"The first in a long line of upgrades."

To say that I enjoy 2-D fighting games would be like saying Hugh Hefner enjoys women. Street Fighter II was the game that got me hooked on video games in the first place, and ever since, no company has shined brighter than Capcom when it comes to a solid fighter-fest. The only company (in my humble opinion) to ever come close to dethroning Capcom was SNK, and yet even they never quite managed to topple the giant. An interesting footnote to my rather bold statement comes from a development team called Arc System Works. They crafted a fighting game called Guilty Gear for the Playstation that was released in 1997 and promptly kicked Capcom squarely in the pants. Unfortunately, nothing more was heard from Arc System Works after Atlus published the game in the U.S. and Capcom continued its domination. Now, three years later, a sequel has arrived for the Dreamcast (and later the Playstation 2) that may just show Capcom a thing or two about fighting…

The story (in the Japanese version) seems to revolve around the return of a Gear thought to be dead (due to events in the first game) named Justice. Justice seems to be causing an awful lot of fear among the general populace of the planet, so a 'contest' is created in which the person who destroys Justice (and perhaps any other Gears who might still be around) is awarded 500,000 World Dollars. This naturally generates a whole lot of competition as each character wants to be the one who challenges, and defeats, Justice. Okay, not a wonderful story (and not made any better by the crappy cut-scenes) but it'll do.

The graphics are Guilty Gear X's true appeal. This is, to date, the absolute best 2-D animation I have ever seen for a video game. While I'm confident that my beloved Capcom will soon best Arc System Works' accomplishment, for now I am salivating every time I boot this gorgeous game up. Everything from the depth of colors used to the details even the smallest on-screen object will have you rubbing yours eyes in amazement. Best of all, you can actually run the game through a VGA box for an ever crisper picture! I hope someone at Capcom is taking notes here…

As for the sound, well…did I mention how great the graphics were? Seriously, the audio effects are rather bland and some even a little muffled sounding. It's tolerable though, and certainly up to the ho-hum standard that most companies have been pumping out as of late. The music is certainly unique, offering a little something for everyone…depending largely, of course, on everyone being into synth-heavy metal. I personally loved most of the game's soundtrack, with only a few of the tunes getting on my nerves after repeated exposure.

Obviously, Arc System Works didn't mind 'borrowing' from Capcom when the worked on Guilty Gear X's control scheme- mostly filled with quarter- and half-circles (with the occasional 'dragon punch' thrown in) it's fighting fanatics best friend. I have but two (minor) complaints: the controls seem a wee-bit sensitive, which leads to the other problem; some of the special moves are a tad complex to be whipping out in the middle of a heated battle. Granted, it's nothing a devoted gamer can't become accustomed to, but it can be an irritation.

Okay, so it might not have a roster of 24+ fighters like your average 2-D Capcom fighter, but the stage and character design of each and every fighter in Guilty Gear X is so unique, the smaller character selection really doesn't matter. The fighting system itself borrows heavily from the Street Fighter Alpha series, but adds a few unique twists, one of which is the 'sudden death' moves. This was a feature from the first game, but it's been tweaked a little more for fairness it's second go-around. Basically, you input a few deft movements on your controller and if your character connects, it's WHAM! - Lights out for your opponent. As you can imagine, this makes for some rather intense matches. All in all, a very solidly designed game.

For all your hard work, you can unlock two more characters to add to your roster- Dizzy and Testament. That's it. Of course, you could always get Guilty Gear X Plus on the Playstation 2 and get two more characters, but that's not this game so it's irrelevant. Guilty Gear X Plus…hmmm…it would seem that Arc System Works has also copied Capcom's 'throw-in-a-few-upgrades-and-add-an- extra-word-to-the-title' plan.

Really, there are few games really worth importing on the Dreamcast and this happens to be one of them. It's a solid fighting game that offers more than a few surprises and is worth every penny you spend. Unless you happen to also own a Playstation 2- the U.S. version of Guilty Gear X is identical to the Japanese Dreamcast release, so save yourself a few bucks and buy domestic. Either way, this is a must own.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 08/10/09

Game Release: Guilty Gear X (Limited Edition) (JP, 12/14/00)