With that huge displacement, it's gigantic cruise liner, for sure. Princess of the Fearless is catchy name for cruise liner. I just notice that both words end with "-ess". Mind blown!
Look at how beautiful the cruise liner is. Accompanied by helicopters and small boat. Comparing to their size, the cruise liner is Titanic! I mean really giant. But spoiler: it will sink like RMS Titanic too but not because of iceberg but with something else. We shall see later.
Anyway, today is the 6th birthday of my blog. So i like to show you -in my opinion- the best beat em up game in PSX console: Soft Machine's Crisis Beat (1998/2000). 1998 is the initial release year in Japan, i believe. While 2000 is release year in Europe. Do you think there's nothing go wrong with cruise liner? You thought wrong. There's huge crisis on it and i'm going to beat it!
On to character select. We have Eiji Garland, Julia Jefferson (abbreviated as JJ), Kenneth Kirova, and Yan Hint Feisu. The character select screen is certainly unique. You choose the character through their passport. You don't get to see their stats or overall portrait. At least it's bit step up from Legend which is selection from strange playing cards. But i give you hint about these protagonists. Eiji is the average type character with bad special combo. I consider him the worst character to pick. Julia is wrestler. She's excel at grapple. Kenneth is the powerhouse of the cast. His attack is very strong. Feisu is the speedster although much like Zhou Yun's case in Warrior of Fate she's the fastest but not significantly fast. Usually in this game of its genre, i pick the slow but powerful character. But in this game, my main is Yan Hint Eisu. I will talk about these cast in detail later. For now, i pick JJ.
19:56 Local Time / 14:56 GMT in Princess of Fearless' engine room...
Group of terrorist is taking over the engine room without any resistance or commotion. That's strange where's the engine crew? As per usual, the leader is in the center of group. This hijacking going stealthy.
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| Dynamite Cop (Dreamcast) |
Unlike in Dynamite Cop, where the pirate taking over the ship openly. Maybe
pirates does their action in polar opposite way than professional terrorists.
Also they look barbaric. But i fancy that sea shell on the pirate leader.
Meanwhile Julia is about to go to party at central hall with her friend Milly. But she left the party invitation in her room. So she goes back to her room...
...and suddenly rapid gunshot heard. The terrorists kidnap Milly! Why they let out gunfire to kidnap Milly? I hope it's just warning shot. But even it's just warning shot, that still gives a young kid (probably 6 years old at most) a deep trauma. Julia is unable to chase those terrorist with that dress so she has to change her wear first.
After changing her cloth, she encounters Eiji and he says that he's not terrorist while waving his arm left and right like those dumb civilian in any light gun shooter. One thing that i learn from movie Die Hard besides always wear shoes indoor, is do not trust random people in case of terrorism happen in premise you're into. Eiji should show his badge but no. Maybe he left it in his suitcase or something. But since he's in character select screen, we can trust him.
Here's nice touch in this game. The protagonists are random passenger, they don't know each other until they decide to team up. Kind of like Koudelka or other RPG.
So we run away from terrorists but their friends come down from roof and we're trapped. Time to fight back. Here's the control: D-Pad to move you around. Square button for attack #1. Cross for attack #2. Circle for jump. Lastly, triangle button to perform ARB (All-Range Burst) which is the usual desperation attack. The attacks are vary for each character. Sometime attack #1 is heavy. Sometime attack #2 is kick.
One major advantage of this game from other game of its peer, is how smooth and flexible you can mix these 2 attacks to make combo. I have experienced many beat em up games with more than 1 attack button and most of them can't allow the player to make combo fluently. For example: -everyone's beloved- Gekido - Urban Fighter because you're restricted to one string of combo, Legend, Burning Fight, Fighting Force.
Another thing that makes the game is so special to me, is Lock-On Counter where you character perform auto combo that break objects behind your enemies and it give them mad amount of damage too! This particular Lock-On Counter is very special because i break this panel that result in lifeboat fall down on the rest of the enemies. This moment reminds me of Deception game and i love it. Heavy_positivevocalization02.wav
Because this is 90s Beat em Up game, there's some occasion where you have to kick evil dog to death. But when i think about it, i don't think i have to kick evil dog in any Capcom made Beat em Up game. Ok, except in D&D Shadow of Mystara.
