Frame Gride
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Fighting games are a dime a dozen now-a-days. Just look at the upcoming launch of the Sega Dreamcast. I’ve already gone through the list before in other previews, but it just doesn’t cease to amaze me. Mortal Kombat Gold, Power Stone, and Soul Calibur will all be in stores on the ninth of September. Then there’s the eventual releases of Dead or Alive 2, Marvel Vs. Capcom, and Virtua Fighter 3: Team Battle. That’s still not the end of the list, but are easily the six most recognizable. The even scarier thing is, many of these have nothing new to offer the genre. Enter Frame Gride, a brawler from From Software expected in the states by the end of the year. This, unlike most of the others, will be one of the few to expand it’s breed. As a matter of fact, the idea used in this title is a fresh one and has only been used notably once: Virtual On!, Sega’s popular mech-fighting coin-op and one of the few titles that were supported by the Sega Saturn Netlink. Unlike almost all of the fighting games in arcades (and on the Saturn, for that matter), Virtual On! required an almost unprecedented amount of skill. Mindless button mashing would barely make it past a player’s first opponent, forcing people to use their brain while firing off weapons and dodging all of the enemy’s massive counters. The game was very popular for a short time, but would never quite awe people like a Tekken or Street Fighter. From Software looks to bring out the best in the mech-fighting sub-genre. The company sets out to give you better control of your mech than Virtual On! was able to. Before you even begin a battle, you are able to change the entire color of your mech to give it a more personalized feel. On top of that, there will obviously be plenty of characters to choose from, as well as plenty of vast landscapes with more than enough places to run to and hide in, giving players a world of options before you even step into the game. Once you are set and finally enter a match, you’ll have several moves and techniques at your disposal to destroy opponents. Your weaponry consists of a gun and a sword, much like that of the artillery found in Virtual On! Fortunately, the sword is supposedly easier to use than it was in the aforementioned title. As far as moves to help you evade attacks, you’re given a jump, useful for hopping attacks and adding leverage to your own, and a dash similar to that in, yeah, you guessed it. However, Frame Gride intends to add to the dash. From Software is hoping to give you complete control of your dash, which will certainly be an advantage. Despite the fact that not a whole lot is known about Frame Gride, it looks awesome. However, Virtual On! 2: Oratorio Tangram is in the works, and from the exclusive screen shots found at GameFan Online, it looks pretty good. When Frame Gride is released in Japan on the fifteenth of July, the verdict will be in and we’ll see whether Sega will be the underdog or not. |
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| Preview by: C.J. Kulp |
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