POWER STONE COLLECTION
Original Release: Capcom, 2006, PSP
Other Releases: Vita (2012)
The cult Capcom "party brawler" hits got a second (and third) life on the Sony handhelds with this re-release, with good port quality but the loss of a few features
Power Stone Collection (PSP, Capcom, 2006)
Where to Buy: Amazon
How to Emulate: coming soon!
Review by: C. M0use
I never played the original Power Stone prior to this, but I had Power Stone 2 on my Dreamcast about a decade ago, and played the hell out of it for a couple of years. It's one of the most fun, anarchic multiplayer brawls ever developed. Unfortunately it's never been available on any other platform (save the arcade originals, but the arcade version of 2 doesn't have all the features the DC port does.)
So naturally I was intrigued when this PSP port caught my eye. But there's one significant problem - the appeal of the game almost entirely revolves around multiplayer, and the PSP is now one of the worst platforms for that. There's no online play - multiplayer is relegated to finding someone else with a PSP and a copy of the game in close proximity. That was a daunting task back when the PSP was at its peak, let alone 10+ years later.
There's no complaint about port quality, other than the requisite scrunching to get on the PSP screen, and now battle arenas take a mildly annoying amount of time to load even if you're running the game off the memory stick. Other than that, though, it's great. The game has been scaled down well and looks very crisp, vibrant and colorful - technically sharper than the originals, though it's harder to see the fine details without outputting to TV. And the gameplay works surprisingly well with the PSP's controls.
I'm baffled by the decision to release it ONLY on the PSP, however. It's like the thinking was: "How can we ensure that this amazing, unique, but totally obscure brawler STAYS totally obscure?" This game would have been so much better suited for any console, even with a PC release you'd have an easier time implementing online multiplayer. No digital download version of it has surfaced yet, unfortunately, so your best option is still dusting off an old Dreamcast with four pads hooked up to it.
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