There's ammo box that when you pick up, you will automatically mow down surrounding enemies with submachine gun. This is kind of irony. The basic lesser enemy troops there have gun in cutscene but when in real combat, they fight you with bare fist. They're as basic as Galsia in Streets of Rage.
As per usual, you can find healing item in destructible objects. But the thing is, you can't just punch them to destroy them. You have to throw/flip them which is more tedious process than just straight beat them like in Mug Smasher.
Eiji probably plan on escaping but Julia need to search for Milly. He has no choice but to follow her. All of the lifeboats are destroyed by her, anyway. Escape plan denied.
"Sorry for dropping in" :P
I don't know why that troop has zero reaction to Julia breaks the mirror and eventually stomp on her. Jim spacing out too much and now he dies. Stay sharp at all time, soldiers!
There's the usual sticky grab mechanism like in any Capcom's beat em up game. You are allowed to do 2 grabbing attack before the last one knock enemy away. Then you can follow up with 2 grapple by holding a direction on D-Pad and press either attack button. Usually grapple from Attack #1 (default: square button) is short one but deal hefty damage like in Julia's case: it's pile driver. While grapple from Attack #2 (default: cross button) is long range throw that deal less damage but useful to make the grabbed enemy into impromptu projectile in Julia's case: it's German suplex into back throw like this.
Julia is not the only one who break the glass canopy to enter this scene. This bald guy does that too. He is baldy but he has 2 sword and he looks mean. Thus first boss fight ensues...
Daugh has 2 swords but you can use furniture and Christmas tree around here to your advantage. It's possible to perform Lock-On Counter by using them and it deals very big damage to him. For now, i just use my special combo. Each character has 2 special combo which deal bigger damage than usual random combo. Like this one where Julia perform Frankensteiner. It's performed with combo as follow: Cross, Cross, Square, and finally Square.
After defeating Daugh, the pair keep searching for Milly. Eiji has idea that she probably taken to central hall along with other hostages. It's simple logic that the hostages are gathered in one big gathering place so the terrorists can watch them easier.
Rescue team aircrafts have arrived but they get obliterated by automated missile launcher in minutes. This is like in Carrier except the turret defense is installed by terrorist before. No one sane will install any armament on pleasure voyage boat.
Rescue team is no go however we join force with Feisu and Kenneth. Sniper_cheers02.wav
In between stages or sub-stages, you will be presented with the route where our heroes will go on the layout of the ship along with the current time. It's pretty special feature.
There's various way to use breakable object. You can pick Christmas tree or garbage bin and proceed to swing them around like hammer throw sport before throw them. It's done by simply pressing any attack button in front of Christmas tree or garbage bin. This method deal less damage but easiest to execute.
Then there's Lock-On Counter, the most damaging method. You have to position your target behind destructible object. The easy way to put your target to correct spot is by grabbing them and let them go by pressing jump button (default: circle button). Not only this method deal the most damage but also net the most score. It's important to do Lock-On Counter often to earn extra life quicker.
You will get extra life when your score reaches number with 50,000 points but not the multiple of it.
Our heroine have to roll inside of closing elevator to escape group of soldiers armed with grenade launcher. Sniper_positivevocalization03.wav
Naturally, the elevator is not 100% safe. It's the usual "enemies coming down to elevator" section and the enemies are this so called Shorty. I mean they're short but their attack range is long thanks to their long claw weapon. They're fast and nimble yet their health is small.
Now we're in the central hall. Wipe these terrorists and the 5,0000 hostages will be free. Another key to success in this game besides execute Lock-On Counter whenever possible, is to prioritize defeating enemies with ranged attack such as Sharp with throwing knife, Bat with crossbow, Crane with submachine gun, and Easy with grenade launcher. They won't hesitate to take potshot at you while you're busy dealing with their friend or even snipe you from off screen!
The boss of this level taunts me by calling me Mighty Mouse. I'm not sure if it's genuine insult because Mighty Mouse looks awesome to me.
I figure i have to show you the ARB (All-Range Burst) or better known as Desperation attack although i don't like to do it because of the health cost. Julia's ARB has the longest range so you can utilize it in offensive way although you shouldn't expects it to deal big damage unlike in Nekketsu Oyako. Julia's desperation move here is like Cammy's spiral arrow.
