Kamen Rider Kuuga

"This game could have been better"

I am a big fan of Kamen Riders and Kamen Rider Kuuga is no exception. I have seen all of its episodes and I can say that it lived up the glory of its predecessors.

Now I waited so long that this game will come out in the stores. However after I played it, this game is not what I expected to be.

Gameplay 7/10

The control in this game is simple. It has a punch, kick, jump and special button. The special button when pressed, activates your characters special moves which will take huge chunks of life out your opponents.

The moves are responsive but the introduction of the special button makes the game very easy. Even novices could win the game by pressing special button repeatedly.
This system also introduced in Kamen Rider V3 game, although it worked better in that game.

Story 10/10 (TV series) 4/10 (Game)

If you have seen the TV series, you already know the storyline. If you haven't, I'll give you a brief summary.
The story concerns about the rise of Grongi Tribes or referred to as Mikakunin Semetai (that's Japanese for Unknown Lifeforms), form their sleep million of years ago.

They shaped like Animal-Men and their mission is to kill all humans so that they could reclaim their world back.On the other side, there is a magical belt that contains the power of Kuuga, the protectors of human race.
The belt was accidentally weared by the young man Godai Yuusuke, who became Kamen Rider Kuuga to battle the Grongis. Kuuga can change to four forms in accordance with fire, water, wind and earth.

Sounds like an promising storyline for TV series that is.
The game unfortunately doesn't explain any of these. It just goes straight to the action. It only has a few cinemas in between to show the storyline, with very little narration. I don't think any non-fans will understand the whole thing.

Graphics 5/10

Nothing much to say. Rough edged character models and flat backgrounds already ruin the excitement. It is not even up to Playstation game standards.
The colour is nice, but not worth it. The only thing that is forgivable here is the intro scene.

Sound 8/10

THe opening and ending music is good, transferred straight from the TV series. The music for each stage is good, also taken from the TV series.
It adds up to the excitement. This is the only best feature of the game.

Replayability 6/10

The card mode is same as other Rider games, where you unlock the card to open secrets, will keep you for a while.
There are not many secrets other than unlocking secret characters (five secret characters) in the game.

Any previous Kamen Rider games for PS such as Kamen Rider and Kamen Rider V3 has a high value of replayability because they have many extras that can be unlocked in card mode. Kuuga unfortunately, has little of these.

Even some of characters are in fact a pallete swap (exact copy) of the previous Kamen Rider games. For instance the character Zuu Gouma Gu (Spider-man) has the exact same moves and specials as Kumo-Otoko (also Spider-man) in previous Kamen Rider game.


Recommendations

I think that fans of the TV show will brushed this one off after their first try. Non-fans will better off renting this one.

But to be honest, if you are a Kamen Rider fan, don't buy this game. Go find the previous ones such as Kamen Rider and Kamen Rider V3, then you could have hours of playing enjoyment.

Let's hope that the upcoming ''Kamen Rider Agito'' game will be better than this one.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 01/25/02, Updated 01/25/02