Kakuto Chojin

"Welcome to a REAL fight."

Kakuto Chojin is a game that people don't understand. It's like the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey. People who only understand what they are told won't understand it, and won't like it.

If you can ignore the bad reviews and hear from the few people who DO understand and appreciate this game, there is already hope that you too may also decide to find this game, play it, and enjoy it.

There is a really good review for this game on gamefaqs.com by ''xlwhellraiser''. I really recommend you read his review for a good seperate opinion.

At first Kakuto Chojin may seem to you like an oldschool 3D fighter from the early 32bit days, only with great graphics. After you give the game some time and learn all that the gameplay has to offer, I'm sure you will begin to see it in a new light. What the developers of Kakuto Chojin have done is take the basics of a formula that was created years ago (one that hasn't really evolved over the years either honestly..) and using it, created something entirely unique.

There is a practice mode to get you aquainted with the game and each character. It helps to just screw around in this mode for a while and you will be on your way.

1 Player Mode is fun, and there is a steady progression in difficulty. It doesn't just suddenly get 10x harder like most fighting games do these days. This game is about taking time to get comfortable and learning all that you can do, and the 1 Player mode is really good training on when to use certain moves, in what order to use them, and when the best opportunities will arise for combos. When you finish 1 Player mode with a character, there is a movie showing their ending (which is just video footage of your character fighting, with scrolling text telling you the ending), and by getting the ending you unlock the Chojin fighting style for your character, which comes with a whole new set of moves to learn.

Multiplayer is a blast. You can have 1 on 1 and even a 4 Way Battle. To correct ''xlwhellraiser'' I must mention this was also seen in Power Stone 2 for Dreamcast I believe. My favorite multiplayer mode however is Capture the Crown. There is a set time limit and a crown on the ground that players can pick up and place on their character's head. The crown is knocked off by attacking your opponent, and whoever is wearing the crown when time runs out is the winner. This is REALLY fun and I've played this mode with people who absolutely suck at this game for hours on end.

The only problem you may run into is finding a friend as willing as you to learn how to play this game correctly. The game is not hard to learn it just takes a bit of intelligence.

I won't get any more specific about the gameplay. If you want more detail on why this game is so deep, read the review by ''xlwhellraiser''.

This game has a very unique look to it. Everything looks beautiful, but nothing looks extremely realistic. The characters are really detailed and have this metalic shine to them that I really think looks great. The character design, cntrary to what some others have said is really good. Each character has their own unique look which vary quite a bit from eachother, and they all seem to fit in with the setting and feel of the game. There is blood in this game, and while not very realistic it looks really good compared to blood seen in a really horrible fighting game released around the same time called Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance. When a knockout blow lands everything slows down (Matrix-style) which is a really cool effect (with blood in the air). There is also a sweet background stage where sparks fly all around, which in turn shines light off the character models. The only flaw in the graphics is that the mouths of the characters don't move when they speak, and a lot of the backgrounds are kind of bland and similar to eachother (there are, however, a few exceptions, but not many).

Kakuto Chojin does not support custom soundtracks from your Xbox hard-drive. However, the music in this game is quite good. Dark moody themes fit this games tone perfectly and everything sounds great in dolby digital. One problem however is that the songs restart in-between rounds. WHY? The song for each background should continue to play until all rounds have been decided, allowing more of the song to be played (some songs really only start to kick in by the time a round is already over). There is a sound test mode if you wish to hear the full songs. The voice overs are no better or worse than in any other fighitng game available.

I really think Kakuto Chojin is a great game, and I am not alone. If you are interested in getting this game, you know as well as I do that you will have to look hard for it, or order it on the internet. I highly suggest that if you've read my review, and or the review by ''xlwhellraise'', and are interested in this game definetly go through the trouble of finding a copy. Just remember playing Kakuto Chojin is like watching 2001. You have to first understand it to enjoy it, and the only way to understand it is by using some intelligence. Dream Publishing has made an intelligent 3D Fighter for Xbox that will go down in history for being panned by critics and then pulled off of store shelves. But some of us will remember Kakuto Chojin for what it really was.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 03/25/04, Updated 04/07/04