Power Stone 2 Review

There's a well supported theory out there that it's difficult to fully appreciate games in the arcade. Why? Oh, maybe it's the notion of fellow arcade-goers scrutinizing you as you play, leaning in on you and laughing if you should make a mistake (at least, that's my experience . . . kids can be cruel). There's also the lack of comfort associated with playing while standing, and who really likes to play games on a pay-per play basis?

I'm not sure if the theory is 100% true, but Capcom's Power Stone 2 certainly supports it, at least in my mind. I played through the arcade version while on test at my local arcade, and found it to be the most confusing game EVER out of Capcom. And yes, I'd already played through Marvel VS Capcom 2. However, after having sat down with the home version of the game for only a couple of rounds, I was already getting the hang of things even beyond what my arcade experiences would allow. And when you've got a game as confusing as Power Stone 2, that's a good, good thing.

You've already read our preview of the game, along with our impressions from the Tokyo Game Show, so I won't bore you with all the details on how Power Stone 2 plays. Suffice to say that this is a different game entirely from part 1, and while the arcade version at first left me in doubt, I'm sure of it now: I LOVE THE GAME. It's fast, fun, and there's so much variety to what you can do in the stages of play that you can spend night after night playing through the game and still see new things.

Thankfully, Capcom has prepared a suitable home game for the Dreamcast version, complete with minimal load time, and a whole wealth of new modes beyond the arcade version. In addition to the arcade mode, you'll find a one on one adventure mode, an internet mode for fighting online and accessing the game's webpage, and a mode that everyone was hoping for: team battle. This handy-dandy mode allows you to set up teams of between one and three people. Want three on one? Go for it! Two on two? No problem. One on three? Uhh . . . see the first option. You can even set it up so you have only three or two players. The CPU can be set up to fight as some of the players, so you in effect have the much longed for versus CPU mode. Let's keep this feature in ALL other fighting games, Capcom.

On top of the new modes of play, you'll find a wealth of secrets waiting to be unlocked. What are these secrets? Be damned if I know . . . I've only been playing the game for half an hour! There seem to be some things going on with the VMU, though, but I'll have to play around with the game to find out for sure. Let's hope there are a few new stages in there, as it looks like the five backgrounds may grow stale after a while, despite their being absolute masterpieces of design.

Our review of the game will follow shortly, but check out these screens and videos in the meanwhile. The videos show off the transitions in four of the stages as you go through a fight. Enjoy