Guilty Gear X Advance Edition

"A Portable Version of One of The Greatst Fighting Games Ever!"

Let me start off by saying this. I am a huge fan of the Guilty Gear series. I love everything about it. It is drenched in anime flavor, and made with style. Guilty Gear X for Dreamcast is still my favorite fighting game of all-time (Sorry Soul Calibur). So when I saw this game at my local game store, I couldn't resist. A portable version of an amazing game?? How could I go wrong?? I couldn't. And on to the review......

Gameplay: (8/10)

Let's start off with the meat and potatoes of any fighting game. The gameplay. Now I've heard a lot of phrases thrown around about Guilty Gear X. Button masher, Unbalanced, Too fast, No strategy, etc. I will say this. The gameplay in this version is pretty sharp for a portable. All of the characters are pretty well balanced, and all of the moves are easily accessible. The way you can use Instant Kills, Overdrives, Roman Cancels, Air Juggles and the like is great. Though it's probably better to use the 3 button set-up, the 4 button set-up is not too difficult. Basically, this game comes as a straight port with a few extras added in. The extras include: Tag Team Matches, 3 vs. 3 Matches, and Color Edit. These 3 things increase the replay value a bit more, and just add to the fun. I took off a couple of points, though, for a few things. First of all, this game is easy. And when I say easy, I mean easy. Just about anyone could beat it on the first time through using no continues. You could probably beat it blindfolded. And this is on the hardest difficulty. This kind of detracts from the whole Guilty Gear experience considering that the Dreamcast version picks me up by the thread of my pants, chews me up, and spits me out. Also, the button placement is a little off. When you use the 4 button set-up, the L button just feels out of place in trying to use it with the D-pad. You'll get the hang of it after a while though. All in all, the gameplay of Guilty Gear X is great with a few minor setbacks.

Graphics: (9/10)

Let me just say that the graphics that the GBA can spit out are amazing. This game looks so close to it's DC and PS2 counterpart (well not really that close, but it's excellent for a handheld). The backgrounds are well done and rich with color. The characters are all well-drawn. There is a little less detail, but that is expected. The moves also look great on the portable version. The only real drawback is that sometimes it is too dark to see the screen, but the graphics are great for the most part.

Sound: (7/10)

Now for the DC version, I would give the sound of this game a 10/10. But this version is like listening to the bootleg copy of your favorite CD. The quality is pretty bad. The redeeming thing about the music though is that it's good. Just listening to it through the little speaker might make you think different. The sound effects are also pretty well done, but come off as low quality through the GBA speaker. Not the strongest point of this game.

Characters: (10/10)

This category is just a little extra category for fighting games only. This category is probably the 2nd most important category, next to gameplay.....characters. It is this category where the game really delivers. The characters are so cool and well done, you'll think they're real. Granted, they are from the same type of mold as the Capcom fighters, but in my opinion, these are so much better. Maybe that's because I'm a big anime fan. I don't know. But everyone from toughguy, sword-wielding Sol to the awkward doctor with the giant scalpel, Faust is just so excellent. Their personalities, their moves, their actions. This game has a lot of variety in the characters. This is what really makes Guilty Gear X special.

Replay Value: (9/10)

I can play this game over and over again. With all of the different types of modes, color editor, and survival mode, this game has it all in the replay value department. Except for maybe proper difficulty.

Overall: (9/10)

So this pretty much concludes my review for the best fighting game on the GBA. With pretty good gameplay, great graphics, and absolutely amazing characters, this game delivers. If a tough game with excellent sound is what you're looking for though, you might want to try something else. Anyways, this game is great!!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 01/24/03, Updated 01/24/03