Gaming Target - Xbox: Kakuto Chojin

Written by Gavin Wright on December 13, 2002

Full Review: Kakuto Chojin Ц it's even harder to pronounce than it is to stomach.

Once upon a time Microsoft unveiled a top-secret fighter known as Project K-X. Early screenshots were impressive, and Xbox fans certainly had high hopes for the title despite knowing nothing about how it would play. In all actuality, at this point the game was nothing more than a tech demo used to show off the Xbox hardware at the '00 Tokyo Game Show, and any details regarding the gameplay were still up in the air. But with an apparent gap in the Xbox's fighter lineup at the time, MS went ahead and sent the word to begin production on Project K-X. Two years and one name change later we are left with Kakuto Chojin, Microsoft and Dream Factory's Xbox-exclusive, yet mediocre-at-best brawler.

Of all the adjectives that could possibly be used to describe Kakuto Chojin (not counting the expletives, but trust me there are quite a few of them), words like Сedgy' and Сinnovative' would likely fall towards the bottom of the pile. The game plays like a mix between Dead or Alive and Virtua Fighter, only without the fluidity of the former or the depth of the latter. Just about every element in Kakuto Chojin works together in perfect unison to create a game that's decidedly average and distinctly unexciting altogether.

Kakuto Chojin tells the stale story of an underground fighting tournament known as the Fist of Fire. Various competitors from around the world have entered the tournament for different reasons, some seeking revenge against a fellow fighter, others with their eye on the grand prize. Now this all seems fine and dandy, until you discover that the bulk of this info was somehow left out of the game itself (forcing one lowly reviewer to scrounge press releases and developer interviews in search of these highly-guarded secrets). Inconsistencies like this can be found throughout the game, serving as a constant reminder of just how mediocre the game really is.

No fighting game would be complete without a motley crew of strange, mysterious characters, and Kakuto certainly has no intent on changing any of that. They start us off with twelve initial fighters plus only a single unlockable. Some characters, such as J.D. Stone and Asad, seem to have been ripped directly out of Street Fighter. Yet others like Shadow, with his Batman-style skinsuit and dazzling Ninjitsu maneuvers, happen to be genuinely cool designs. In any case, each fighter comes equipped with a meager set of about fifty moves, the majority of which can be executed using nothing more than mind-numbingly simple button combinations. They each have their own unique fighting style as well, but you probably wouldn't believe it if you saw it. The styles are either so exaggerated or so inaccurate that they would likely draw a chuckle out of anyone well versed in the martial arts.

Chojin's Story Mode, which makes up the bulk of the single-player game, is about as bare as can be. But the formula hasn't changed any from other modern-day fighters. You simply pick a character and proceed to do battle with each of the other contestants, culminating with an outlandish boss fight against some satanic creature that has zero relevance to the story. Anyhow, right off the bat you'll notice that your character is given no form of an introduction prior to the first match, much less the standard CG movie clip. In fact, you don't hear a single word about the fighters or their backgrounds until the very end, at which you're given about twenty seconds worth of scrolling text detailing the ending to a story that you know nothing about.

Whereas most modern fighting games strive for full-on environmental interactivity, it seems that Kakuto Chojin would rather work in the opposite direction. The arenas are excruciatingly simple, most consisting of nothing more than four walls and a fancy backdrop. There are no objects to throw your enemies through, no electric fences, not even ring-outs. In truth, level design doesn't normally play a very important role in fighting games, but nonetheless it shouldn't go entirely forgotten.

The game's controls are pretty simple, although they do hold a few hidden surprises for more advanced users. The X, Y, and A buttons are used to execute normal attacks, namely kicks and punches. Y is for high attacks, X for middle attacks, and A takes care of the low attacks. The B button activates your special move, which can be focused into either a powerful attack or a temporary speed boost. The L trigger allows you to run freely around the arena, and the R trigger is used to block, but can also be used in conjunction with the joystick to jump or crouch.

First-time players may find themselves fooled by the deceptive complexity of it all, but it doesn't take long for the combat system to start showing its limitations. Combos are relatively simple to pull off, usually requiring only simple D-pad/button combinations. The training and learning of new moves isn't rewarded very well either, since many will find button mashing to be almost as effective and not nearly as time-consuming. Moves can be modified if they're thrown from a crouched or running position, but even in these cases simplicity abounds as you are limited to just a single high, medium, and low attack from each position. Specials and grab moves help to mix things up a little, but neither is anything new to the world of fighters. Chojin lacks the depth and complexity necessary to keep the game interesting, and it'll likely leave fighting fans fed up in a matter of hours.

Every character in the game has two unique sets of moves, one known as Kakuto and the other Chojin. The Kakuto style is available right from the beginning, while Chojin can only be unlocked after you've worked your way through the Story Mode. At the very least, the new set of moves provides some incentive to traipse back through the single-player game with another character, and perhaps another thing for expert players to master.

If nothing else, you've got to hand it to the developers for creating such a fine looking game. The character models are easily the single most impressive visual element, as they're highly detailed and they animate with stunning realism. Many of them may look like they're made from plastic, although we're told it's supposed to be sweat. The lighting effects, when properly applied, are some of the best around. Particle effects, such as flying sparks and snowflakes, are subtle yet effective. Although the graphics are clearly sharp, the lack of interaction, even something as simple as footsteps in the sand or moving puddles of water, somewhat cheapens the whole visual package.

It's not easy to mess up on something as straightforward as sound effects, particularly in a fighting game that requires little more than thumps and smacks. But Kakuto Chojin seems to have done just that. Kicks and punches are made to sound as though they've come straight out of a comic book, bearing a characteristic high-pitched Сslap' that seems completely out of place in the game. The voice-overs are done well enough, and interestingly enough each fighter speaks in their native language. However, each of the characters has only a handful of lines, so they end up getting repeated far too often.