Psychic Force 2012

by Sega

Product Details

• ASIN: B0000206GG
• Item Weight: 8 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #30,204 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)

Product Description

GameSpot Review

Psychic Force 2012, a victim of limited appeal, will be missed by many but revered by the few that take a chance and import it. To those few, it represents what a niche fighting game should strive to achieve - extremely bizarre play mechanics, a steep learning curve, and highly stylized anime art.

In this game, you take the role of a "psychiccer" - someone imbued with paranormal abilities, such as flight and telekinetic projection of energy and solid objects. Each fight takes place in a clear cube suspended in midair, and characters float around inside until they are knocked out, at which point they crash to the floor or are blasted out of the cube as it shatters with the force of the final blow. As you hover, float, and dash through the air, you can come in close for some traditional combo-based punch-and-kick action or remain distant and fire a volley of projectiles. At any rate, and at any distance, the action is fast and at times hard to perceive. A wave of energy coruscates and throbs across the screen; the combo counter ticks, and suddenly your character is smacked to the bottom of the cube. The computer is an especially merciless opponent in this game and can make it difficult to get a good grasp on the gameplay, which can initially make the game seem like a terrible button-mashing experience, even though it can be so much more.

You have a shared psy and life gauge. As your energy decreases, your psy increases - this is what gives you the power to execute supernatural moves. These moves drain the psy meter, which then must be charged. The special moves are mostly of the tap-tap variety found in other 3D fighting games, and control seriously benefits from an arcade joystick, which you reverse to a neutral position on the completion of each move to facilitate smooth transitions in the arena. This is a game that requires almost surgical precision, deadly quickness, and a keen eye. The extremely steep learning curve is off-putting; it's hard even to crack it and get into the deep gameplay, let alone ascend it without obscene amounts of practice.

The characters are extremely appealing. From Emilio, the androgynous and haughty seraph, to Might, this game's take on the spiky-haired anime hero we are all intimately familiar with - they all shine with personality throughout the game. The voice-acting, in Japanese, is superb, and the story mode really glows with personality. But unlike its predecessor for the PlayStation, this game totally lacks any animated sequences. There are ten characters playable initially, and three more hidden, all with their own distinct personalities. Unfortunately, these personalities have all been lifted from other anime (as the very theme of this game has been lifted from Clamp's X, down to the protective cube erected by the challenger), and you will definitely be familiar with them if you have any grounding in Japanese animation. That they are handled so expertly is what keeps them from fading easily from sight and mind.

The graphics are competent and appealing, if not technically excellent. Being a direct port of the arcade version, which runs on Taito's Wolf hardware, the game is far behind the capabilities of the Dreamcast. The models and backdrops are made of a higher number of polygons than you see on current systems, and the textures, especially, are much nicer, but other Dreamcast games are clearly more taxing to the hardware. As for the music, it's old -school as game music goes. Provided by Taito's Zuntata sound team, it sounds basically like a CD-ROM soundtrack circa 1991. It is appealing, if that's the kind of thing that you like; it's definitely got that video-game music feel to it. The whole game has that sense. It's a video game, and it never tries to be anything else. There is no illusion that you're entering an interactive world or fighting a battle for the good of mankind. This is a game with graphics and life meters and pulsating green energy.

What will make or break this game for you is really the original and unintuitive gameplay. It's truly unlike any other fighting game out there. Easily dismissed, this game needs time devoted to it before its qualities begin to shine. The first few times you play this game, your initial reaction may be to blow it off and never try it again, because of the insane difficulty and the bizarre game system. That being said, it really is worth a second or even third look, because there is depth here to plumb. --Christian Nutt
--Copyright ©1999 GameSpot Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of GameSpot is prohibited. GameSpot and the GameSpot logo are trademarks of GameSpot Inc.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A SLEEPER HIT! (DONT PASS ON THIS ONE..), December 2, 1999

By A Customer

= Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Psychic Force 2012 (Video Game)

