Game Review: Power Stone Collection

Game: Power Stone Collection
Console: Sony PSP
Developer: Capcom
Release Date: 31st October 2006

The Power Stone Collection for PSP includes both Power Stone and Power Stone 2, which were excellent fighting games for the Sega Dreamcast, as well as extras and new unlockables. It may help to read my review of Power Stone for the Dreamcast, as I won't be going over the details of why it's such a good game here. I don't own Power Stone 2 for Dreamcast, but for the purposes of the review I'll assume its as well ported as the original onto the collection, and I'll also be discussing the bonus features of the collection as a whole.

As a fan of Power Stone on the Dreamcast, I was hoping that it'd feel much the same on the PSP as it did before, and it wasn't far off. The face buttons are positioned the same as on the Dreamcast, despite being differently labelled, and the triggers are mapped to the shoulder buttons which is fine, since they only ever functioned as buttons anyway. The only real difference in control is that the PSP's analog stick is a little different than that of the Dreamcast, and I found myself alternating between the d-pad and the analog stick.

Graphically the game doesn't seem to have been changed too much from the Dreamcast, which isn't really a pro or a con, as I see it. The radar at the bottom had been changed to feature an arrow instead of quadrants, but there's an option to change it back to its original state. Other than these small changes there's not too many differences between this version and the Dreamcast version, save for the extra features.

Added ontop of the regular unlocks are new items such as the Soccer Ball, Maches Chainsaw, Giant Boots and more. There's also the ability to play as the four new characters from Power Stone 2; Pete, Julia, Gourmand and Accel. While they seem to control a little differently from the regular cast, they're a fun addition and it's nice to see some extra content. Overall it's an extremely solid port of the Dreamcast title which conveys the same energetic gameplay and arcade style action as the original. The smaller screen of the PSP isn't a huge problem, but at times it can be a hard to keep track of your character onscreen.

Power Stone 2 changed the formula quite a bit, adding 3 on 1, and Adventure modes to the game, as well as shortening the number of stages per run-through to just 3, with 2 boss stages inbetween for a total of 5. The game seems to be rather geared towards playing in 3 on 1 mode, as this is what unlocks new characters, items and stages for versus mode. Unfortunately when playing in this mode, the computer character fighting against the boss alongside you seems to have no clue that you're on their team, and will attack indiscriminately, making the game a little harder.

Adventure mode allows players to collect items and coins which go towards making new weapons in the item shop, where items and weapons can be combined to create new items and weapons. The gameplay of adventure mode remains much the same as Arcade mode, but with the addition of more coin collecting after each level. Once the main game has been completed, Adventure mode adds some replayability as items can be levelled up and rare items can be found.

Most stages in Power Stone 2 are dynamic and will change in various ways during battle. The airship stage begins on an airship which falls apart, leaving players to glide through the air and pick up items and powerups before landing on a floating battleground to continue. These stages add excitement and can turn battles around in some cases, although they can be difficult to get used to for first time players.

Due to the abundance of characters onscreen in 3 on 1 mode, there are also more Power Stones available in the levels, with a maximum of 7 instead of 3. Consequently, two players can have collected 3 stones at once, leading to them both being in their hyper forms. Although this can lead to fairly hectic battles, it means that finding 3 stones isn't as difficult as it might be, and players have the option to set the number of stones back to 3 if they wish anyway.

The extras included in the collection include a movie theater to rewatch ending cutscenes from the original Power Stone as well as credits for each game, sketches and artwork designs for each character, music and voices from both games, and the original VMU minigames which could be downloaded onto Dreamcast memory cards; Falcon's Aerial Adventure, Amy's Ninja Traning and Gunrock Slots. These make for a comprehensive collection of extra features and really embellish the game as a whole.

Graphically Power Stone Collection hasn't changed too much from the Dreamcast versions of both games, but the menus and extra features are presented very nicely. I noticed the PSP-3000 model interlacing issues affecting a few select parts of gameplay, but that isn't the fault of the game. Musically there's exciting and fitting music behind both games, though I feel the original Power Stone had music of slightly better quality.

Overall this is a great collection of two classic Dreamcast fighting games which appeals to existing fans of the series as well as those who are being newly introduced to it. Both games are of high quality and are excellently ported to the handheld console. Running through arcade mode in either game takes around 15-20 and so is perfect for play on the go. I'd definitely reccommend this to anyone with a PSP.

Rating: 91/100
Grade: A