INTRODUCTION
Star Gladiator is Capcom's first 3d fighting title, and as such, they 
should be commended on their effort. SG(Star Gladiator) can be perceived 
as a combination of Battle Arena Toshinden 2, Soul Edge, and, of course, 
the SF series. Battles occur between two characters holding a variety of 
light-based weapons as imaginative as yo-yos, light sabers, neanderthal 
axe, etc. There is a total of 12 fighter to choose from (9 available 
initially, the head honcho, and 2 hidden fighters). A complete breakdown 
of the game follows.


GRAPHICS
Background and Foregroud: 7/10
The background and foreground is completely 3D except for the sky which 
is textured. Capcom has paid tremendous attention to the details and it 
shows. Windy environments are indicated by dust clouds flying through 
the arena (whether generated by the character's movements or by random 
generation). Even the direction of the wind is consistent! In another 
background, a space battle rages on with star fighters dogfighting a la 
Star Wars. However, some of the environments don't seem to have been 
well thought out. Regardless, the battle arenas were overall fairly 
good.

Characters: 9/10
The character animations, although not motion captured, looks realistic 
and flows smoothly from one stance to another (flaws which would become 
especially apparent in throws) without glitches. Characters are well 
rendered and have limbs that look cylindrical. The lighting effects are 
fairly well done. However, the light sourcing effects seem to be canned 
as it does not really matter where the light comes from, the characters 
will be lit in the most general fashion.


AUDIO
Music:	5/10
If you've played any of Capcom's fighting games, you'd know what to 
expect in this department. It the typical japanese pop/rock mix. You 
either like it or you don't. Personally, it doesn't irritate me. But 
neither is it unforgettable.

Sound Effects: 6/10
Fairly sparse sound effects. However, the quality of the sound effects 
is very good from the zing of the light saber to the grunt of the 
fighters. Fairly run-of-the-mill.


CONTROLS	7/10
Similar to Soul Edge, it uses a four button configuration: horizontal 
slash, vertical slash, block, and kick. However, that's where the 
similarity ends. The joystick movement required to pull of special moves 
are of Capcom's trademark. Circular movements followed by a combination 
of buttons. The block controls are somewhat confusing initially, but 
once mastered, proves to be surprisingly versatile.


PLAY MECHANICS	8/10
The key to a good fighting game lies in its play mechanics. So, how is 
the play mechanics? Attack reversals, Attack reflections, plasma combos, 
plasma final, special plasma attack, dashes, juggle combos and special 
attacks in addition to the regular attacks certainly gives versatility 
to gameplay. In addition, different characters have different attack 
ranges and speeds that is actually distinct (another trademark of 
Capcom). The timing for the special moves are also a lot more relaxed 
than the SF series. You can afford to pause between hitting the buttons 
and performing the required circular motion.
The fighting style of the game is very similar to Virtua Fighter series. 
Attacks are done is short bursts. Health is whittled away blow by blow. 
There is no "quick" way of killing of the opponent. This style of 
gameplay isn't for everybody. Personally, I find it fascinating as it is 
more a game of wits rather than of reaction (although you'll need fast 
reactions in order to counter-attack/defend yourself). One gripe I have 
with the gameplay is the speed of the attacks. They're so fast that 
there's barely enough time to block.
On the downside, the one player game isn't well thought out. The order 
of characters that you challenge seems to be preset. The difficulty 
setting seems to control the increment of CPU difficulty between 
succeeding fights vs. the general CPU difficulty for each fight. Thus, 
you will ALWAYS be able to beat the first opponent (June) making the 
game quite monotonous.


OVERALL:	7/10
With different modes of play (Arcade, Versus, Team Battle, Practice), 
there is quite a high replayability value. The character design is of 
high standards (as expected from Capcom). However, the game only shines 
when played against another human opponent (although playing Team Battle 
 against the CPU on the highest level is certainly a challenge for 
anyone!). The one player mode could have been better thought out. 
Perhaps if they had improved on the one player experience, they would 
have scored at least an 8 out of 10.

Chris Khoo