Post by NintendoMasterGC on Aug 14, 2008 0:37:51 GMT -5
I'm going to go out on a limb and say that Capcom did a FINE job overall with Star Force 2. And by "overall" I mean that the game was generally an improvement over SF1 in almost every respect. I kicked SF1's butt 100% without suffering a single deletion...SF2 actually kicked MINE more than a few times. And if you thought Andromeda was a toughie, Ra Mu is downright godmod. But enough of generalities.
Like I said, SF1 is Easy Street compared to SF2. The introduction of Bly (Solo/Rogue in North America) ramped up the difficulty level by astronomic proportions, no pun intended. He relies almost entirely on in-your-face melee attacks which goes contrary to every bit of virus-busting skill you may have obtained up until you throw down with him. The remaining bosses are still mostly pushovers (yes I'm talking about YOU, Plesio Surf), but the standard virus battles can also catch you off-guard if you're not careful.
The visuals are BEAUTIFUL in SF2, and the usage of the top screen seems a bit more intuitive and functional while navigating the Wave World "dungeons." It also provides visual reference when standing near a pulse in-compatible terminal such as a television, indicating that the appliance or other object nearby can be entered and explored. Music throughout the game also seems fitting and well-tailored to the various areas and scenarios...the title theme in particular is pumped up from the SF1 original and gets very addicting very quickly. ;D
Speaking of the Wave World, the ability to interact with objects on the Earth's surface, instead of being limited exclusively to an overlying network of pathways, was immensely intriguing...gone is the old tap-the-person-to-enter-the-Transer system which felt clunky at best. The "dungeon" areas such as the Bermuda Maze and the Wilshire Hills Shopping Plaza were well-designed and were much more fun than their SF1 counterparts. I particularly enjoyed testing my old-school button-mashing reflexes at the Grizzly Peak courses.
Lest anyone think I have nothing but praise for the game, rest assured I have my problems with it. As anyone who actually read the in-game text may have found already, the Capcom of America translation team fell asleep on the job and let slip a few rotten errors. For instance, they translated the substance of Murian armor as "olihalcon" instead of "orihalcon" -- a simple error that could easily have been caught. Not all R's need become L's, CoA! XP On the same note, "Ra Mu," god of all EM life forms, was translated "Le Mu." "Ra" is an actual Egyptian god. "Le" is a Spanish pronoun. Call me picky, but these are just simple mistakes (or in the case of Ra Mu, perhaps a deliberate removal of mythology, which I find hard to believe).
Simple translation mistakes aside, the needless altering of terminology strikes again, with the changing of "Berserk" to "Zerker," "Shinobi" to "Ninja," and "Dinosaur" to "Saurian." Also many character names were changed -- Brachio Wave became Plesio Surf, Phantom Black became Dark Phantom, Bly became Solo, and Empty became Hollow. Perhaps I prefer the Japanese anime over the American games, but still it seems to me that Capcom can't leave a good thing alone for long.
Their few trip-ups aside, Capcom did an astounding job with Star Force 2 and actually produced a game worth your time and money. No more gimmicky mini-games to fill otherwise-bland boss stages, no more pushover fights, no more cheesy storyline with "believe in the power of your friendships" being drizzled over every bit of the plot. Everything in SF2 has much more continuity than SF1 did, and the friendship bit actually fits comfortably where it appears. If Star Force 1 was a letdown, go buy Star Force 2. It will not fail to engross you.
Like I said, SF1 is Easy Street compared to SF2. The introduction of Bly (Solo/Rogue in North America) ramped up the difficulty level by astronomic proportions, no pun intended. He relies almost entirely on in-your-face melee attacks which goes contrary to every bit of virus-busting skill you may have obtained up until you throw down with him. The remaining bosses are still mostly pushovers (yes I'm talking about YOU, Plesio Surf), but the standard virus battles can also catch you off-guard if you're not careful.
The visuals are BEAUTIFUL in SF2, and the usage of the top screen seems a bit more intuitive and functional while navigating the Wave World "dungeons." It also provides visual reference when standing near a pulse in-compatible terminal such as a television, indicating that the appliance or other object nearby can be entered and explored. Music throughout the game also seems fitting and well-tailored to the various areas and scenarios...the title theme in particular is pumped up from the SF1 original and gets very addicting very quickly. ;D
Speaking of the Wave World, the ability to interact with objects on the Earth's surface, instead of being limited exclusively to an overlying network of pathways, was immensely intriguing...gone is the old tap-the-person-to-enter-the-Transer system which felt clunky at best. The "dungeon" areas such as the Bermuda Maze and the Wilshire Hills Shopping Plaza were well-designed and were much more fun than their SF1 counterparts. I particularly enjoyed testing my old-school button-mashing reflexes at the Grizzly Peak courses.
Lest anyone think I have nothing but praise for the game, rest assured I have my problems with it. As anyone who actually read the in-game text may have found already, the Capcom of America translation team fell asleep on the job and let slip a few rotten errors. For instance, they translated the substance of Murian armor as "olihalcon" instead of "orihalcon" -- a simple error that could easily have been caught. Not all R's need become L's, CoA! XP On the same note, "Ra Mu," god of all EM life forms, was translated "Le Mu." "Ra" is an actual Egyptian god. "Le" is a Spanish pronoun. Call me picky, but these are just simple mistakes (or in the case of Ra Mu, perhaps a deliberate removal of mythology, which I find hard to believe).
Simple translation mistakes aside, the needless altering of terminology strikes again, with the changing of "Berserk" to "Zerker," "Shinobi" to "Ninja," and "Dinosaur" to "Saurian." Also many character names were changed -- Brachio Wave became Plesio Surf, Phantom Black became Dark Phantom, Bly became Solo, and Empty became Hollow. Perhaps I prefer the Japanese anime over the American games, but still it seems to me that Capcom can't leave a good thing alone for long.
Their few trip-ups aside, Capcom did an astounding job with Star Force 2 and actually produced a game worth your time and money. No more gimmicky mini-games to fill otherwise-bland boss stages, no more pushover fights, no more cheesy storyline with "believe in the power of your friendships" being drizzled over every bit of the plot. Everything in SF2 has much more continuity than SF1 did, and the friendship bit actually fits comfortably where it appears. If Star Force 1 was a letdown, go buy Star Force 2. It will not fail to engross you.
