Guilty Gear Dust Strikers

"Some poor implementation doesn't quite bring this Badguy down."

Guilty Gear Dust Strikers is the first Guilty Gear game to grace the DS; and there's a lot of awesome ideas.

Battles that take place on both top screen and bottom screen...
A smash bros.-esque interface...
An actual expansion on the plot of the Guilty Gear universe...

When announced, it was quite apparent that this particular port had a lot of promise. Did it actually fulfill some of that potential, though? Let's find out.

-Graphics:

Dust Strikers definitely delivers graphically. Almost all of the sprites and effects from Guilty Gear XX made it in without a hitch and they look beautiful. The only oddities I noticed were the choppiness in very few animations (such as Robo Ky's flowing cape in his victory pose) but it's nothing that really detracts from the overall game. The only thing that gets me a bit is that all of the backgrounds were reused from XX and Isuka and that the boss has a total of maybe 10-15 frames max if you don't count the projectiles it fires. But at least those 10-15 frames look good, anyway.

-Sound:

The sound is probably the lesser aspect of Guilty Gear Dust Strikers. The quality is great; you'll feel like you're playing Guilty Gear XX all over again. But the variety is not. All of the music is reused from Guilty Gear XX and Guilty Gear Isuka with maybe two exceptions. Those exceptions are all right, but nothing special. And unfortunately, there's only maybe 6-10 tracks total in the entire game. This means that even different stages will reuse the same music track. And this gets repetitive as anything :\. At least what's there is good, but I'd have loved more.

-Gameplay:

Here is where Dust Strikers shines. It plays nothing like previous Guilty Gear games, but it's still a fighter. Basically, you choose your character and are placed in a mostly vertical, Elevator Action-esque stage with platforms in various spots that your characters can jump to and from. These stages often take up the entirety of the DS' two screens and the platform setup is chosen from a random template at the start of each match. This is all great, as every time you choose a stage it might be set up differently.

Then you have the control setup. This is simultaneously where the game succeeds and fails because, to be honest, it's a little strange. Basically, you have two attack buttons (Y and B), a special button ala Smash Bros. (A) and a strange multi-purpose button (X). Psycho Burst, a wake-up move that clears the crowd around you, is assigned to L while R is a Romantic Cancel; which uses up a little of your tension meter (which is used to perform hyper moves) to cancel your current move and allow you to follow up with anything. This is all fine and dandy; the added simplicity is sure to appeal to a lot of players.

However, the problems lie in the way you actually perform your special moves and hypers. This is where I feel the game could have benefitted from a little review. I'd have removed the multi-purpose X button and simply added a jump button instead so I could use up for a special move. Instead, in a game where you turn on command (Push left, turn left! Push right, turn right!) it's rather clumsy to make special commands use right and left seperately in conjunction with A. This often forces you to turn around at inopportune times, perform the wrong move in the opposite direction or all sorts of annoying problems. However, after practice, you do get used to it. For the next Guilty Gear DS I should hope they consider a jump button so that special moves are input more fluidly and intuitively. Then there's Guarding. Guarding is handled by standing still. As long as you're not moving, you're in a guard state. This also is strange and takes time to get used to (and also makes it all too easy to whiff attacks entirely) but it becomes second nature as well.

The X button is rather wacky. I dislike the way it's implemented because it could really be anything. Wide-range sweeping attack, special move button, hyper move button, you name it: X probably does it as some kind of afterthought. Such an inconsistent function doesn't really add much to the characters at all.

There are items that randomly pop up on the battlefield, too. You grab these and use them by touching them on your touch screen. They do anything from refill your life and tension to trap enemies to crowd clear. They're amusing, but quite poorly implemented and actually detract from the overall balance of the game.

To variety is also a bit lacking, especially compared to their console counterparts. There are no more alternate EX versions of characters that you can unlock with entirely new movesets. There aren't hidden story paths. There is only Arcade mode, Story mode, two different VS. modes that accomplish the same thing and a few fun, but ultimately pointless mini-games that unlock moves to customize your Robo Ky with (a concept that is in no way new; it was lifted directly from Guilty Gear Isuka). That's all. The customizable Robo Ky is quite fun, though.

So ultimately? Bottom line? I know I've been painting a very morbid picture up until now, but it's actually quite fun to play. Especially in multiplayer, where the game's unique gameplay comes through. Battling in Dust Strikers also lacks options, unfortunately. I'd love to be able to just go one-on-one instead of forcing myself and my friend against two bots. I'd also love team fighting ;_;. I'd also like Wi-Fi -_-, it's really ridiculous that this game only supports DS-to-DS fighting. But despite this, the gameplay is very strategic and quite fun. I'd put it just under Isuka for all the possible ways you can fake your opponent and attack them. It could be implemented better, but that such a system literally rises above its own poor implementation and manages to be a blast to play says that it has a lot of potential. And that is potential I hope Arc System and Majestic run with.

-Story:

The story is a bit questionable. Basically, everyone is simply fighting; but there is something sinister going on in the background of all this. That's...about the gist of it. You get much more as you play other story modes, but it's nothing quite the same calibur as Guilty Gear XX.

So, Guilty Gear's first foray into the DS has some...issues. A lot of things are implemented rather strangely, others poorly, but this game manages to rise above its own problems and really shine. It really is an excellent multiplayer fighter and one that is worth buying. Just make sure you have some friends who're willing to buy it too and you can really enjoy all that Dust Strikers has to offer.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 05/07/06