This miss comes with a touch of sadness. FD2 has a truly original bout system, which, were the rest of the game more fun or pretty, would have easily pushed it over the top. Instead of simply chipping away at one another's energy bars, players must score a certain number of points to win -- one point for a ring out, two for a throw, three for a knock-down, and four for a super knock-down. Since players get almost as many points for a simple throw as they do for a knock-down, it's wise to develop completely new strategies to succeed.
The single player board-game mode also deserves some credit. Players roll a die then move a number of spaces on a game board, then fight the character represented by the square on which they land. The bouts in this mode are often specialized, some are time-limited, and others limit the number of points needed to win a match. At the very end of the board, players can choose one of three final challenges, including a survival match, or a bout with a cow (no kidding). Players who perform well enough are awarded enhanced stats, and even special moves, which can then be carried over into other game modes.
But even these winning features don't distract from the fact that the game looks like a big old pile of ass. Character design is uninspired -- unless you're into French clowns and bad ethnic stereotypes. Backgrounds are ugly too -- combatants duke it out atop butcher-block looking platforms with simple 2D backdrops. Essentially, the game looks like one of those early attempts to make a 3D fighter before Namco, Capcom, SNK, and Tecmo started to refine the genre. Apart from the point system and graphics, the game could easily be mistaken for Battle Arena Toshinden, or FX Fighter.
How about the sound? FD2 has some repetitious voice samples, and tinny background music, but nothing here set our feet to tappin' -- much less blew our mind.
The control system also feels somewhat limited. There's a high attack, a low attack, a block button and a dodge button. Throws and throw reverses can be executed by hitting both attack buttons at once. Attacks can also be chained together in series, and feel Tekken-like. There are few supers, but most are used as finishing attacks when your opponent is completely drained of health. FD2 doesn't have much of a countering system, and recovery times are on the slow side, so battles tend to be sluggish back-and-forth tapfests.
Taking a look back at the original Fighters Destiny, the sequel is hardly improved. Viewed side by side, the quality of the character models, animation, and backgrounds is virtually identical. This game could have been released a few years ago to lukewarm praise, but since then we've seen other N64 titles run rings around this one graphically, and in that elusive "fun factor" department. Sadly, fighting fans are probably better off shelling out for console with a bigger library of fighters.
Bottom Line: Poor graphics and boring gameplay kill a fighter that could have been a contender.
MOVIES
Kate and Mei Ling Battle (7.2MB)
Clowns are Just Scary (7.9MB)
