Star Gladiator, Capcom's first 3D fighter, has just been taken from the
arcades and is now available on the Playstation!

If you are looking for a fighting game with great graphics, sound,
control, and even some originality, check this game out!

---Introduction-----------------------------------------------------------------

As the first 3D fighter from Capcom, Star Gladiator is done quite well. 
The game features a total of 12 characters, and as of this time 11 of them
are playable. 

As the name may imply, Star Gladiator has an outer-space theme to it.  Set
way in the future, all of the characters have an odd, cosmic look about
them.  You'll also notice a few things that remind you of Star Wars, such
as the light-sabers used in the game, and a few of the characters looks
and moves.....

As the story goes, the evil Dr. Edward Bilstein has found a way harness
the power of plasma, becoming all-powerful and winds up ruling the
galaxy.  However, Bilstein's discovery has reached others as well.  Some
of these characters decide to side with Bilstein, others oppose him, all
for different reasons.  One thing remains the same about the characters in
Star Gladiator, though.  All have complete control of the awesome Plasma
Power!

The Plasma Power actually plays an important role in the control, as
well.  Once you have done a certain combination of moves, you can unleash
a "Plasma Final", which will take much damage off of the enemy's lifebar. 
(All of the finals are different for each character.)

In the addition to the Plasma Finals, you can also unleash smaller Plasma
Attacks, done by hitting all four attack buttons at once.  This can be
done once per round, and again each attack is different for each
character.  Also, if you finish a round with this move, you will see the
attack from several points of view.

As far as the characters go, all of the characters in the game seem to be
pretty original(Bilstein looks awesome!), save Hayato, the main character,
who with one variation of his appearance looks a little bit like Eiji from
Toh Shin Den, with Luke Skywalker's Light Saber.  Otherwise, you will find
some interesting characters, especially the aliens.

---Review-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Graphics:

The graphics in Star Gladiator look superb.  Everything about the game is
eye-candy, from the Plasma Attacks, to the characters, to the backgrounds,
which contain lots of cool effects and animations.  The characters seemed
to move pretty smoothly, and I didn't notice any breakup at all.  (And
again, check out those backgrounds! :)

Sound:

The sound in Star Gladiator, like the graphics, is superb.  Everything
sounds very clear, and I thought that the music fitted the game quite
well, with some of the tracks being cosmic-type music, which is perfect
for outer-space, and others being a bit mellow(?), fitting the Earth
settings....

Control:

Hey, this is Capcom, after all!  :)  I found no problems in the control,
other than the fact that some of the attacks seemed to come out a little
bit slow.  Once I got used to this, I could pretty much do anything, since
there are no hard to perform motions used in the game.....

Fun:

Ever since I picked up Star Gladiator, I have not been able to stop
playing!  Everyone who I've showed it to so far seems to really enjoy this
game.  I think that this is the first 3D fighter on the PSX I've seen in a
while that I've really gotten into since I first played the Japanese
version of Tekken 2, months ago....

---Overall----------------------------------------------------------------------

Overall, Star Gladiator did not dissapoint.  I think that Capcom did a
great job with their first 3D fighter, and after playing this I look
forward to seeing Street Fighter EX and of course, Star Gladiator 2. ;)

If you are looking for an enjoyable fighter on the PSX, try Star
Gladiator, which is a worthy alternative to Tekken 2 and Street Fighter
Alpha 2.  

(But try before you buy!!! Reviews of this game seem to be mixed......)

---Final Opinion----------------------------------------------------------------

Graphics-10
Sound-9.5
Control-9.5
Fun-9.5

(Capcom's first 3D fighter is an enjoyable one. :)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lee
freedman@earthlink.net