Rival Schools

"Despite below average graphics, it's a fun game"

When I first switched on Rival Schools and entered into training mode, I was aghast at graphics which were worse than that of Street Fighter EX plus Alpha, Capcom's previous 3D offering which had characters with well detailed textures on a super-blocky body. Now the backgrounds look horribly static, and the character textures were worthy of an NES game. All to move at sixty frames per second. What was Capcom thinking!?

Wait! This game isn't bad! Don't go yet! Yes, Capcom isn't known for blazing mip-mapped anti aliased one billion polygon 3D games. But you will hardly find a person who does not agree that Capcom shines when it comes to gameplay. And Rival Schools is a fun game to play.

The game gives you a wide variety of characters to choose from, satisfying almost any gamer's tastes, from typical Ryus to "you're so pathetic I can beat you with THIS guy" Zangiefs. There are no charge characters though, which I thought as a plus since I personally do not play charge characters...it's a matter of opinion. With special moves and super combos to air launchers and button combos, almost any fighter can get into the action, be it the Street Fighters or the Tekken...um...people. With taunts filling a third of your energy bar, team combos, and of course, supers upon dangerous supers, two player battles are intense and fun. Although the game may not appeal to all tastes, give it a chance and see if it doesn't make you a fan ^_^

Scores are from 1 to 5.

Graphics: 2

Characters are blocky with very noticable texture pixellation. Zoom ins look BAD. Static and boring backgrounds.

Music: 4

Its very different fighting game music. It's catchy, but probably not appealing to fans of tradition fight music.

Sound: 5

Voices are clear and crisp, and sound effects are traditional Street Fighter fare (in other words, very good ^_^)

Gameplay: 5

Most characters are well-balanced, number of characters provides variety, and a seamless combination of combo style fighting and special move type fighting.

Overall score: 8

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 11/01/99, Updated 11/01/99