Game: Spectral vs Generation
Console: Sony Playstation Portable
Developer: Idea Factory
Release Date: 30th March 2007
There seems to be very little information available regarding what this particular game is based on. Certainly there's influence from anime and other video games produced by Idea Factory, apparently two series in particular; Spectral Force and Generation of Chaos, which are part of a label called Neverland. There are also various other game releases which range from fighting games to RPGs and strategy titles featuring characters from this crossover.
From what's revealed of the story in cutscenes, each fighter has different reasons for wanting to eliminate the others, most of which involve thinking that other fighters are using "demon swords". The boss fight once all other characters have been defeated seems to always be against an incredibly powerful godlike creature called Earth, who is strangely a selectable character from the start of the game.
The gameplay seems to be a mix of different games, resembling Street Fighter games most closely in the 2D cartoon style and controls, with elements of Soul Calibur (most characters have some sort of weapon), and perhaps other anime based fighting games. Fighting is fairly fast and responsive, with each of the face buttons controlling a different type of move, and quarter turns used for special moves and combos.
The difficulty is generally good, with no real challenge in getting to the boss fight. The fight itself however can be tricky, as Earth is overpowered and has many health-draining special moves. It's certainly less tricky than most Street Fighter games, though. On the whole the action is somewhat tedious, with no real flow or skill to moves and combos, but the combat does at least work as you'd expect it to.
Graphically the game is good; both by the PSP's standards and in general; characters are well drawn and animated, and you'd have a hard time convincing me that this was actually published by Midas in the UK. The music is a pretty generic rock accompaniment to fights, but it fits well enough and doesn't get repetitive enough to grate on players.
Overall Spectral vs Generation is a mediocre fighting game at best, giving players a sense of playing Street Fighter, without the speed customisation options, wide choice of characters or interesting character motivations. It's by far one of the best games Midas has ever had a hand in publishing, and I could recommend it without feeling too sorry for whoever had to play it, but it's nowhere near classic as a fighter.
Rating: 63/100
Grade: C
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