DaemoN
Camel Slug
- Joined
- Nov 30, 2000
- Posts
- 523
Hello;
I've finally received my "Martial Masters" (chinese version) cartridge for IGS PGM, and I thought it'd be nice to document my first impressions on this game.
[Graphics]
* While they're not high resolution, they still manage to impress. It does not look like an "old" game by any means, because it's far better than your average SNK/Capcom fighters. Please note I'm talking about overall graphic quality, design and effort into making the game look good, not hardware power. If I were to compare it to a certain arcade system, I'd say they are comparable to CPS3. The chinese developers put a huge amount of detail and colors on everything, making the title very flash while still being "discrete", if you know what I mean.
* Sprites are very detailed and crisp. Some of the small characters aren't as good looking as larger ones, but they're mostly great. Character animation is spectacular - Drunk Master's stance makes some SF3: 3s characters look skippy! Backgrounds are gorgeous, but they do lack animation. Top notch work on the artwork, though.
* Character design is pretty decent, and they all have coherent moves. I'm not too fond of the stupid names, though. What 5 year old kid named these folks? Ghost Kick, Master Huang, Tiger, Monk... sheesh!
* The intro is pretty dull/shallow. Could have been much better.
[Sound Effects & BGM]
* Decent character voices, but not as impacting as SF2. Since my game's the chinese one, all announcer voices are in chinese. I've watched videos of the english version of the game, which I liked more. Overall pretty good.
* BGM is nothing memorable, but it's not bad either. Pretty cool tunes, if you dont mind the strong chinese influence / instruments.
* Sound effects are good, and provide a great feeling of impact. No comlpaints here :-)
[Gameplay]
* Game plays like an odd mix of Garou, Real Bout Special, Ninja Master's and Street Fighter Alpha. It feels very "fresh", without any blatant amounts of fighting game cliches.
* Controls are responsive, moves are easy to pull and specials come out very fast.
* Medium lerning curve. There's plenty of moves to master, new combos to discover and differemces tp get used to. You can't buffer moves like you do in KOF, for example, making combos harder to pull if you're a newbie (or if your joystick is crap).
* One player mode = 1 vs 1 (SF2 style)
* Two players moed = 3 vs 3 (KOF style)
* There's a crazy code on GameFAQS.com says "Challenge Fateful Enemy/Level Skip". I've tried that, no idea what it does.
[Last considerations]
* Paid US$ 65 + s/h from ExcellentCom.net. Can't beat that :-)
* Better than most fighting games out there. Period. Looks great, plays great and boasts great gameplay, that's different than the traditional stuff we're used to play.
* 2p matches are fun! fun! fun!
I've finally received my "Martial Masters" (chinese version) cartridge for IGS PGM, and I thought it'd be nice to document my first impressions on this game.
[Graphics]
* While they're not high resolution, they still manage to impress. It does not look like an "old" game by any means, because it's far better than your average SNK/Capcom fighters. Please note I'm talking about overall graphic quality, design and effort into making the game look good, not hardware power. If I were to compare it to a certain arcade system, I'd say they are comparable to CPS3. The chinese developers put a huge amount of detail and colors on everything, making the title very flash while still being "discrete", if you know what I mean.
* Sprites are very detailed and crisp. Some of the small characters aren't as good looking as larger ones, but they're mostly great. Character animation is spectacular - Drunk Master's stance makes some SF3: 3s characters look skippy! Backgrounds are gorgeous, but they do lack animation. Top notch work on the artwork, though.
* Character design is pretty decent, and they all have coherent moves. I'm not too fond of the stupid names, though. What 5 year old kid named these folks? Ghost Kick, Master Huang, Tiger, Monk... sheesh!
* The intro is pretty dull/shallow. Could have been much better.
[Sound Effects & BGM]
* Decent character voices, but not as impacting as SF2. Since my game's the chinese one, all announcer voices are in chinese. I've watched videos of the english version of the game, which I liked more. Overall pretty good.
* BGM is nothing memorable, but it's not bad either. Pretty cool tunes, if you dont mind the strong chinese influence / instruments.
* Sound effects are good, and provide a great feeling of impact. No comlpaints here :-)
[Gameplay]
* Game plays like an odd mix of Garou, Real Bout Special, Ninja Master's and Street Fighter Alpha. It feels very "fresh", without any blatant amounts of fighting game cliches.
* Controls are responsive, moves are easy to pull and specials come out very fast.
* Medium lerning curve. There's plenty of moves to master, new combos to discover and differemces tp get used to. You can't buffer moves like you do in KOF, for example, making combos harder to pull if you're a newbie (or if your joystick is crap).
* One player mode = 1 vs 1 (SF2 style)
* Two players moed = 3 vs 3 (KOF style)
* There's a crazy code on GameFAQS.com says "Challenge Fateful Enemy/Level Skip". I've tried that, no idea what it does.
[Last considerations]
* Paid US$ 65 + s/h from ExcellentCom.net. Can't beat that :-)
* Better than most fighting games out there. Period. Looks great, plays great and boasts great gameplay, that's different than the traditional stuff we're used to play.
* 2p matches are fun! fun! fun!
If you can force yourself to learn the timing of every single move, then you can get some enjoyment out of this game. It shouldn't be that way though.