Feature By

Chi Kong Lui

The original Power Stone may have been classified as another 3-D, two-player versus fighting game, but anyone who has ever played the game to any extent quickly discovered that its easily accessible controls and frantic action made it refreshingly unique. Its innovative qualities made it a critical darling among the media, but for whatever reason, it didn't garner the same kind of wildfire popularity that Capcom's other fighting titles did. Yet it's probably fitting that Power Stone didn't garner such attention because if it did, we probably would have seen an endless amount of knock-offs as well as an endless amount of suped-up, hyper and ultra versions from Capcom themselves. That kind of notoriety would have driven the vitality out of the series.

Thankfully, the previously mentioned scenario didn't occur, and Capcom took some time when going back to the drawing board for the sequel. The proposed follow-up promises to not only live up the original, but it also kicks things up several notches in the gameplay department. This is especially surprising when you consider Capcom's typical if-it-ain't-broke-then-milk-it-to-the-bone philosophy. But then again, maybe this isn't so strange when you consider the Power Stone series has been anything but typical.

I had a chance to play-test the upcoming Power Stone 2 at this year's E3 tradeshow, and let me just say that I was floored at how much more the sequel brings to the table. Few games caught my attention, but Power Stone 2 was one of the few games that not only grabbed me, but it kept surprising me more and more as I played it. I found myself on several occasions making exclamatory gestures and remarks while playing. The game was incredibly refreshing in the clutter of other 3-D fighting games on display and was by far and away one of the favorites of the entire show.

In terms of official announcements made by Capcom, what we know about Power Stone 2 thus far is that it is once again slated for release on the Dreamcast system sometime this upcoming fall season. The game will maintain the original's worldly 19th century Romantic-era theme, where superstitions and legends are tightly ingrained in the minds of the characters. Other details specific to the gameplay will be presented in following pages with screenshots accompanied by captions.