Guilty
Gear Isuka
REVIEW:
Guilty
Gear: Isuka takes the Guilty Gear X series away from its roots and
into an entirely new direction,
featuring "simultaneous 4-player fighting" for the first time. Along with
the new gameplay style comes the debut of a new playable character, A.B.A, and
an all new (and disturbingly ugly) boss, Leopaldon. Isuka also features all new music tracks, backgrounds, and an
entertaining color edit mode on the home versions.
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Guilty
Gear Isuka character selection screen.
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The main difference
between Isuka and all the previous versions of Guilty Gear is most
definitely (and unfortunately) the gameplay mechanics. I use the word "unfortunately" because
quite simply, Isuka doesn't play nearly as smoothly as previous installments. The main flaw
is that players have to manually "turn" using R1 to turn (by default).
Manually having to turn around to face your opponent in a 2D fighting game??? 
...yeah, it's pretty clunky. Manual turning is unfamiliar
and annoying because "auto-targeting" is a staple in every single
fighting game to date. It works
"alright" in a 2 player battle, but the manual turn becomes a huge problem
when playing against the computer AI, which has a laughably ridiculous advantage
in turning! 
It's completely unfair. The new fighting engine also features a foreground and a background (much
like in SNK's classic Fatal Fury series).
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Heaven
or.... the hell's even going on here?!?
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The
single-player frustration continues with the new GG Boost mode... a novel
idea that borrows its side-scrolling inspiration from classic arcade games like Final
Fight. Boost could have been a terrific addition to help fill the void
when not playing the regular modes, if not for its need to use the damn
turn button once again. Why should you have to manually flip yourself
in the other direction in a side scrolling beat-em-up?!?
It just doesn't
make any sense. All in all, Boost Mode is a decent extra mode if you can get a hold of the
controls, but still seems rushed and leaves a lot to be desired... it's also
very, very
repetitive if you're playing by yourself.
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| Page Updated: |
March
21st, 2024 |
| Developer(s): |
Arc System Works |
| Publisher(s): |
Sammy Corporation |
| Designer(s): |
Daisuke Ishiwatari
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| Artwork
by: |
Daisuke Ishiwatari
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| Platform(s): |
Arcade, PlayStation 2, Xbox, PC
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| Release Date(s): |
2004
 Arcade
July 29th, 2004
PS2
Nov. 2nd, 2004
 PS2
Dec. 16th, 2004
Xbox
Nov. 28th, 2005
Windows '98
Jan. 2014
Steam |
| Characters: |
A.B.A,
Sol-Badguy, Ky Kiske, Millia,
Chipp,
May,
Jam,
Johnny,
Baiken,
Potemkin,
Dr.
Baldhead, Axl,
Anji,
Venom,
Dizzy,
Testament,
Zato-1,
Justice,
Kliff,
Slayer,
Bridget,
I-no,
Zappa,
Robo-Ky, Leopaldon |
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Featured Video:
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| Related Games: |
Guilty Gear XX Slash,
Guilty
Gear Judgment, Guilty Gear XX Accent Core, Guilty
Gear XX Accent Core Plus, Guilty
Gear, Guilty Gear X, Guilty
Gear X Advance, Guilty Gear XX, Guilty
Gear X2 #Reload, Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN-,
Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR-, GGXrd
REV 2, Guilty Gear -STRIVE-, BlazBlue:
Calamity Trigger,
Hokuto No Ken, Sengoku
Basara X, Rumble Fish 2, Power
Stone, Power Stone 2 |
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Gameplay
Engine
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5.0 / 10
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Story
/ Theme
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6.0 / 10
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Overall
Graphics
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7.5 / 10
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Animation
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8.0 / 10
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Music
/ Sound Effects
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6.5 / 10
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Innovation
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6.0 / 10
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Art Direction
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8.0 / 10
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Customization
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9.0 / 10
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Options / Extras
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7.5 / 10
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Intro / Presentation
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6.0 / 10
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Replayability / Fun
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3.5 / 10
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"Ouch" Factor
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7.0 / 10
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Characters
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8.5 / 10
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BOTTOM LINE
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5.8
/
10
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Review based on PS2
version
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| Final
Words: |
Ask any hardcore Guilty Gear player what their least favorite Guilty Gear game is...
and approximately 98% of the player base, who knows about Isuka, would
probably choose this game. While Isuka features the same great 2D sprites
from the XX series and shows off some epic new backgrounds, the 4-player
gameplay just didn't quite work.
Isuka
probably wouldn't have turned out so bad if the controls weren't
so clunky and absolutely lousy. The game can be played and casually
enjoyed with some practice. However, learning Isuka's clunky
control scheme might be a bridge to far for some players (and won't benefit you
in any way for future fighting games).
Besides the introduction of A.B.A... my favorite thing about this "spin-off" installment,
besides the awesome stages, is the Color Edit mode. Honestly, most of the time I spent with this game I
spent creating GG Isuka character colors. It's also a shame this mode didn't return
in future installments. Anyhow, this small hiccup in the Guilty Gear series was a
rarity... and Arc System Works redeemed themselves with more playable and
enjoyable sequels, including Guilty Gear XX Slash, Guilty Gear: Judgment, and
Guilty Gear XX: Accent Core.
~TFG Webmaster |
@Fighters_Gen
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