As for the boss fight, there's 3 blokes: Charl, Ron, and Karts. They wear pink, yellow, and blue suit respectively. The most noticeable thing about Ron, is he can perform spinning heel drop from distance and so he's the least threatening one. On the other hand, Charl can and will perform Muay Thai kick combo and jumping knee. He's the most dangerous one, in my opinion.
Eventually you fight the leader of the trio: Karts. I don't think you can defeat Karts before defeating his 2 friends because: A) He has the biggest health. B) He keep distance from you quite far. While his 2 friends confront you (and preventing you to get to Karts), he taunts you from afar. Karts' only attack is elbow strike on quite short distance. But once it connects, there's chance he will unleash uninterruptible combo. You can't break from it by using desperation attack, even! Some bosses has this auto combo ability which is annoying.
With the trio defeated, the
hostages are free but the heroes decide to isolate them in central hall by
turning off the elevator afterward. At least they're safe there, i think.
Anyway, turns out Milly was not in central hall. Also the submaster wasn't
there too. I think the submaster refers to first mate. So the heroes go to
ship's bridge looking for the first mate. That's the only clue that they got for now.
On our way to the bridge we have to go through this park with big fountain. I encounter the aforementioned Bat who's armed with crossbow and he's your first priority target there, Rip who's armed with buzzsaw on each of her hand. I wonder the effectiveness of buzzsaw as hand-to-hand weapon but it gives you hurt for sure. Maybe she's fan of Buzzsaw trap in Kagero and it's understandable. Lastly, there's Lawman, the one with flamethrower. I believe i mention him in Flame Gunner review. He can and he will do sweeping flame spray in front of him so approach him with careful. You can approach him with jumping attack, classic style. Also note that his flamethrower can hit his friends. Probably that's why the term is called "Friendly Fire". :P
We're at the entrance of Triton Palace, the amusement tower that lead to bridge. The entrance is guarded by Duke. Compare to the trio, he's pretty easy. Duke like to perform dive kick after spinning for awhile in mid-air. He can also throw knives but he seldom to do that unless in Expert difficulty. Because he like to spin in mid air, he's perfect target for Julia's air throw. Yes, Julia has air throw and she's the only one who can do that. However i forget to demonstrate it here. My bad.
The loss of the terrorist members (especially the one who watch the hostages) we made so far, is not go unnoticed to the terrorist boss but he keep calmed over it. I can tell that he's far more charismatic leader than Wolf Hongo in Dynamite Cop.
We're on the most bottom part of Amusement tower and it's shopping mall. I didn't know that there's shopping mall on Cruise Liner. But again i never been in one. About rip, the lasses with buzzsaw weapon. One noticeable thing of her combat technique is she can mount on your shoulder and later smash your head with her buzzsaw. Very nasty grapple!
Another unique Lock-On Counter case is with this ship model of Princess of The Fearless II. It will explode to bits. I probably do everyone a favor. After this terrorism tragedy, i bet no one want to trust Princess of Fearless cruise liner anymore with their lack of security or whatnot. I show them the distrust symbolism of Princess of Fearless, for sure.
Window shopping is not crime and window breaking is clearly crime. But it's dramatically smaller problem compared to terrorism. You can break the shop's window or i encourage it even. Because you can get this diamond which is extra life item.
The next part of Amusement Tower is Casino. Those terrorist can't resist the temptation of one-arm bandit. While the other become dealer in poker table. Maybe he had dream to be dealer in famous Casino in Las Vegas but he happens to be military terrorist.
Finally we arrive at the bridge and confront the first mate. Turns out he's traitor and he makes the ship sail through hurricane zone to prevent more rescue team to arrive. The reason i make this moment into gif so you can enjoy the storm effect. Outdated but it gets the job done.
First mate Riot is the only boss fight with unlimited supply of goon to back him up. You can use them as impromptu projectile against him or you can kill them and steal their throwing knife. As for me i will use Riot against his own back up by swinging him around like this. But it's finicky move though. It can be accessed with combo: Square, Square, Cross, and Cross. The last cross button will initiate "Spear" move stumbling your opponent. Then you have to follow it up with repeated square button press to spin your opponent around. With every successful spin, it will drain your enemy health. Quite often, the game doesn't register the repeated square button input of mine. Do note that the "spear" move itself doesn't inflict any damage. So for more consistent strong combo, use the one with Frankensteiner finish.