DESPITE THE CLUTTER OF RECENT FIGHTING GAMES, FOR THE DC,THERE IS ONE IN PARTICULAR THAT STANDS OUT, AS MORE ORIGINAL. PSYCHIC FORCE IS A FUN AS WELL AS INOVATIVE KINDA GAME. THE PREMISE, IS SOMEWHAT LIKE MARVEL COMIC'S X-MEN YOU GET TO PLAY AS ONE OF THE TEN PSYCHIC ENHANCED CHARACTERS, WHO ARE HATED AND FEARED BY MANKIND, DUE TO THIER EXTRODANARY PSYCHIC ABILITIES. THE CHARACTERS, ARE FOR THE MOST PART, HOVERING HIGH ABOVE THE AIR, DUELING IT OUT USING THEIR ABILITIES,PROJECTILES, SHIELDS, AND THE USUAL PUNCH & KICK COMBOS. THE CHARACTER DESIGNS ARE MORE OF ANIME FARE, AND ALTHOUGH THE GRAPHICS ARE NOT ON A PAR WITH NAMCO'S SOUL CALIBUR, IT ADDS DEPTH WITH BRILLIANT COLORS, THE GAMEPLAY IS MUCH CHALLENGING THAN SAY, POWER STONE AND MARVEL VS. CAPCOM. I HIGHLY RECOMAND THIS FOR FANS OF JAPANAMATION AS WELL AS FIGHTING AFFICIANADOS. IN A WORD; "brillant!"

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting to Say the Least, December 17, 1999

By A Customer

= Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:3.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Psychic Force 2012 (Video Game)

BEWARE! This game does a lot of new things! It is <gasp> innovative! The premise of fighting in a cube with 3D movement is interesting, as well are the psychic abilities of the characters. Psychic Force dares to be different! The graphics are good, although nothing special. However, like mose innovaters, it has it's flaws. There is a steep learning curve, and moves are hard to perform consistantly. However, two experienced gamers can have an excellent time with this. This game is destined to cult success. You might want to try before you buy because this game is definitely not for everyone.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Psychic Force 2012, May 22, 2000

By A Customer

= Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Psychic Force 2012 (Video Game)

It's a surprise how even when an employee himself rated the game as horrible when I first got this game when I really enjoyed the game. All the characters hold their own personality which is a trademark in every game. Keith Evans is the 'cool' type while Setsuna is a cocky show-off who has a violent behavior. All the fighters have a power which fits them personally such as the gentle Patty who has the power of voice/tone, the hot-blooded Regina with fire, the soficicated water master known as Carlo or the manipulative Wong with the ability of time. The stage that the fighters fight in is called 'Kekkai' where the fighters actually create the stage on the spot. All the stages are held somewhere in the air except the infamous Noah HQ.

The game storyline is actually a continuation from the original Psychic Force that was released on Playstation, which was followed by horrible reviews. Anyhow psyichccers-people who can use psychic powers-were tested by the Army in hopes of creating the ulimate weapon. Psyichccers were exploited in grueling yet fatal tests. To end this horrible cycle, a young psyichccer named Keith Evans, rised from the rubble and decided to make a utopia for all psyichccers. He called the operation [ NOA ] which despite his original plans had conquered the world and all the humans. Keith's best friend, Burn Griffes, disagreed with NOA's actions and fights Keith, believing that humans and psychiccers can co-exist peacefully together. During their fight Richard Wong (who had joined Keith for personal ambitions) explodes NOA's HQ. Wong captures half of NOA to join his own psychic army. 2 years later, however, Keith stikes back with Neo-NOA (Resurrected NOA) while trying to have any free psychiccers as well.

I strongly believe this game is terrific for all those anime lovers out there, for the Japanese voices all come from famous roles (ie Might--Hikaru Midorikawa did Jap. role Fuushigi Yugi/Mysterious Play's Tamahome and Genshin--Hiroshi Ito does Jap. Kent Brookman from the Simpson's! ^^;). The provided translations as it did with Soul Calibur and King of Fighters Dreamatch are edited severely or are sometimes WAY off. The art is beautiful in between psychiccers' storyline's and the gameplay is unique for it is not the redundant 'Dragon-punch, double fireball, and then hurricane kick' joystick motions. The most complicated motion is the 'half circle' along with simple forward and back moves. Although the game does take time getting used to with it's 360's, at least it's something new to get your hands on.