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Review: Project Justice |
Once more, the angsty kid with a scar on his forehead must return to the school. Once again, he must team up with his oddball friends to confront a hidden, powerful evil.
Harry Potter? You wish.
Project Justice is the sequel to Capcom’s 3D-fighter-with-2D-elements, Rival Schools. It is a veritable upgrade, in terms of both aesthetics and gameplay. While neither as “liberal” as its predecessor nor as in-depth and tactical as some of Capcom’s fighting game efforts, it is nevertheless a simple, fun, and easy to learn fighter.
Overview
Note- mild spoiler warnings follow for the more sensitive readers
“What’s gonna happen to the school this time?”
The first Rival Schools ended with Hyo Imawano’s defeat. A year has passed. Everyone thought that there was finally peace. But some new faces have made their presence known, and are bent on shaking things up. That, and the fact that the Imawano twins are virtually walking teenage time bombs. Angst brood angst boom.
Most of the characters from the console Rival Schools reprise their roles in Project Justice. Save for two omissions. Raizo the Wolverine Darth Vader principal is absent due to a vicious attempt on his life (more on that below). Sakura’s absent as well, since the creator wanted the Rival Schools series to be more contemporary, and a for it to be a different continuity from the Street Fighter series. As such, Sakura’s been retroactively pulled from the story.
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New schools/factions
Darkside Student Congress- A clique bent on vanquishing the Imawano and taking the said clan’s place in the we-wanna-take-over-Japan department.
Seijyun Girls’ HS- An all-female high school. It isn’t all seifuku and upskirts and jailbait however; it’s also been a rival to the all-male Gedo, and is home to an all-girls gang. Geeks, you’ve been warned.
Gorin University- While not exactly a whole new faction, this is the higher education sibling of the athletics-minded Gorin HS. Brand spanking new fields, training facilities, and whatnot.
New characters
Vatsu- Impostor Batsu who made an attempt on Raizo’s life. He’s really a disguise of:
Kurow- Bizarre and well-manicured, he’s the new Justice High student head after ousting Hyo.
Yurika- Silent, odd-haired, violin touting girl from Seijyun. Older sister of Kurow.
Zaki- Creepy female gang leader. Fights using a chain, and her face is perpetually behind a mask (reminiscent of Kakashi from the Naruto manga).
Momo- Bubbly, seemingly underaged tennis girl from Gorin. Loved by some, loathed by many due to her brutal and annoying in-game efficiency.
Iincho/Chairperson- This is her debut as a playable character (had cameo roles in the earlier games). Spirited Taiyo student leader in a gym outfit and a magical jacket. Also known as the female Dan. ;_;
There are also alternate or powered up versions of previous characters:
Burning Batsu- A scarred, powered up Batsu fresh from heavy training. The beam super teamup is a sight to behold.
Powered Akira- While there were indeed two versions of Akira in the previous Rival Schools games, this biker version has slightly different supers and presumably different power and defense values.
Wild Daigo- Think Riot of the Blood Iori. Big bad Gedo boss under the spell of the higher-ups at Justice.
Demon Hyo- Hoo boy. If you thought the old Hyo wasn’t sadistic or impressive enough, this incarnation will make you crap your pants. Hyo got a visit from his ghost dad when his sword broke (no thanks to Kurow), and has gone deadlier, scarier and angsty-er than normal. Fights with two swords, the broken one augmented by some sort of energy.
Many of the returning characters have become a tad more interesting as well. Some, such as Shoma and Roberto, have gained an additional, utilitarian super. Others have experienced changes in playstyle. For example, Natsu’s dp+p is more of a mini-launcher now, and the fact that her qcf+P volleyballs ricochet now suggest that she is more zoning-oriented than rushdown-oriented now.The new characters and new takes on the existing characters is certainly a breath of fresh air, and adds variety to the game.
To find more about these new characters and the “as the world turns” side of things, a one-player romp through the story mode. Here, you will be given a choice of school or faction, and you’ll play through your chosen group’s storry. If you feel that the story gets in the way, then the “free mode”- the storyless team edit version of the 1p experience- is for you.
Gameplay/Control 8
The control scheme is a bit similar to Rival Schools. The four-button layout (lp, lk, hp, and hk) is retained, as are the throws, tardy counters, attack cancels, sidestepping, command overheads, meter-filling taunts, and burning vigor attacks.
Everything else has gone a revamp. Teams are now comprised of three (3) characters. The super meter has been limited to five (5) levels, down from nine (9) in the original Rival Schools. Launchers are still mapped to df+hp and df+hk, but now more characters have mini-launchers. That is, either df+hp of df+hk (just one, not both) will not propel a hit opponent to full height, but following up and performing an air combo of sorts is still possible. Some attacks (such as Natsu’s qcb+p and dp+p) serve as launchers or mini-launchers, as well.
