Future Games Network -- Two-on-2 #2

Major Gamer salute "Two–on–2 initiates with the first duo of reviews and this laddie and lassie happen to see fit to award these two examined games with genuine "thumbs up"!"

Two–on–2
In Our Humble Opinions
Kirk and Joelle Lesser

Dead or Alive 2: Hardcore
Published by Tecmo for the PlayStation 2

OVERALL RATINGS
= A Must Have
Clash Test = Yes
Average Number Score = (5) Supremo, Optimo, When’s The Sequel?

HE SAID:
Few games allow you to sit back and bathe in their visuals.Can you recall the last time you had to cover your eyes from a virtual sun’s blinding effect in a game, or that you could see your character breathing in and out while lying flat on the ground? Additionally, it’s even more difficult to find games, especially fighters, that you can dive in and play after only five minutes of tinkering with the controls.

Dead or Alive 2: Hardcore (DOA2 Hardcore) is one of those few fighters that dazzles you with its animations and sounds, presents you with an almost overwhelming set of options, yet all the while keeps the basic controls simple enough to for any gamer. There are only four buttons to master that represent punch, kick, block, and hold. With time, you will learn the right combinations to accomplish various Matrix style attacks on your opponent, however don’t expect Street Fighter fireballs to erupt from people or level ups, which enable you to unleash a barrage of attacks in milliseconds.

In DOA2, it’s all about getting up close and personal, which places a great deal of importance on blocking and the placement of attacks. If these attributes were all that DOA2 had to offer, I would pass the game off as a wonderful diversion, but you will find that the wealth of options available makes this one a keeper. Besides your a–typical, one–on–one timed battles found in every fighter, DOA2 comes with survivor contests that let you to see how many enemies you can defeat before your energy is depleted. There are tag–team modes where you can individually compete against each other or the computer, or you can choose to team–up against the computer.

There is a Story mode that attaches FMVs to each battle you win; a Sparring mode in which you conduct your moves against a passive opponent, or you can be programmed to fight back and overcome your weaknesses. There’s even a Watch mode in which you observe the computer kick its own butt!

And what’s more? The game is equipped with hidden characters, settings and outstanding graphics that include textured 3D characters, clothing, surroundings, drawings and artwork. With the ease–of–play and multiplayer option, this game becomes a great party game — especially for couples who want to learn if Mars or Venus wins in the end!

DOA2: Hardcore is by far the best fighter I have yet to play on the PS2. I award it a THUMBS UP and a 5.

SHE SAID:
WOW! And I thought nothing could beat Mortal Kombat (having never played Tekken). Dead or Alive 2: Hardcore offers up some of the best fighting action I have seen in awhile (but can we do without all of the hooker–babes, please? Come on even her unmentionables jiggle!)

After playing all of the women characters I found that I liked Tina’s capabilities the best (besides she kind ’a looks like me with the leather get–up, blond hair and blue eyes — NOT!).

Anyhow, DOA2 is a fighter, so what more do I say? The game has regular Story mode, vs., Training and Survival modes, as well as a four–player option in Tag–Team–Battle mode.

You have four basic buttons to memorize: Punch (/\), Kick (O), Throw (X) and Free ([]). Basically the Throw button does just what it implies, and each character has their own Throw moves — if you can get close enough to your opponent to try them! The Free button, combined with your directional keys, enables you to perform a number of Holds and Guards. Once you’ve mastered the basics, there are so many hardcore moves to learn, scenes to venture through and characters to test, and before you know it, you have a game that is loaded with hours of playability.

Oh, and did I mention the impressive use of lighting and absence of ghosting and clipping? Many of the fighters I’ve played involved moves not registering, people super–imposing on one another, or the game being really dark and hard to see. DOA2 is packed with fully 3D, interactive environments in which you can push your opponents off edges, throw them out of windows, or corner them and finish them off.

DOA2 gets my THUMBS UP and a 5 because it’s so easy to kick my husband’s butt!

