Ash's Comments:
I just recently picked this game up, the day it came out. I have been waiting for this game fore a long time ever since I heard of it in June, and when they delayed it' release, I was anticipating it even more. Finally, I picked it up from the store and popped it in my playstation. First of all, let me start by addressing the 2-CD pack. That is a good idea, but just not for this game. They didn't pack enough on the second disk to make it need a whole different CD... they definately should've ported over the edit mode though; Oh yeah, my bad. Americans wouldn't understand how to make your own characters. The game modes include arcade, versus, team battle, league battle, cooperative battles, lesson mode, and some other not-to-special ones. The lesson mode sucks. I wish it would give you combos to do like in SFEX, but instead it teaches you the basics only... sucky. And also the extra game modes like baseball and soccer suck also. Okay, now the graphics... very good. It has a rather low polygon count, but not bad at all, and at least the characters are big, unless SFEX. It breaks up a bit when it zooms in for winning poses, no big deal. The zooming is awsome, especially when you combo them so high in the air, you can't even see the ground. And one of the biggest parts of graphics, the frame rate: VERY good. I couldn't tell if it was 60fps or not, because if it wasn't, then it was easily the best 30fps I've ever seen. The overall character design is pretty cool and original, with about 20 to choose from, including 24 extra characters you get each time you beat the game on the evolution disk, which is very smooth. Now onto the sound. Standard punch's and kick's, sometimes a little muffled though. The voices are awsome and all in Japanese. As for the stage music, too happy, although it doesn't bother me because there are about 2-3 VERY cool fighting stages that I play on over and over, with awsome music. Now the most important aspect of the game, the gameplay, again very good, but not great. I personally am a big combo fan, thats why I liked Marvel Super Heroes so much. And that is also why I like Rival Schools. It's one of the only 3-d fighting games with 2-in-1's and awsome combos. The air combos in this game are just plain old awsome. Note: The combos average only about 10-12 hits with air recoveries on, but when you goto options and turn them off, you can do way cooler combos (21+ hits), which is my preferance. There is a flaw though, and thats how it seems like it sometimes gets repetative, I cant pinpoint why though, it just does, but most of the time it's just a blast to play. Oh yeah, the team up supers are wicked awsome! the camera goes berserk during them, making it look even cooler. To sum it up, this game has awsome graphics and a few really cool characters ( especially Kyosuke ), some wicked awsome music, and a pretty darn smooth combo system. The only real flaws are that it isn't that serious ( not necessarily a bad thing ) as say Tekken, and that sometimes the fighting gets old when your playing someone else. My opinion, a definate buy for anyone slightly into fighting games.
Ash's Rating: 9.0
Even though Ash has interest in my favorite character Kyosuke, I must admit he has good taste. The capcom 3D development team did a rather good job combining descent graphics with excellent animation and gameplay. Street Fighter fans will feel right at home while playing this one. It feels just like a 2D Capcom title with side steps. The action is fast and furious. The power bar allows you to save up to nine super moves at once. If you do a team up combo, however, it will take 2 bars. The team-up combos can do a number of things. Most are just two characters working together to beat the crap out of their opponent, while others allow you to get "life-up" or increase the number of power bars that are available for you to use. In story mode, certain characters go to the same school with each other, so if you want dialogue between the characters that you choose, (and a third character that travels with you whether you pick them or not), then pick characters from the same High School. If not, then sadly, there is no conversation or story line that takes place. I was a little upset with that because I would have loved to read dialouge between Hyo and his little brother Kyosuke if they were to team up. The Evolutions disk is a nice addition, and makes the whole package seem more complete. If they want to add another CD where you can earn other characters, you won't see me complaining. They add many extras that make the game a complete package, and something worth buying. There are some when taking into account both of the CDs, that just plain suck, like lesson mode for example. It is not near as entertaining and educational as Street Fighter EX's expert mode. It would have been more beneficial if it taught you how to do high hitting combos and air combos...but I guess some people just don't think like me. The whole Rival Schools idea in my opinion is a rather nice one, and was well executed. Groups of teenagers from different high schools beating the mess out of each other and staff is just a really great brainstorming by Capcom. If you love Street Fighter, and want some 3D affects with all the high-hitting Capcom combos, then look no further than Rival Schools. The game even has Sukara! Since Ryu is my favorite, Sakura is close enough. We all know Capcom is sequel-prone, so I will be on the look-out for Rival Schools 2.....
Nightshadow's Rating: 8.5