There are now two types of team attacks. The first one is the Team-Up Attack. It is essentially the same as the team attack in Rival Schools (lp+lk or hp+hk, uses up 2 super bars), except that it is not as comboable and not as invincible on startup anymore. The team-up attack performed depends on the second character on the team. If an opponent has at least one super bar stored, he or she may input the Team-Up Attack command while his or her character is being attacked. This initiates a brief minigame involving both parties’ third characters. These characters may only use normals, and the goal is to poke the opponent first. If the minigame initiator wins the minigame, then the Team-Up Attack is cancelled and his or her character takes no damage (the throw escape sequence is used to signify this). Otherwise, the super continues as normal if the minigame time runs out or if the opponent wins the minigame.
The Party-Up attack, on the other hand, is an attack performed by all three members of a team. It requires a full five super bars, and is performed using three attack buttons (lp+lk+hp). It is a powerful team super that takes off half a lifebar at most. Mashing the buttons as the opponent’s life decreases offers the maximum effect. The type of attack depends on the school your point character is from. While some of them seem dull and routine, some are pretty much off the scale. Gorin Human Wheel? Pacific Human Helicopter? Zany Taiyo throne-of-doom-whatever? You bet.
Graphics 8.5
The Naomi hardware has allowed for leaps and bounds of improvement. They’ve gone a long way from the first Rival Schools and its Playstation port. Characters now move animatedly and a tad more fluidly. They are also more detailed. Uniforms and personal effects are now more gorgeous. Characters in Project Justice now emote with convincing facial expressions, as opposed to the painted-on masks of Rival Schools. Fingers and fists are no longer fused. The Dreamcast-level graphics are a thing to behold, and I daresay that they still hold up quite well today.
Special effects such as fire, and super finish flash, and hit sparks are now more pleasing to the eye. The backgrounds are more varied locales now and are similarly more varied and animated than their predecessors.Theme parks, busy streets, stadiums and a raging inferno. Surely, Project Justice has all the possible locations of juvenile-induced violence.
Sound 8
The background music has been improved as well. They are more upbeat and cheerful in a sense. They are also not as tiresome or repetitive as the first Rival Schools’ tracks.
Other aural effects remain pleasantly the same. The familiar “schwing” when the token is dropped is still there. The “burst” sound when a super or team super finish occurs is still there. The voice actors and actresses seem mostly the same as well, giving life and character to the personae.
On the whole the aesthetics are rather odd. The plot is decidedly darker than the original and some of the new characters are scarier than the norm. And yet, the graphics are more colorful and the sound more upbeat, and the overall atmosphere reeks of “happy”. The flashy, joyful light-and-sound fireworks spectacle is still there. An odd combination for sure, but it works.
Replay 8.5
I’ve learned one simple thing about the Rival Schools series. If you’re a fan of the Marvel crossover games, chances are you’re going to like it too. Wacky physics, odd teams and costumes, fighting in the air, trading of hits and fireballs and teamups. Project Justice has them all. If anything, it is a great party game at the very least, owing to the fact that it’s not just pleasing to the senses, but also to the fact that it’s simple, beginner-friendly, and easy to learn. One can drop a few tokens, learn the ropes in a couple of rounds, and mix it up with the rest of them in no time. Some of the abusable stuff from Rival Schools has been altered as well. No more lk or lp spamming abuse. Less invincibility and damage from team supers. Toning down of some individual burning vigors. Overall, it makes for a more enjoyable experience.
However, if Project Justice possesses strengths similar to those of the Marvel crossover series, it contains similar weaknesses as well. Balance is once more an issue. Roberto and friends are still bastardly strong, while characters such as Boman and Iincho are left behind. The tardy counter and attack cancel still cost no meter. This means that, as with the previous games, they are still as free as rain and as abusable as your average loophole or stepchild. Some argue that the modified engine brings restriction, while others argue that the said engine is still stupid and rife with braindead tactics.
That, and the one-player rating system at the end. It’s almost as bad as KOF ‘99/2000’s points system. I get a bunch of perfects with Momo, flawless execution, air combo and super alot, and I still get only 40% skill? Nonsense.
Conclusion
In any case, I feel that Project Justice is Rivals Schools with overall improvement. It is an excellent 2p game for groups of friends, and ranks high as far as aesthetic “wow” power is concerned. As it is, it’s probably not going to be balanced enough to warrant intensive tourney play, but it fits perfectly in the casual play side of things. Perfectly.
I would certainly like to see another game of this franchise in this lifetime. Or at least, an attempt at something that’s as fun.
…If only because I still suck at the other 3D fighters after all these years.
10:50 pm
Credit to NeoChaos for the corrections and the proofreading. Some descriptions are also based on his Project Justice-based entries on the HerV Wiki and on Wikipedia itself. Much thanks.
