Power Stone and Power Stone 2 Retro

This blog was done on August 6, 2012 for Eat Your Serial/Maglomaniac.  Enjoy

Ah, Power Stone and Power Stone 2.  What’s there not to love about this franchise?  Frenetic game play?  Check!  Unique cast of characters?  Check!  Impressive and innovative game play and fighting system?  Check all the way!  What more can I say?  How about something along the lines of skill, legacy, and lasting appeal?  After reading the article made by my fellow SGA member, Brandon Melendez, and in the interest of resident SGA fighting game guru, Marc Polite, I had to say something, if not anything.  This article could be a point-counterpoint of sorts, but hear me out.  This may surprise you, in a “powerful” way.  You like that?

I’ll admit that I might have been one of the many who felt that there was no skill to playing Power Stone.  I mean, how hard can it be to win a match where anything and everything is happening?  This especially has to deal with the ability to power up to super mode with the power stones, along with use a bevy of items and weapons.  However, in hindsight, I’ve lost many a match not thinking ahead, so I have to give Power Stone credit there.  There is a level of skill that comes to playing these games.  And yet, you don’t hear many a fighting game fan talk about this franchise at all.  In fact, I’m sure they will still stand adamant in thinking that this franchise is a throw-away classic for non-thinking casual fighting gamers or something to that effect.  There’s no reason for this in our fighting game tourneys.  As an owner of both games and a working Dreamcast, I feel the game does deserve a load of credit as a game that stood out as a truly unique game made by the masters of fighting games in Capcom. 

In the legacy department, as mentioned, I’m sure a bunch of fighting game enthusiasts will be quick to dismiss Power Stone as a laughably forgettable, unskilled, fighting game franchise for a quick laugh, or at least to keep your attention until the next fighting game around you was worth playing in an arcade, or on a console.  But, here’s the kicker.  These same enthusiasts will give the world and then some to another franchise that I believe and will still stand firm in believing that without at least a modicum of support for Power Stone on home consoles, this franchise would not exist.  In fact, when people start making the conversation as to whether or not this franchise holds up as a fighting game franchise, they will side with it, but forget Power Stone even existed.  Essentially, the games are identical almost to the letter, but the aesthetics are different in some cases.  The franchise in question is Super Smash Bros.  The statement I’m making is this:  you can’t support Super Smash Bros. as a fighting game or even as a fighting game that does require skill and not give credit to Power Stone.  Like it or not, Power Stone was the first, and more than likely if not, SSB used it as a means to launch. 

I remember people coming far and wide, clamoring to Super Smash Bros. and its sequels as a fighting game they could sink their teeth into.  There have been message boards, websites, lists of stars people wish to see, and even clones that have come about because of it (see CN Punch-time Explosion or PS All-Star Battle Royale).  And yet, no love or regard is given to Power Stone.  Why is that?  One could say that Power Stone’s characters don’t quite lend to memorability as that of Nintendo’s large cast of characters.  One could say that the game’s skill is in question.  However, if SSB plays the same, how can one make that claim?  I believe it’s because you can actually play SSB as a traditional fighting game, turning certain things off.  I don’t believe Power Stone is made to do that.  In my opinion, turning things off in SSB only devalues the game’s full skill depth as the game was never made to be played exclusively that way.  I also don’t think you are more skillful if you are able to play without certain things activated.  So, since Power Stone may not have this luxury, does it make the game less skillful or appealing?  Not in the least.

The Power Stone series deserves loads of credit for its innovation. It opened the doors for Nintendo’s classic, but sadly wasn’t a “smash” hit.  Yea, that sucked…