After wasting Riot, the heroes decide to go after the leader of the terrorist. Kenneth has a guess that the mastermind probably in engine room. That makes sense as every part of the ship is already secured except the engine room.
So we're in storage room on our way to engine room. Somehow, they store explosive red barrels there. Why cruise liner storing explosive barrels? Another proof of how insecure the pleasure voyage ship. Perhaps it's there because of the order from Riot, the double agent. But my point stand still. Anyway, i use those barrels as Lock-On Counter device. It explodes and hurt surrounding enemies. Demoman_specialcompleted11.wav
In the upstairs there's the stage
boss and some containers that i can kick on him! Scout_stunballhit01.wav
This stage boss, Hammer refuse the conventional way of beat em up method. He is wearing anti-explosion suit and he fight with grenade, dozens of them! The camera moving toward top-up so you can see the explosion area so you can dodge it more precisely. You have to be careful when he throws 4 grenades upward because he sneak one more grenade that explode later after the first grenade set explode, hoping to catch you off guard. The best solution in this boss fight is let him exhaust his grenades for quite time. He will eventually walk up on you and there's the moment where you can unleash your combo on him. You need big patience for this boss fight because you have to wait for the safe moment but i believe you have enough time on timer.
Now, we're in engine room for sure. There's safety rail along the side of platform that prevent someone to fall. But that's theoretically in real life. In Crisis Beat, safety rail is another device for Lock-On Counter so it's no longer safety rail. Hostility rail probably more accurate term for it.
At the bottom of the engine room, we find super biological bomb! Apparently Kenneth's mission is to find this bloody thing that's stolen from his country, Russia. It's said that it's powerful enough to destroy whole earth! Cold War technology, man! It's freaking dangerous!
Also Milly is here too. I don't know why the super bomb can only be activated with Milly's eyes, voice, and blood. Maybe, there's the bomb's manual tell that it can only works with those parts of Milly's. Any Milly will do whether underage or adult. It happens there's Milly on this ship and where the hell is her parent? It's very bad idea to leave small kid unattended in Cruise Liner! I know that in Japan small kids will go by themselves on their way to school via train in order to make them not dependant to their parent. But this is way too much and pointless! Coincidentally, Julia also on the same ship and she can be act as her guardian but she was careless back then. I feel like i want to talk to Milly's parent for their foolishness abandoning their daughter alone.
This is what you get by kidnapping Milly. You big schmuck! D:<
I don't know why Lou decides to ditch Milly and fight us with her tonfa baton. Usually, in hostage situation, the hostage taker will keep their hostage at their hold and wait the good time to attack the rescuer or escape. Most likely, the real hostage situation like that is not easily transferred to Brawler game like this. Besides i don't think i want to shoot Milly on the leg like what Keanu Reeves did in Speed. Let's just say, Lou was overconfident with her combat ability to defeat the supermodel/wrestler Julian and she was wrong. It seems she's susceptible to jumping attack and you can follow it up with combo.
Milly is rescued but the crisis is not over yet. The terrorists already set other bomb in ship's hull! Dozens of them even. Although they're the regular time bomb, it's still catastrophic if they explode!
So our heroes need to split up. One, defuse the detonator and deal with the terrorist leader. Two, evacuate the passengers in central hall. You think Eiji who's just police detective and barely part of bomb disposal squad, is not cut out to defuse the detonator and you probably right. Any pair where your character is in, will get to deal with the detonator and/or terrorist leader while the rest are evacuating the passengers off screen.
We're on the final level. You see the terrorist's submarine there? I don't think it can hold all those hundreds terrorists that subdue 5,000 passengers. Maybe most of the terrorists are disguised as ship crews lead by Riot.
There's the entrance of the submarine. It looks like pipe in Super Mario Bros except you won't find magic kingdom of mushroom inside of it, only more terrorists that want to break your teeth.
I owe you the demonstration of air throw so here it is. Most enemies are content to stay on the ground. The easy way to launch them into the air by using grabbing attack 3 times. To perform air throw, simply approach the enemy in mid air and press square button.