Fantavision
Published by Sony for PlayStation 2

OVERALL RATINGS
= A Must Have
Clash Test = Yes
Average Number Score = (4) Great Game, Less Filling

HE SAID:
Whoever thought that blowing up fireworks could be a fun and intense game? While Fantavision may not have the best graphics for a PS2 game, and its commercial-like, family breakfast cereal introduction has nothing to do with the game — it is the action–packed puzzle–style frenzy that will bring you back for more.

The object is to use the analog controller to collect flares (these are unexploded fireworks) of the same color using the (X) button to highlight them. When you have three or more of the same color, you use the (O) button to explode them and gain points. Much like Missile Command, the explosion may trigger other flares of the same color to explode as well. The flares come in different shapes and three different colors. There is even a flare that creates mono–mania that awaits another tap on the (O) button that results in them evolving into their glittery alter egos. If you don’t collect these flares and explode them in a certain amount of time (which never seems to be consistant), they will disappear, and a health bar at the bottom of the screen will diminish. When the bar is gone, so is your game.

As with any puzzler, there is more to this than making lots of pretty lights in the sky. Multi–colored flares enable you to link flares of different colors together and create chains to score bonus points. Letters appear that, when caught and detonated, add more points to your score, or replenish your health bar.

In multiplayer games you and your opponent split the screen down the middle to see who can explode 600 flares first and capture bonuses, which can grow your side of the screen (thus shrinking your adversary’s side and diminishing their opportunities), or flip the screen if you find your partner with flares that you would much rather have.

The big bonus in both modes of play is the Starmine. When eight Starmine flares are detonated, you enter a mode of play that provides you enough time to destroy as many flares of a single color as possible, and also score more points. You will find multiple tutorials within the game that involves someone speaking to you as slowly as your grandfather recalling the good ol’ days. And, even worse, you can’t try out the moves along with the tutorial without being kicked back to the start menu. But it’s great for anyone wanting to play the game without reading the manual (you will need to do one or the other, watch or read, to survive).

Overall, if you are into puzzle games, looking for something besides a shooter or fighter, or you desire a game that the whole family or group of friends can enjoy, try Fantavision. The game gets my THUMBS UPand a 4.

SHE SAID:
Aside from the Mentos commercial-style introduction Sony chose to use, Fantavision is a remarkable puzzle game, providing you actually take the time to watch the tutorial or read the manual. The tutorial is slow, but extremely helpful. I tried to just press buttons and figure Fantavision out by myself (as I usually do), which was hopeless.

The game is kinda like Bust a Move in a 4th of July landscape, if you can imagine that. The object is to capture three fireworks of the same color with a laser–pointer thing, and detonate them before they reach the top.

Figuring out the control buttons is like trying to drive a car for the first time. You control the laser with your thumb by using the analog stick, while managing to press (X) with your right hand to capture the fireworks as they move up the screen. Once you’ve successfully selected a firework, a square appears around your flare and locks you into that color pattern, and unless you get a power–up, or capture a wild multicolor flare, you can’t just capture every color that you see.

Fantavision is a puzzle game, therefore you need to follow like–color patterns. Your catch display appears at the top of the screen with the colors you have captured and, like Tetris, there is a preview box at the bottom of the screen, which displays the next round of flares to be launched. For every three flares you capture, you need to press (O) to detonate them. The more colors you capture, your fireworks spectacular will be bigger and better. But if you wait too long after locking in a flare, it becomes a useless dud.

What’s more? After you reach a specific number of points in a round you spell Starmine which affords you a variable amount of time to explode a montage of fireworks. In Versus mode this really rocks, as you can steal from your opponent. The Versus mode has all sorts of power–ups and special captures that do everything possible to mess up your opponent.

If you have ever played The Next Tetris from Hasbro, Fantavision is the same idea, although, for a puzzle game, there really isn’t much strategy involved. The game simply moves too fast to have a chance to ponder any moves, but it has great multiplayer game play. This was the first game I ever played on the PS2 and I’m a puzzle fanatic, therefore I salute it with my THUMBS UP and a 4.