Introduction
Developer Eighting brings Nintendo GameCube owners their first traditional 3D fighter by the name of Bloody Roar : Primal Fury. Primal Fury is a semi sequel to the PS2’s Bloody Roar 3 which was released many months before and unlike most GameCube PS2 ports , Primal Fury receives tons of enhancements. What makes the Bloody Roar series different from others is the fact that your human character trasnform into beast such as a lion, a tiger, a wolf, a bat and even a penguin!
Here’s the story behind the Beast forms ....
“ During the Age of Fueding between humans and Zoanthropes, a new kingdom was born.
Founded upon a dream of peace and equality for both, this new land attracted scores of Zoanthropes from far and wide. However, the kingdom was young, and relied heavily upon its Zoanthrope army for security and on its special brigade of Zoanthrope mercenaries for income. Even more troublesome for the infant nation were rumors of cruel experiments being carried out on Zoanthropes to uncover the secret behind their mysterious ability to transform into fighting beasts. Though nearly everyone, Zoanthrope and human alike, strongly opposed these experiments , no one could prove that they were actually taking place, much less who was responsible for them.
In an effort to bring the nation together and show off the power of their Zoanthrope army and mercenary brigade, the kingdom decided to sponsor the ultimate Zoanthrope fighting tournament. The winner would not only earn the title “Zoanthrope Champion,” but also take home a handsome cash prize. If only the participants knew what was really awaiting them...”
Not the greatest storyline for a fighting game but it will do...
Presentation
When you first load up Primal Fury you will be treated to nicely animated Activision and Hudson logos which are then followed by a cool intro for the game. The intro is done in very high quality anime which makes you wonder what Primal Fury would of looked like Toon-Shaded. The game has pratically zero load times and that my friend isn’t a bad thing... It’s a good thing.Graphics & Sound
Graphics: Primal Fury for the GameCube isn’t the most impressive title in the visual department but it’s no slouch in it either. Even though it is basically a port of the PS2’s Bloody Roar 3 , Primal Fury received many enhancements, much of these enhancements can be found in the visual department. Now the characters are higher in polygons and textures and much more fluent with their movements, the arenas also received a similar treatment. The most impressive improvement in Primal Fury are the visual effects such as particle, shadowing, etc... the special moves and Beast transformations have never looked prettier. All this and more runs at a constant 60 fps with no slowdown anywhere in sight.
No it’s no Soul Calibur 2 or Dead Or Alive 3, but it’s still damn good looking!
Sound:
There’s something about those Sega style 80’s guitar riffs that I just find appealing in video games, maybe I’ve been playing Sonic Adventure 2: Battle a little too much. The only problem I have with the tunes is that they are a little to short and in battles you definetely notice when it repeats itself because there is about a 5 second hiatus before it replays. The rest of the sound effects are excellently done though, you can almost feel the impact of those kicks and punches and you know someone is in for some trouble when you hear the roars of the beasts. The thing that really irritates me is the bad voice acting, it doesn’t come out too clear and is under-exaggerated, thanks to other effects and their loudness you will soon forget about it though...
Even though I somewhat like the tunes during the fights I still would have liked for some variety in the soundtrack.
Gameplay
One of the concerns on many GameCube owners minds concerning fighting games was the efficiency of the GameCube’s pad. Well, I can tell you first hand that a 3D fighter like Primal Fury works excellently with Nintendo’s pad and delivers some extremely tight controls. The odd button arrangement and D-pad work well to deliver tighter controls than the PS2 original. Ofcourse you do not have to use the GameCube’s miniscule D pad to control your character , you also may use the Analog stick but I’ve always found this to be a matter of preference and I prefer the D-pad since I believe it is much more efficient with
fighters than the Analog stick is.The game isn’t the deepest of all fighters but it sure is one of the funnest. What makes this game unique is the ability for your human character to transform into Beast and Hyper Beast. When in human form you characters isn’t too strong (well that is when you compare it to the Beast modes) and has a smaller selection of moves that he or she can pull off. The more you battle in human form the more you Beast Change gauge increases which allows you to transform. When this gauge turns yellow you can then change into Beast form, in beast form you can perfom beast attacks which are much more powerfull than your normal punch and kick attacks and you can even slowly recover some of your lost health. You will stay in Beast form as long as you don’t get the crap beat out of you or as long as you don’t perform a Beast Drive. A Beast Drive is a Super Combo which is used to devaste your opponent and can only be performed once in Beast Form. Hyper Beast is a different story , you may change into Hyper Beast at any moment in the match but you will lose health with each trasnformation unless you Beast Change gauge is at its max. In Hyper Beast form you may perform as many Beast Drives before the gauge drains. Some characters even have a different Hyper Beast and Beast forms.
Primal Fury offers numerous amounts of gameplay modes, you have the standard Arcade mode, Survival, Team Battle, Versus , Training, and when you unlock it ... COM Battle. Arcade mode is your standard single player, you travel to different locales fighting opponents in order to declare yourself Zoanthrope champion, playing Arcade mode numerous times is needed to unlock many of the games secrets. Survival is one of the most difficult modes, in survival you go up against opponent after opponent slowly losing energy from each fight but evertime you win you recover half of what you already have. Team Battle is basically one on one fighting Tag Team style. Ahh... Versus mode, this is were the game shines the most, nothing is better than beating the crap out of you friends with computer generated characters. Training is basically errrmmm training, it allows you to develop your skills so you can do better in the other modes. COM Battle is pretty entertaining, what you do is watch two CPU opponents pummel eachother, newbies to the game might be amazed by the manuevers these guys pull off.
The best wat I can describe this game in terms of Gameplay is Dead Or Alive meets Street Fighter Alpha.
Lasting Appeal
Fighting game have never had much of a replay value and Primal Fury is no real exception. But unlike like most other fighters , Single Player in Primal Fury has some lating appeal due to the fact that you can play it to unlock many unlockable goodies usch as cheats, characters, amd arenas. It may also take awhile to master the 16 unique characters available in the game but the thing that will keep gamers coming back for more is the multiplayer aspect of the game.Conclusion
Lighting fast gameplay, great visuals , and kick ass multiplayer make this game an excellent purchase for GameCube owners. If you GameCubers are looking for your fighting game fix , then Bloody Roar : Primal Fury wouldn’t be a bad way to start.
