Sunday
X Magazine: Shuuketsu! Choujou Daikessen STORY: On March 17th, 1959, a
manga magazine called Weekly Shonen Sunday made it's debut but on that
same day, Weekly Shonen Magazine also launched. For over 50 years, the
two magazines have thrilled the youth and adults of Japan with stories
featuring characters such as Ippo Makunouchi, Joe Yabuki, Devil Man, Inuyasha,
Neji Springfield, and many more. Sunday
X Magazine: Shuuketsu! Choujou Daikessen marks the the
50th anniversaries of the two Shonen publications.
If you're into manga...
you've probably heard of a few of these guys.
REVIEW:
Sunday
X Magazine: Shuuketsu! Choujou Daikessen is a cross-over 2D fighting game
with 3D graphics and brings together 30 well known characters from a wide
variety of different manga! The gameplay engine is
1-on-1 fighting and with a basic striker/assist system.
Firstly, the character roster is impressive once all characters are unlocked.
Going through the 7 stages of arcade mode will unlock a new character with each
playthrough... (I went ahead and switched it to one round for faster character
unlocking).
There are three attack buttons in the game, basically light, medium and fierce.
Most characters only have about 3-4 special moves at best, but they vary in
terms how they're used; giving the fighters more diversity than just their
looks.
Each character shows off a pretty cool looking intro when you first select them
in arcade mode, but if you don't know much about the character from your own
manga/anime knowledge, the game doesn't do much to emphasize their persona.
That said, to fully enjoy this game you'll definitely need to do some research
on the characters or know them well from the start.
I've always wanted to
punch you in the face Inuyasha.
Each fighter has a small selection of unique
priority moves, and some even have a selection of alternate command attacks...
that said, some characters seem to have significantly more moves than others,
which is disappointing in some cases. Combos are usually done in a basic light,
medium fierce chain, and can be linked with specials or super moves. That said,
there are some cool combo possibilities in the game, though only a few
per character. The majority of combos are done on the ground, but there seem to
be a few air combo possibilities in the game as well.
Visually, the 3D graphics aren't bad for a PSP title. Character models are on
the plain side, but animate fairly well for the most part... each character even
has their own unique damage/falling animations. The stages look great for the
most part and there are a great variety of them! The only problem is, the game
seems to run better on certain stages... notably on those with less detail.
It's
a shame the game couldn't run at it's best on all stages, because there really
is a huge difference in the frame rate and even gameplay depending on the
stage.
Mechazowa owns! He's
even got an infinite combo!!! XD
Sunday X Magazine features the basic Arcade Mode,
VS Mode, Options, a "My Room" mode which lets you track your progress
in the game & see the characters you've unlocked, and lastly a Quest Mode
which I have no hope in understanding since it's in Japanese (and I'm not
interested enough to look up a translation online). lol. So I tried out the
Quest for a little bit and was pitted against a variety of "black monster
things"... I killed them all off (which was a quest in itself since the
controls are a but more frustrating since your character has to walk left &
right) and then I wasn't sure what to do next once they were all dead. Overall,
the Quest Mode doesn't look as entertaining as the regular game.
In closing, if you're a fan of a good majority of
the characters in this game, you might want to check out the game. For
your convenience, here's the full
character list from the game and what series they're from: Negi Springfield and Asuna Kagurazaka
of Negima!, Natsu Dragonil of Fairy Tail, Shinichi Mechazawa of Cromartie
High School, Inu Yasha of Inu Yasha, Kenichi Shirahama of History's
Strongest Disciple Kenichi, Ippo Makunouchi of Hajime no Ippo, Ikki
Minami of Air Gear, Yoshimori Sumimura of Kekkaishi, Kaoru Akashi,
Aoi Nogami and Shiho Sannomiya of Zettai Karen Children, Hayate Ayasaki
of Hayate the Combat Butler, Ueki
of Law of Ueki, Ban of Get Backers, Noboru Takizawa of Blazing Transfer
Student,
Kotaru Shindou of Kotaru Makaritoru, Kyo of Samurai Deeper Kyo, Ryo
of Project ARMS, Recca of Flame
of Recca, Yaiba of Yaiba: The Legendary Samurai, Tora (with Ushio,
that shirtless kid) of Tora, Cyborg 009 of Cyborg 009, Devilman of
Devilman, Tokine of Kekkaishi, Tiger Mask of Tiger Mask, Joe Yabuki of Tommorow's Joe,
Takamura from Hajime no Ippo, Mui from History's Strongest
Disciple, and Lucy from Fairy Tail.
I picked up Sunday X
Magazine while I was in Hong Kong for pretty cheap, works on my American PSP
just fine. ;) I have to admit my manga knowledge is limited... I haven't heard of at least half of the characters in this game, but there
are a few I do know of and like, such as: Joe Yabuki, Mechazawa, Kenichi, Tiger
Mask, Samurai Deeper Kyo, and Devil Man... which were the main reasons I wanted
to try out this game in the first place.
Visually, it's not a groundbreaking PSP title by any means. Characters lack
detail but look recognizable enough to their well known 2D counterparts for a
passing grade and do
have some entertaining moves. Most fighters also have assists, AKA other characters
that "make things happen" from off screen... kind of a cheap effect,
but on gameplay terms it works well.
A few characters utilize assist characters as their special moves, whom will
actually jump into the action, but those characters are actually
non-animated 2D sprites... which look pretty lame. Another lame visual effect
is during KO's... the frame rate will awkwardly drop to what seems to be 10
frames a second (or less), offering a choppy end to a potentially cool looking fight.
The last flaw I have to mention are the load times, which are pretty bad, but
not the worst I've seen on PSP.
Again, if you're a
fan of a good majority of the characters in this game, you might want to check
out Sunday X Magazine when you get some time. By fighting game standards
it's definitely lacking, but the basic core 2D fighting game elements are
there... and some cool combo possibilities and fun moments can be had.
~TFG
Webmaster
There are three attack buttons in the game, basically light, medium and fierce.
Most characters only have about 3-4 special moves at best, but they vary in
terms how they're used; giving the fighters more diversity than just their
looks.
It's
a shame the game couldn't run at it's best on all stages, because there really
is a huge difference in the frame rate and even gameplay depending on the
stage.
)
