Fighting Force 64
Reviewed by David
Fighting Force 64 is a boring beat-'em-up that doesn't offer
anything more than its Playstation counterpart - unless you
count inferior sound and slowdown. If you haven't played the
PlayStation version, and you are only interested in the game
because of your fond memories of playing Final Fight or Streets
of Rage, you'd better rent this one first.
You play as one of four characters: Hawk Manson, Ben "Smasher"
Jackson, Mace Daniels, or Alana McKendrick. The characters have
the same basic attacks, but they also have their own attributes
and special moves. Playing the game basically consists of entering
a new area, beating up all the generic bad guys the game throws
at you, then moving on. There are seven different levels composed
of 25 different stages. One nifty gameplay element that mixes the
game up a bit is that you occasionally get to decide what level you'd
like to go to next.
Graphics 5 out of 10
Visually, Fighting Force 64 is on par with the PlayStation version,
though it's not without its differences. The polygonal characters
move realistically and look fairly detailed. The 3D environments look
a little drab, but they manage to get the job done. The game does,
however, suffer from some slowdown when too many objects and
characters are on the screen at the same time. The slowdown is
extremely noticeable when you are in a two-player game, and it is
obvious enough to affect gameplay.
The camera view is, for the most part, always fixed from a diagonal
three-quarter view that lets you see most of what's happening
around you. The only problem we noticed regarding the camera
happened during a two-player game. The view tried to shift from
one character to another, causing nothing but confusion.
Music and Sound 2 out of 10
The sound and music was poor and consisted of all the typical
cheesy punch-and-hit sound effects that we've heard a million
times before.
Problems
The only problem with the game is that once you've gone through
a few levels, and you start seeing the same types of enemies and
weapons over and over again, the game simply gets boring. You
must stay in certain areas of a level until all the enemies in that
section have been defeated. But there are a seemingly endless
number of enemies for each section of the game, and they attack
you in the same manner over and over again. This repetitiveness
turns the game into mindless button pressing after a while. The
method of attack from the beginning of the game to the end is
basically the same: punch, punch, punch, or kick, kick, kick. The
only strategy involved is avoiding letting your character get
surrounded by multiple enemies.
Overall 4 out of 10
In the end, Fighting Force 64 is a lackluster game that could have
been good if the designers had created different types of enemies
and offered more attacks for both the playable characters and the
enemies. But as it is, the game gets too boring, too fast. If you and
a friend are looking for a new game to rent that lets you simply
pound buttons, you might get a thrill out of Fighting Force for a
night - anything beyond that and you're just throwing your money away.