PSX: Rurouni Kenshin – Ishin Gekitouhen  .

THIS ONE’S GOING TO BE SHORT

Rurouni Kenshin is one of manga’s shounen masterpieces, and the TV series is even better until it reaches its horrendous third season. Nobuhiro Watsuki hasn’t come close to creating anything quite so good ever since, and he likely never will, but that’s okay; most manga artists never craft anything so compelling.

After purchasing the 3D weapon-based fighter Rurouni Kenshin: Ishin Gekitouhen, I was initially disappointed to discover that it didn’t include characters from the series’ second major story arc. That storyline depicts an epic war that pits heroic swordsman Kenshin and his fist-fighting friend Sanosuke against the juppongatana: an evil empire comprised of ten nefarious warriors. That gauntlet of villains isn’t in this game; aside from two secret additions, Ishin Gekitouhen only features seven fighters from the TV series’ first season.

Although Ishin Gekitouhen includes the anime’s opening theme and its incredible ending theme “Heart of Sword” by T.M. Revolution (who also performed awesome songs for Sengoku Basara), most of the music is original. It’s bold, occasionally brassy, and somewhat out-of-place for a fighting game set in late-1800s Japan. This isn’t the only area in which the game fails to channel the source material’s spirit. Rurouni Kenshin is one of those “epic battle” series where the fights escalate in intensity the longer they last, and the game doesn’t capture that feel. Blood doesn’t fly, characters don’t seethe with rage . . . heck, the music doesn’t even change mid-battle.

That may not be a common element for fighting games, but it’s a necessary element for a Kenshin fighting game. Without desparation and surging bloodlust, every fight feels like a sparring session between friends. The relatively slow speed doesn’t help, especially since characters like Kenshin and Aoshi were known for their godly speed. Meanwhile, kempo expert Hannya’s illusory “arm-lengthening” technique is completely lost in translation.

As for the graphics and unnatural animation, it falls firmly into the “early PlayStation game” stereotype, with all the blatant polygonism and gratuitous transparency effects one would expect. At least it also has real-time shadows.

I don’t have anything else to say that the below screenshots can’t convey. Just look at Kenshin’s stiff-legged slashing stance or the way characters fall horizontally!