| Introduction
I was a little dubious when ZOO first sent me screens
of their new Beat'em Up in the summer of last year.
It looked like another lackluster fighting game and
the GBA already has enough of them. The story line of
mysterious happenings in an unsuspecting village was
hardly original and although the visuals looked impressive,
it's been proven time and time again that looks aren't
enough to save an otherwise mediocre game. Keeping an
open mind, however, I fired it up and readied my fingers
for a bout of button bashing frenzy.
GamePlay
Scrolling fighting games on the whole are a simple
affair. Wander around, battle it out with a few enemies
and then, wander to the next area for more of the same.
That's what I'd previously encountered anyway, but Gekido
appears to be a little more intelligent and instead
delivers a cleverly designed action adventure style
romp.
It starts with some intriguing plot details as to
why Tetsuo (your character) is on his quest. As a one
man fighting machine you must explore five separate
areas in order to rid the land of evil. You'll be able
to get valuable information by simply talking to people,
so if anyone's around, it's worth stopping for a chat.
The game itself is structured with a maze of ladders
and doors and getting to any of these always involves
a battle. You have absolutely no option but to fight
everyone and everything, as enemies often have energy
or an all-important key that you're after. Take care
though as not all bonus 'pick-ups' are valuable as some
will disable your fighting abilities. For example, picking
up an 'R' reverses your controls for what feels like
forever!
Some areas will be closed off to you initially because
they're too dark to investigate. There is a simple solution
to this problem of course but I'll let you work it out
for yourself. There are also some devilish traps and
other dangers to concern yourself with, which are very
Indiana Jones like in their construction and which will
almost always injure you at least once before you actually
realize that they are there.
There's no multiplayer support, which is a huge shame
as trudging through the towns and graveyards with a
friend or two would have been incredible. There's no
battery save either, although a password system consisting
of five letter words shouldn't tax anyone too much.
These are slightly different within each level according
to how many credits or continues you have left and what
bonuses you've managed to collect. You'll probably want
to play some of the earlier levels repeatedly so that
you go forward with maximum credits and a chance of
completing the game.
Controls
Gekido is another of those fighting games that work
on two very different levels. Initially, some simple
button bashing is all that's required to take care of
the majority of on screen enemies. By the second level,
however, you must discover some of the more advanced
moves, as the enemies not only become more plentiful
but also better at both combat and blocking your attack.
There is, unfortunately, one really irritating feature,
which is the inability to skip over the cut screens.
Every restart means you have to re-watch the same level
intro which might have been wonderful initially but
is somewhat less so by the tenth viewing.
Graphics
From the moment Gekido starts, you'll be amazed by
the incredible visuals in each of the areas. This starts
with some wonderful cut screens, which are a mixture
of large sprites moved over beautiful static backgrounds
and spot animations. The story is told with a great
deal of flair and sophistication and the style is arguably
better suited to this title that FMV would be.
Next are the actual in game visuals, all of which
maintain the quality of the intro. The various characters
for example, have enough frames of animation to please
even the most critical Beat'em Up fan. Overall, the
whole game is a visual feast, illustrating everything
that's great about Japanese animation, which is a little
strange as the development house is actually in Europe.
Sound & Music
The audio aspects of Gekido are fantastic and makes
the whole game feel more like a movie than a GBA title.
Unlike other games, the soundtrack that accompanies
the game here actually enhances the excitement level,
for example, speeding up to a frantic pulse-pounding
pace when an attack is imminent. In the early sections
though, the music is decidedly mysterious as the story-line
is unfolded by the narrator. Of course, the usual Beat'em
Up sound effects are also there, and the standard punch,
kick and grunt sounds are all nicely done and accounted
for.
Final Comments
I'm not a big Beat'em Up fan and the initial reservations
I had about this game was soon forgotten, however, as
I became more and more absorbed into the world of Gekido.
And why shouldn't I be? The game looks and sounds wonderful
and the level design so cleverly implemented, that it
give an almost non-linear impression of freedom to roam
almost anywhere.
There's also quite a bit of gameplay packed into
this tiny cart and if it wasn't for some minor hiccups
with the control system and the ability to bypass cut
screens, it would have scored even higher. So if you're
a Beat'em Up fan, I recommend that you give Gekido a
try.
|
Hardware
Reviews 
Game
Title