The only terrorist left is Otto and the leader. Otto is not a pushover. He like to perform shoulder charge fast. Sometime if the move connects, he will follows it up with mean powerbomb slam. I have no real strategy for this boss fight. Maybe that periscope pillar on the center can interrupt his shoulder charge. I think the strategy is the same with Lou, jumping attack and follow up with your combo.
Finally, i'm catching up with the terrorist leader and he reveals the motive of the terrorism and the super bomb use. He see the earth is in a crisis with all the human problem and he want to create new better earth by exploding the previous ones. He's very insane but also stylish thanks to his monocle.
Lieutenant Colonel Whigen here is armed with shortsword, i think it's Gladius . He can perform some short combo with it or giving me this nasty stab and later kick me. Rude!
I manage to defeat him with usual mix of jumping attack and combo. But the fight is not over with his health depleted. There's 2nd phase where he ditches his short sword and increases his aggressiveness by 100%. He begins to unleash longer combo plus gain access to Eiji's desperation uppercut attack that doesn't cost his health! Also he can slam me back and forth that damage my health by 60%!
My solution is execute combo more carefully. There's noticeable moment where he's about to do the invincible uppercut. Stay away from him when he does that. Wait until he's definitely on the ground again. Don't attack him during fall after uppercut because he's still protected by the fury aura and it can hurt you. Don't attempt to grab him because you most likely the one who get grabbed!
Finally i finish him with the usual Frankensteiner finisher. I love the dramatic slow motion effect every time i give the stage boss the finishing attack. Also i love the bouncing physic on my victim when they get slammed hard against the ground
Eiji said will take care the detonator. Well, he doesn't. We can't find it anyway. As Lieutenant Colonel Whigen dies, the bombs are detonated. It's kind of like evil castle crumbled as main villain die. Maybe the detonator is somewhere on Lieutenant Colonel Whigen's body and i accidentally trigger it with my beating? I don't know. Anyway, as i mentioned before Prince of Fearless sunk like Titanic does but with dozens of bomb and not by iceberg. My heart will go on. ♪
But the passengers are safely evacuated. The whole cast reunite on rescue ship. I like to give the game credit for putting story picture on credit roll thus making it not just boring scrolling text of name. These pictures slightly change if you pick either Kenneth or Yan Hint Feisu.
Then you got one-shot picture of the cast at the end of credit roll. ^_^
Soft Machine's Crisis Beat (1998/2000) is outstanding 3D beat em up game. The challenging part of 3D beat em up game is attack's aim or reach unlike in 2D counterpart which usually simpler yet easier. But there's targeting assist which is pretty handy. Enemies will snap to your attack's reach to some extent. While other 3D brawler game resolve this attack range problem with smaller area of play or bigger character's models like in Dynamite Cop. People criticize how unaggressive the enemies are as if you bully them very hard. Maybe the game's difficulty is friendlier than Dynamite Cop however the game will be more justified if you turn the difficulty to Expert. In Expert difficulty, the enemies are more aggressive and you get no continue at all so you're forced to earn extra life as fast as possible. Enemies also has more health but that lead you to earn extra life easier. I think the low aggressiveness of enemy's, is to balance enemy's ability to shoot you from off screen and execute uninterruptible auto combo. So i say the low aggressiveness is quite necessary. The enemies are well varied yet there's good uniform on them, keeping gameplay interesting yet not chaotic mix of goon like Dynamite Cop. Unlike in Dynamite Cop. There's another way to use breakable object besides the usual flip/kick them off and Lock-On Counter. The positioning is like the reverse order from Lock-On Counter where you have to position yourself between the object and the enemies while facing them. You character will pick the object behind them, lift it above the head and finally throw it forward. These interaction with destructible object provide you with invincible moment besides from usual desperation attack and grapple. There's no health refill after finishing level. However you can find health aid item hidden inside of destructible object in very first section of next level although as i have said before that getting health item inside of the object can be tedious. The camera is in various angle unlike more monotonous placement like in Dynamite Cop or Legend which can be good for more various perspective but also can be bad because it gives you various blind spot or lack of depth perception on distance. One thing i can say is: when fighting Hammer, the camera is in higher position allowing you to see bomb explosion better. Which is good case. The story is good with bit of strangeness. I heard about the developer's commentary that the story is inspired by Speed and Under Siege. That's the reason why the game takes place in cruise liner. The sound effect is fantastic. While the music is pretty good techno beat.
