Psychic Force 2012 (some images from acclaim.com)
By Sigma Project X1
System: Sega Dreamcast
Developer: Taito

What is it About?

Psychic Force 2012 was released November 1999, it was developed by Taito and published by Acclaim. This is really one of the better games Acclaim has published. However shortly before the American version was released, a Playstation version was released in Japan that added more features and animated movies! That doesn't mean that the Dreamcast version is a bad game.

Review

Gameplay: This is the most original fighting game ever. If you liked the battles in the anime ''Dragon Ball'' then you'd like this game, and special attacks are rather plentiful. But to explain the game play in simple matters, you are given the freedom to freely float around the arena you are in, and you must beat the snot (literally!) out of your opponent. Not too shabby, however most people think the gameplay is bad, but I love it myself.

Graphics: This is actually a great looking first generation Dreamcast game! The anime inspired graphics are really good looking and blend in really well with the game. Slowdown is very minimal; the game runs at a smooth 60 FPS.

Sound: Nothing really special here, but you can't hear the music much. When you do it's really good. Taito has always made a good game soundtrack. The sound effects are pretty decent, and so are the voices.

Replay Value: Not much to unlock, just a few characters from the first game and some of the bosses to unlock. It should take you a while to obtain all of the hidden characters.

Conclusion

Overall, Psychic Force 2012 is one of the better games Acclaim has published, which sadly isn't saying much. It's nothing special compared to the import Playstation version. Which I might add, added some new features. For starters, a few new modes where added and most all characters from the first game, but it came at a cost of poor graphics on the inferior Playstation hardware. But even though it's in the shadow of its later released Playstation cousin it's a good game nonetheless.

Hidden characters really add to the replay value though. Also it's a common Dreamcast game you can find cheap. Not worth renting, because the price you'd pay to rent this game, you could buy it for the same price. However, it isn't rare, but I really only saw it really once. At that time I bought it for the asking price of 10$ and I bought it that price. Well worth it!

Sigma Project X1