the end of each game segment (explained soon), you have the chance to spend your BP on various stats and special moves. The moves range from a simple two-direction jab, to throws, to lariats, to lethal roundhouses all the way upto explosive uppercuts and whirlwind fist attacks. This adds a heap of replay value, as you'll be striving to get your characters off their starting G rank and work them upto rank S. All in all it's a simple but very effective system to switch up the fighting system and add longevity.

There are three main game modes - story, survival and multiplayer. Multiplayer should provide alot of fun, as long as your friends own the game and have been training. Pitting your best character against your friends is good fun, but ultimately not that satisfying as it's just basically beating the crap out of each other. Enjoyable nontheless. Survival mode is something to do after you've done as much as you think you can with your characters and you're ready for a new challenge. 10 stages full of enemies (50 in total) and only one life. Good luck.

Really, story is where all the praise and criticism at the game has been levelled, in some cases deservingly, others it's not. The game is basically an action/fantasy movie in which you play out the fighting scenes. Sounds good in theory, and for much of the time it works. The presentation (much like an action movie) is brilliant, with amazing FMV and cut-scenes, as well as graphics that easily rival modern PS2 games. The downside to this is that it only runs as long as your average action movie. The game will be over within one and a half hours. The next time you inevitably go through, it'll be over in under 45 minutes skipping the cutscenes. It's good that Square tried something different, but surely they could've comprimised to make it more than a mere dent in the playing time of your average Final Fantasy disc.

Luckily, if you enjoy the gameplay, you'll want to play through at least 5 times to get S ranked characters, then you have the challenge of survival mode to continue with after that. All in all you should be looking at 7-8 hours minus multiplayer, which isn't horrible for a fighting game (although it would be unheard of for an RPG).

Visually and aurally the game is ahead of the rest. Graphics are clear, vibrant and smooth - the only gripe i'd have is the animation style they used makes it look like there's a thin layer of blur over the playing screen. The character designs are typical Square, with colourful, large and strange seeming to be the norms. Sion bears a striking resemblance to Sora of Kingdom Hearts, with his big and spiky hair going with his oversized pendant (although later in the game this changes). Volt is the strong and silent type and his style focuses on heavy punches and throws. The final main character, Kou, is the smart and wisecracking one, with tattoos (similar to those Zell of FFVII has) covering his body. The sound is satisfying and pretty much what you'd expect. Music isn't upto the usual Square standards but fits the atmosphere and style of the game well.

The story itself is below average Square fare. It's nothing on your average RPG but heads and shoulders above the average fighting game "must win tournament to avenge (add friend/family member here)" plot. There's a clearly defined villian, recurring characters and tons of action and sparkly explosions. Final Fantasy fans may be slightly dissapointed but it's not horrible and moves the game along nicely.

In conclusion, this game is mainly put down because of not reaching hype rather than being a bad game. Because while it is a flawed piece of work with unrecognised potential, you'll still get a pretty good kick out of it. If you can find it relatively cheap, pick it up and prepare yourself for alot of smashing wrapped up in beautiful visuals. You owe it to your brain and your eyes.

Visual - 9.2/10
Aural - 8.2/10
Gameplay - 7.3/10
Longevity - 4.8/10

Conclusion - 7.4/10 (Rounded down to 7)

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 02/11/05