Crisis Beat (1998/2000) is the first PSX game that i saw. I mean it. I looked at it in PSX rental place near my Junior High School and that's my first love story on PSX. So it goes without saying that this game is very highly recommended especially if you're aficionado of brawler game like myself. Although Gekido - Urban Fighter is better known than this game, Crisis Beat still plays and feels better to me. The difficulty is more friendly. The game's length is just perfect and not feel slogging or overlong. The graphic is brighter. The combat is more interesting and easier. I say Soft Machine know what to do when making this game.
You know who else besides Soft Machine that i appreciate in this occasion? It's the readers such as yourself. I'm always thankful with Your patronage. I mean it. Hopefully you are entertained with my senseless ranting mostly about retro video game. I throw you some bonus here. It's been decades [Large Sarcasm] that i make character stat analysis. Thus i make another in this special occasion plus some in-depth character's gameplay.
First is Eiji Garland. Judging by his name, he's probably half-Japanese and Half-American. He's your typical hot-blooded anime protagonist. His fashion also kind of generic. His combo is fast. Thus his Agility is 3/5. Because he's your typical balanced character: not slow and not weak. His Dexterity is 3/5. Another thing that can be proof of his quite-high dexterity is his occupation: police detective. That's why his Intelligence is 2.5/5 and i won't go higher than that because he's hot-blooded person.
If you happen to pick Eiji, i feel sorry for you because he's arguably the worst character. His special combo is very long and i can't find it without reading guide whereas i can find special combo of other character by myself and without much problem. The finisher of his special combo is strong uppercut but has miniscule range. But there's some redeeming factor. He has ability to run. By double tapping d-pad, he can perform running and can follow it up with either punch or sliding kick.
Next is supermodel with wrestler fighting style: JJ that i played as. Her grapples are strong. Thus her Strength is 3/5. It can' t go higher than that because her basic punch/attack lack of power. Her wrestling capability is dominated by her technique rather than her strength. Thus her primary stats: Dexterity (at 3.5/5). She can't run but she can dash in short distance instead. During dash, she dodges any projectile.
On to the next pair. Firstly, there's Keneth Kirova. Special agent from Russia. He use his long leg to deliver powerful attack. He reaches long and kicks hard. He is cool guy that like to put hand on his pocket for entire time. Except when picking item or use weapon. Because his kicks very hard. His primary stats is Strength at 4.5/5. I think the way he use his leg in fighting, can't be hit-or-miss art. It requires certain fine technique. Thus his secondary stats is Dexterity at 4/5. Because he's special agent, i reckon his Intelligence is pretty high: 3/5. Much like Julia, Keneth can't run and does short dash instead. Even though he's slow, his leg reach makes up for his slowness.
The last but no mean the least is Yan Hint Feisu, my main. She's the fastest but not very fast thus her secondary stats: Agility at 3/5. Her attack power is the weakest. So how can she be my main, you probably ask. You see. She's armed with deck brush that she "borrowed" from nearby janitor closet and it provides her with the longest attack reach. Keneth's attack range is the 2nd longest. With the cleaning tool at her hand, she's excel at dealing with crowd of enemies. In some extend, other heroes have capability to strike multiple enemies at once with their normal combo finisher. However Feisu is the best at striking multiple enemies. Her second last attack on one of her special combo, which she twirl the brush above her head attacking anyone around her then she follow it with big homerun strike. Both of those attack can hit multiple enemies. I said that her attack power is the weakest but in other special combo she whack enemies in their "nuts" before the final strike and it deals fairly heavy damage. It produces satisfying "Ding!" noise too. But some enemies are immune to this special attack and take it as normal attack. They're Rip and Lou, because they're female. Otto and Whigen also doesn't affect hardly with this special attack. Perhaps because they wear "nuts" protector inside their trouser. She can also perform running attack too. Plus she can bounce between enemies with jumping attack like Lt. Linn Kurosawa from Alien vs Predator.
Perhaps the idea of 2nd pair is Feisu does crowd control and Keneth finish them off with his high attack power. As for the 1st pair, i have no idea. Julia is interesting because she's adept at grapple but in my opinion it sucks to pick Eiji. That's all.
