Hidden Gems. Games that come out of nowhere to blow me away for one reason or another. I didn't think there'd be too many on this list, but I've been shown to be quite wrong before and will continue to be shown quite wrong in the future. This time around, arcade multiplayer mayhem comes to the home consoles, allowing you to smash your mates with mallets and magic in Power Stone 2.
I had actually seen Power Stone 2 on YouTube a few years ago but must have had it fall out of my mind for one reason or another. I probably cast it aside as 'fun for the moment, but there are better things to be seen', and it wasn't until coming across and looking into this unknown name on the 1001 list that I really knew what it was that I had seen.
So, join me as we get pulled onto a floating island castle to fight for some reason or another.
Fun Times
That was my very first run through Power Stone 2, emulating the Dreamcast release, not knowing anything beyond a quick glance of the controls - A to jump, B to attack, something on the shoulders... I'll figure it out.
Not only did I figure it out, I bloody loved it. This game is nonsense. Throwing boxes, picking up weapons, powering up with gems, unleashing carnage and dodging all manner of stages hazards in a sometimes desperate attempt to no get knocked out too early, like a chump... and then facing a giant Sphinx robot boss, just because.
Let's break it down a little.
Power Stone 2 is a four-player fighter, whose closest analogue to today's games might just be the much beloved (but not by me) Smash Bros. series; characters going nuts with extravagant attacks and bonkers weaponry in a more or less last man standing format.
Once the fight gets going, it's frantic. You're all coloured and have floating indicators to give you an idea of where you are, but when the fists start flying, good luck. I often found out where I really was by being launched into the air or across the stage after being attacked, giving me time to get my bearings and pick my target.
Except in this second attempt at the Arcade mode, which was, for some reason, much harder on me.
Frustrations
There are two main types of item drops in Power Stone 2. The first are weapons, which vary from pistols and swords to miniguns and rocket launchers, to flamethrowers, to magic ice wands, to giant comedy mallets, to a megaphone, an umbrella, a shield, a bubble machine... the weapons are rather varied. Pick them up and use them until they serve no further purpose, or more likely get kicked out of your hands and land elsewhere on the stage.
The second type are giant gems, presumably Power Stones, which don't do much on their own, but the more you gather, the more powerful you become. So long as you don't get hit and lose any of them before you decide to attack, you can pull off super moves which turn the fight into all kinds of weird. First, a bunch of toy soldiers absolutely decimated me. Then, I get caught in not one, but two different kinds of green, screen-clearing magical nonsense
It's barely a minute into the fight, and already I'm looking like I'm done. I need weapons. I need gems. I need health, but I don't know if it drops.
A bubble gun. Perfect. I can suspend my enemies in giant bubbles for a few seconds, allowing a free hit on them, which obviously pops the bubble and causes me more problems... Well, let's see how far we get.
Not very far. Hmm. Was my first run a fluke? Let's switch the character up and see what difference that makes.
Enter Rouge. All these characters have Japanese voices, so I've no idea who they are or what they're here for. I could have sworn I got a European ROM... anyway, I'm already having more luck with her, picking up and hurling small, weird looking children into invisible walls, and picking up magic wands that encase targets in blocks of ice.
But I see something, glowing and uncontested. Gems. Plenty of gems. Gems are better than wands.
Pressing the shoulder buttons, which I believe to have something to do with fancy gem-fueled powers, I start to glow myself. Things are hotting up.
Further Fun Times
Holy smokes, I wasn't expecting that literally. Giant fire-breathing heads raining down fire from above? I mean, I'll take it, but isn't it a bit overkill?
Amongst all that destruction are indicators for the stage itself getting in on the action. In this case, an elevator is about to ascend and if you're not on it, you're going to have to pay. Dashing for it, I find myself the only combatant temporarily alive, which, as a position to be in in any fight, is pretty darn good.
There are warning messages and whatnot, but in the moment, when you're trying to find where you are, and what opponents in your vicinity are doing, and where the nearest good drops are, you simply don't see yourself getting squashed. But it's alright; I'm still in a strong position.
Two KOs in one attack? I'm more than alright. I must be getting good.
You have a choice of stages on your path through this... whatever it is... competition? No idea. I chose to go to the skies. See that gun turret?
Yeah, you can get in it and shoot everything that moves. The problem is that you can be knocked out of it or have it blown up in your face, and while you're sat down in it, all the weapon and gem drops are happening elsewhere to level the playing field some more. That didn't stop me from picking up a rocket launcher as the ship started to fall apart, though.
Of course we're falling through the sky, trying to batter each other and grab whatever weaponry we can fly into. What else did you expect? I wonder what'll happen on landing.
Everyone falls flat on their face, taking damage unless you're able to gracefully float down using the umbrella you found. I mean, this is just obvious, I don't even know why I have to point it out. Power Stone 2 is amazing.
Having been knocked out of my tank by catapulted boulders, the childish Pete and the hulking Galuda are looking mighty close to being knocked out. If we can just pick our targets and get this done swiftly, we can move on in safety, right, Ayane?
Further Frustrations
Oh, come on now. That's just absurd. Clutch dodging from Galuda there.
I get the chance - again - to continue and try again, so Accel the gunslinger is about to hop into a tank (it mostly worked before) to try his hand.
I don't quite know what happened, but I'm through to a boss stage. It's the two survivors versus a giant robot Sphinx. Don't worry, though. Its head is a weak spot, we're told. Just need to reach it.
The legs explode after a few hits, but it's only their outer armour that takes the hit. Another round of pummeling will see to that. I don't know what Ayane is doing - hopefully attacking the head that I'm not...
One leg down, I move to the next but I catch a look at my health bar to see some rather alarming progress. How the hell did I lose so much health in such a short space of time? What the hell has Ayane been doing? She's not been fighting me as well, has she?
It's not long before I'm introduced to the Sphinx's chameleon-like tongue, darting towards me for a quick snack. I'm spat out, sucked back in again, and spat out into a knock out screen. The third character defeated in as many stages. Whatever golden touch I had in my first attempt, I've thoroughly lost in my second.
I could have continued, I suppose... eh.
Final Word
It seems that the more I knew about Power Stone 2, the less capable I was at actually playing it. When I was running around like a headless chicken, hitting people with frying pans and trying to use any and every weapon I could find effectively, I was alright. I was progressing through the stages with no problems. Didn't finish the game, but go through a good chunk of it as a single character.
Coming back to it after just an hour or so, knowing to aim for weapon pickups and power stones and what not, I just wasn't getting the luck - but I was still having fun. Less fun than when I was winning, but fun nonetheless.
With multiplayer modes (obviously) and a few different 'story' driven modes (which I was playing, believe it or not), there's a good amount of stuff in here to dive into. You can even unlock weapons and stages if I remember what I've read correctly.
As far as games that were unknown to me before running them onto the 1001 list go, Power Stone 2 is a gem of a title to mess around in. I can only imagine the chaos that ensues in couch-based multiplayer. But after an hour or so of it, I fear it may end up with the same fate as my first run-in with it - falling out of my head, into the unknown once more.
Having played it, is there enough staying power to have Power Stone 2 stick around in my head? I hope so. I suspect the game will last in my brain longer than its name, but yes, I hope it sticks around, and I won't be saying no to another game in the future. It's even had a PSP rerelease. That'll attract all the gamers again, won't it?
Fun Facts
Power Stone 2 apparently removes a combo system from the original. I'm... lacking on facts for this one.
Power Stone 2, developed by Capcom, first released in 2000.
Version played: Sega Dreamcast, 2000, via emulation.
Version watched: Sega Dreamcast, 2000 (Super Best Friends Play)