Kakuto Chojin

Kakuto Chojin is the latest fighting game to come out for the Xbox, and instead of 'latest,'? I should say, worst.

What starts out as possibly an intriguing fighting game simply stalls 6 steps into its sprint. First off, I found the game to be much too easy. So easy in fact that I beat all the other fighters and the boss the first time I booted it up. Not a single round was lost until the very end boss and even then, only the one loss before victory. Same goes for the second character I selected, and what's worse is that I did it by using the same moves over and over, occasionally using a special move that I discovered.

Secondly, while some time and effort went into the character and level design, the whole game comes off as too murky and dark. How can I appreciate the slick graphics that the Xbox can pump out if the game plays like a Metallica video painted black. And this is the saddest part of the game'when I cranked my brightness adjustment up, the game became too bleached and bright, but I could see the fighting arenas for what they should be. Sick, twisted locations that really were disturbing, which I liked it. Unfortunately, I couldn't see them on my TV's normal settings that much worse.

Thirdly, the game claims to have incorporated a real time reaction to fighters' blows. This simply is not the case. If I performed the same tricky punch on a character twice, the same canned reaction would occur. The game makers made it seem like a different physical reaction would occur with the same types of attacks. As if punching someone in the gut the second time would make a fighter fall to the ground instead of the initial gut grab from the first punch.

Now kudos should be given for the selection of fighting styles. It was nice to see pit fighting as a selectable fighting style, as was the introduction of a style I've never heard of (capoeira). And the fact that characters doesn't necessarily look the part (horribly scarred combatant, Super blubberous kung fu master). But the fact that the story mode isn't even a story mode really tips this one into the crap pile.

Lastly, my wife and I enjoyed the music but I should point out that every time a round is won, the final blow is paused in mid air and the 'Matrix'? style pan and spin camera movement occurs. I don't have to tell you how irritating this became. I wouldn't/couldn't recommend this game. Try Dead or Alive 3 for a superior fighting title.