Fast forward six years and Capcom is looking to rejuvenate the series with a collection of the two Dreamcast games being ported to the PSP, in the form of Power Stone Collection. The Power Stone style of fighter has undergone a few clones but none have managed to recreate that something which was good about the games in the first place. Does the formula hold up over the years or should Capcom start looking into some new ventures?
Power Stone Collection isn’t much of a collection with only the two games, but you can’t really complain when you’re essentially getting two for the price of one. However, both games are essentially ports of their Dreamcast predecessors. There have also been a couple of mini-games added that can be played outside of the two main games. Unfortunately, they pretty much suck, and are unlikely to get more than five minutes of your attention.
There are some nice big and varied environments
The original Power Stone happens to be a fan favourite. Many Dreamcast players will testify to playing this game for several, several hours. At first glance, it seems like a very basic set up, with only a couple of single and multiplayer modes. The single player modes include an arcade/story mode, where you take on numerous opponents, one after the other, a versus mode and training mode. The sole multiplayer mode allows you take on other in ad-hoc matches, one-on-one. There is no online multiplayer. With such a small selection of modes, does the game sustain itself?
Through out the single player modes, you’ll be primarily taking on opponents, one-on-one. Both players will have separate health bars and the loser is the one that has their health bar depleted. As mentioned, one of the big twists with the game is that it plays on a 3-D plane. The other twist is that you have to knock your opponents around until they drop gems – the power stones. Collecting three gems will transform your character into an alternate form, that’s bigger, meaner and stronger.
The game doesn’t rely on deep combo sets and overtly fancy moves to drive its fighting. Instead, you’ve got numerous objects entrenched in the 3-D environments that can be used as obstacles or traps to knock about your opponents. Objects such as chairs and tables can be thrown at your opponents, while knocking down objects such as barrels will see them roll across the stage and hopefully knock your opponent. Knocking or stunning the opponent will cause them to drop any of the “gems” that they may have been carrying.
The main concept behind Power Stone is the collection of three gems and you transform into a more powerful form, though only for a short amount of time. It makes the battles somewhat unpredictable and able to turn at the drop of a gem. Of the eight characters, you’ll find a great variety, each with very distinct moves and traits. Furthermore, there are plenty of item drops throughout each battle, which consist of both pick-up weapons and recovery items.
Pick a path, any path
Power Stone 2 is a much more substantial game than the original but it isn’t as highly revered as the first time round. Whether this is because of the expansion from one-on-one battles to all-out four player battles, or the diluting of the already simple battle system, this is a question for the ages. Regardless, the compilation is much better for the inclusion of this game, rather than re-releasing them separately.
There is a greater selection of modes this time round: Story (played “one-on-one” or “one-on-three”), Versus, Adventure, Training, Network and the Item Shop. The roster has been expanded from eight to twelve. Both the Story and the Adventure modes are built in such a way that you’re able to pick your path of your next battle, as you’re racing out of a castle that the Power Stone “crew” has been stranded on. The primary difference between each of these modes is that the adventure mode allows you to collect items and money that can be utilized later on.
One substantial addition to Power Stone 2 is that the battles are played across huge, transforming stages. These add even more obstacles and traps to the players, as well as potential for chaos. It really is amazing to watch through out the battles as the stages undergo their unique and varied transformations. These stages range from numerous fighting on top of numerous and constantly submerging submarines to a giant temple with collapsing platforms. These are the highlight of the sequel.
While the potential for capturing gems has been expanded, as well as the amount of items that can be picked up, the fighting system is somewhat simplified. There is only the one attack button, where as there were two in the previous game. The game still works and plays just fine, though it does take away from the game, especially when the powered-up characters only have the one attack. The single player is definitely more substantial but you’re not likely to be playing for that long unless you can utilise the multiplayer. This time, it allows up to four players now but this is still only through a network.
Some of the other flaws in the games go across both versions and some are related to the system. Some players will be find that at times, the action will get too hectic for them to keep up with. Hectic can be fun, but when there is more going on the screen than you can react to, it can get frustrating. And as big and beautiful the PSP screen is, it at times can be hard to pick up the action, especially when it zooms out. That, and neither game can claim to be that great in terms of the overall balance. Some of the characters borderline on useless. Some players will argue that the game is not meant for four players to be participating at once. This argument stems for the fact that the fight for gems becomes too diluted. With only three gems amongst four players, there is a lot less transforming to happen. Finally, it’s disappointing that there is no online or game sharing multiplayer options. Players can share a demo of the game but playing off one UMD would have been very welcome.
Too hectic?
Technically, both games are rock solid ports of their Dreamcast counterparts. There is very little wrong or that has been lost in the conversion. The only major load times that you’re likely to come across are from the main menu, where you pick which game you wish to play. Otherwise the load times are more then acceptable. As a fighter on the PSP, the fact that you don’t need to use the d-pad helps considerably, though playing through the more extensive single-player modes is not that great for portability, though multiplayer does go well on the fly.
Graphically, the game looks every bit a Dreamcast game. There are worse looking games on the PSP, though the only issue is that the games are ported, rather than optimized for the PSP screen. Otherwise, it’s a very colourful, over-the-top, anime inspired affair with distinct characters, environments and personality. Sound-wise, the game has kept the Japanese voice-overs for the characters, though the announcer is in English. The sound effects work just as they should, though some of the pick-up items aren’t exactly going to blow you away. Music is suitable though nothing special.
Overall, that Power Stone Collection is a fun set of fighters for the PSP that will leave you’re thumb in decent shape. Despite being ports, you’re getting two good games that have held up reasonably well, when more recent pretenders haven’t played half as well. If you’ve already played Power Stone to death, these games probably aren’t worth your time, unless you’re dying to carry them around with you. For the rest of us, we get to see what all the fuss was about. Shame about the game sharing and online, because multiplayer chaos is where the appeal of the game truly lies.
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