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PS2
Garouden Breakblow
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ŠNCS:
Stern faced fighters from the popular Garouden men's
manga by Itagaki
Keisuke find themselves grappling against
stone-faced opponents in fast paced bouts. Crushing
moves and brutal smackdowns are the order of the day
in Garouden where attacks cause blobs of blood to
launch from newly opened wounds. It's realistic like
that. For more realism, a fighter's stoic face will
look like its fruiting plums after taking a few
punches. Since the combatants are trained in various
disciplines, gamers may select fighters whose
specialties range from karate, kickboxing, and
wrestling. The holds and grappling moves that are
available to a fighter depend on his specialty.
For example, a wrestler may perform a painful
leg-lock hold on an opponent while a kickboxer
resorts to pummeling someone's face with his feet.
NCS Game Notes
* The
intro starts with bruisers from different
disciplines fighting in the ring as well as on
street settings such as a night time city street, in
front of vending machines, and even a graveyard.
Blood spills liberally as bone crunching blows are
dealt by angry looking bruisers out for blood. The
various characters in the game are also introduced
with a flaming background behind them for added
dramatic effect. There's a particularly brutal
sequence where a fighting stomps on an opponent's
face four times.
* Modes in the game include STORY / VERSUS /
SURVIVAL / TRAINING / PROFILE / OPTIONS.
* In Story Mode, the Fighters Select screen shows 20
possible contenders but only 6 of them may be chosen
(they're all located in the center of the screen) at
the outset of the game. The other 14 fighters are
waiting to be unlocked. The playable characters are:
1) Jyuzo Fujimaki - His first battle takes place on
a playground with a slide and jungle gym in the
background. His opponent is the mighty Bunshichi
Tanba who will make mincemeat out of Jyuzo if they
go toe to toe. Jyuzo's saving grace is his variety
of holds which include a neck snap and a convoluted
leg lock which drains an opponent's vigor severely.
2) Hiroshi Nagata - Stars in a FAW Pro Wrestling
match against a bruiser named Yoshio Kajiwara.
Despite the rowdy crowd in the background, there's
no crowd noise during the match.
3) Kikoichi Kurama - Sinewy blonde fighter who goes
to the gym to spar against Jyumei Kuga.
4) Jyohei Tsutsumi street fights against CHIN-PI-RA,
a gangster in white duds. The two go to war on the
streets of Japan with neon lights and store signs in
the background. A woman's scream pierces the night
when the two begin their bout. Bottom line:
CHIN-PI-RA isn't much of a gangster.
5) Bunshichi Tanba engages Soichiro Izumi in a
forest setting with trees in the foreground and
background. Bunshichi can perform a painful looking
head grab and twist that causes blood to shoot out.
6) Tsutomu Himekawa is a gorilla in a suit and he
tackles Soichiro Izumo in the same forest setting
where Bunshichi had his first match. Soichiro has a
move where he turns his back on a player so he can
perform a powerful backward kick but the problem
with that is, an opponent can just grab him and
perform a powerful kick or punch to the back of his
neck.
* We chose the blonde fighter Kikoichi Kurama and
faced off against Jyumei Kuga in a boxing ring.
Kikoichi wears just white briefs to the match while
Jyumei was decked out in an all black ensemble. The
characters on screen are HUGE and nearly fill up the
entire width and height of the viewing area. On a
60" plasma, the fight was impressive to behold with
fluid motion and fairly solid action. Kikoichi faces
Toshio Kajiwara next in the locker room of the FAW
wrestling ring. After winning this challenge, you'll
be given the chance to save your progress to memory
card.
* To view the available moves for a fighter, press
the START button and hit the "O" button. To block a
blow, press and hold the "X" button to block both
high and low blows. If you accidentally block low
and the opponent kicks high, you'll get smacked in
the face. The SQUARE button launches a punch while
the TRIANGLE kicks. Pressing the pad in various
directions while pressing either button will change
the type of punch of kick that is produced by the
fighter. Press the L1 trigger to perform a hold
followed by a grapple sequence by pressing the "O"
button or perform a close kick by pressing the
TRIANGLE button. If your blow is punchy enough to
knock an oponent down, you may follow up by pressing
the L1 trigger again while he's down and then force
him into a leg lock to do additional damage. Watch
out for counterattacks however.
* As a fighter's energy levels dip into low levels,
each ensuing blow from an opponent will cause him to
cough, gurgle, or moan in agony. You're in trouble
once your fighter starts making pained sounds.
* The bouts in Garouden Break Blow can degenerate
into button-mashing punch and kick fests but the
technical moves are a thing of beauty which saves
the game from run of the mill shenanigans. If an
opponent rushes in with manic punching, simply guard
against the rush of attacks and then wait for an
opening to perform a hold and then take him down to
the mat with a grapple move. Follow up with more
holds or just trade punches if you're feeling
primal. There's a lot of strategy in the game and a
wide arsenal of moves to use to counter against
different fighting styles and tactics.
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This document is ŠNCSX 2005. All rights reserved. No
reproduction in whole or in part of this document
may be made without express written consent of
National Console Support, Inc.
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