Guilty Gear X Advance Edition

"An import of this one is Worth it"

To start off I must admit that I am a dedicated Guilty Gear fan. Hearing that I would be able to play a Guilty Gear game wherever whenever gave me that warm fuzzy feeling inside.

Though this is my favorite fighting game to date, I was also rather skeptical that the good people at Sammy and Arc systems would be able to pull off a portable version of one of the fastest paced fighting games. I must say I was not let down.

Gameplay: (9/10)

WOW, every move from the Dreamcast/Playstation2 versions are here. All the charactors respond the same way. The only major difference in the control of your character is the new fishing move system, which I must say is much better for the handheld. The simplicity of it makes a finishing move actually possible for mere-mortals.

There is no slowdown in the speed at all, I still found myself at the edge of my seat in the later levels of survival mode. One problem I did have with the GBA version was the level of the AI. It's just too easy I beat the game in arcade mode on the hardest setting the first day I owned it. Survival mode on the other hand, can get rather hectic. Because of this, I found myself playing countless hours on survival mode.

Story: (1/10)

It's a fighting game what do you expect. I have never once purchased a fighting game for the story, because of this, I am omitting this section from the final score.

Audio: (8/10)

Audio was all around well done for a handheld. The sounds are very fitting, and make the game much easier to get into. They aren't too crisp though. That is why I'm only giving is an 8. I didn't focus on this too much though since the audio limitations of a handheld are obvious.

Video: (10/10)

Comparing the console version to the handheld, the graphics take a big hit. But that is only because the console version is done in hi-rez. When compared to any Capcom fighter it comes up about dead even. All of the distinguishing traits of the caracters, all the moves, and all the stages are there. The graphics in this game just flat out blew me away.

Re-playability: (10/10)

If you liked this game the first time around you'll like it every time around, just like in any fighting game. There is a fair amount to unlock, so that will keep you busy as well.

Buy or rent?

The game is definite buy for the hard-core fighting game fans. Good gameplay, good replay, also the interface of the game is almost all in English. So If your a fan of the series and you can't wait for the US release import it. It's well worth it.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 04/30/02, Updated 04/30/02