Cheat Index - Psychic Force 2012 Dreamcast Review

Psychic Force 2012, a victim of limited appeal, will be easily scoffed at by those who don't give it the chance it deserves. For open-minded fighting fans, 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 a tough opponent in this game - although fairer than in the Japanese version of the game - and can make it difficult to get a good grasp on the gameplay. Unfortunately, that 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 returns 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.

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