Just when you thought that you couldn’t get anywhere near the greatness of the amazing Virtua Fighter Franchise, Sega comes out with a real surprise! Power Stone came out on all arcades and shelves in 1999 and earned the favor of fans and critics alike! The controls, the mechanics and the graphics wowed everyone! The characters were very diverse in their style of fighting while the stages were wide open to allow for multiple forms of combat!
The object of the fighting is to gain an advantage on your opponent, both through hand to hand combat and any objects on the stage that you could throw at your adversary. Each player starts with one Power Stone and with just one good combo move, you can knock the Power Stone from them. Once you collect three Power Stones, you have a brief period of time in your ultimate form.
The ultimate form, or “Power Change” as it is officially called, is extremely powerful, but not unbeatable. Your normal fighting moves are replaced with ranged attacks that do some serious damage. The enemy can either dodge the attacks, or if they feel brave, they can fight off the super charged character and run down the timer on the powerup.
Characters in Power Stone have become something of cult classics in and of themselves. They each boast their own unique style of fighting while also having their own faults and high points. Not to mention, they all come from different parts of the globe, much like the cast of Street Fighter II. The first game came with 10 characters and no matter what your playstyle, you will most likely find the one with the technique that you like.
Now, to be honest, the game is not perfect. In fact, the Power Stone powerup has been known to cause a bit of a balance issue for some. While others found the game to just be downright too easy. Although, with some opponents (such as Gunrock), the AI can also be rather cheap once they get their ultimate form.
Power Stone was so well received, they even came out with an anime and the sequel game, Power Stone 2, was released the very next year. It was a hit on all fronts and was one of the most popular Dreamcast games ever made. Not only is it lovely to look at and easy to learn, it is pure unbridled fun on a therapeutic level. If you love 3D Fighters and haven’t played this game, consider this a stamp of approval. Give it a shot!
