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 Gamespot had a chance to play some nearly finished copies of the Power Stone Collection. This game, for those who don't know, includes the enhanced version of Power Stone and Power Stone 2 that was originally released for the Dreamcast, as well as unlockable bonus content. And from what they've seen and experienced, it looks like the games are every bit as good, if not better than, their 1999 and 2000 counterparts. So enough with this intro, let's get down to the games' aspects:
Environments (both games): Objects can be thrown or slid
toward enemies, but there are also immovable interactive
objects; poles to can swing from, hazards to
force your opponents into, and--in the second game--gun turrets that
you can climb. Treasure chests contain food items or weapons which include the titular power stones that transform your character into a superhuman fighter.
Power Stone Gameplay, Controls, and Characters: Mainly one-on-one fights, and at the outset, there'll be eight characters to choose from: Falcon, Ayame, Wang-Tang, Gunrock, Jack,
Galuda, Rouge, and Ryoma. All characters have the same controls (but with different speeds and styles): jump, grab, kick, and punch on the face buttons, power fusion
moves on the shoulders. There are unlockable additional characters
by playing through the story mode. Weapons include ray guns, soccer balls, machine guns, and power shields. Unique features for the PSP that weren't in the originals include health meters and a small radar that points to
power stones off-screen.
Power Stone Gameplay Modes: Story mode, CPU mode where you
can fight against any opponent in your chosen environment, a training
mode, and an ad hoc network
mode for head-to-head fights against your friends. Customization options available ahead of each battle include time
limits, number of rounds, damage levels, and screen formats, and you
can also turn the new radar on or off. Also, there are no fewer than
eight difficulty settings.
   
   
Power Stone 2 Environments, Gameplay, and Characters: Unlike its predecessor, it supports up to four players simultaneously in free-for-all,
team-based, and tag-team battles. The environments are a lot
bigger and constantly changing, forcing you to adapt to your
surroundings while in the course of a fight. One of the levels is set
on two submarines that submerge or pass by icebergs that
you can jump onto. Another's set in a tomb where you all fall through the floor and chased down a
corridor by a giant boulder. The gameplay is more dependent on
items and interactive environments, and the the kick and punch buttons are replaced with just one attack and a
drop-item button. Power Stone 2 has four
additional fighters: Pete,
Julia, Gourmand, and Accel.
Power Stone 2 Gameplay modes: PS2 has one-on-one and one-on-three
story modes, a versus CPU mode, training, ad hoc network support for up
to four players, and an adventure mode where you can collect money
and rare items. PS2 also has an item shop where you
can buy items and create new ones by combining those that you
already have. The PSP game has more items than its Dreamcast and arcade counterpart, including new Bomber Battle
minigames.
In addition to these two games, Power Stone Collection also includes four unlockable "Collection Features"
that are accessible from the same menu where you choose which game you
want to play. Two of the unlockables are a movie theater where we could watch ending
movies, etc. and a minigame arcade which has slots for three
minigames, one of which is
Aerial Assault--a simplistic 2D flying game starring Falcon. Th Power Stone Collection is currently slated for release next month, Oct 31, 2006.
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Titles
