A Concealed Gem of a Game.
This is one of those hidden gems that has slipped under the radar for some inexplicable reason. I've seen some reviewers eg on YouTube (I don't want to mention anybody's name) not doing it justice; seemingly by picking some random "unknown" title off the shelf just for the sake of doing another review.
The gameplay is fun beyond belief. The fights are great, move balancing between characters not the best, but above all there is fun to be had with so much replayability. Also on hard mode the AI is actually unforgiving.
There are many memorable characters and each character has unique abilities and effects.
On a technical aspect the game is more than capable: good graphics, animations (+ some nice treats), no bugs. Exploits have been found to cheat the AI, but this isn't something a player will likely find; The AI on hard is unforgiving and it doesn't cheat.
Multiplayer is very fun. This was back in the day of something kids born on the 2000s and later have little knowledge of: The epic 'split screen' multiplayer. How do I wish this technique was more widely adopted nowadays (it very slowly starts making a comeback so fingers crossed).
The music is *PHENOMENAL* ; arguably the best part of it.
After 20+ years it still finds its way in my mind and I can sing tunes of the main theme. Not every character has his own theme, but the existing tracks are so cool and badass that make up for it and keep you on the edge.
The sfx sound effects like spells, taunts, kicks & punches are top notch; gritty, precise, intense.
The story is the major downfall. It is kind of cliche; but still it is presented dramatically with below-average quality cinematics and quite bad voice acting. The best you can say about it is that at the minimum delivers some tension on proceedings.
The overall atmosphere is excellent; more than enough to provide the necessary escapism you absolutely need to get from a video game. Escapism is the most important aspect of a video game; you play games to escape to another world.
I will say something controversial here, but the story is actually of secondary importance in video games. The atmosphere (= lore + music + visuals + characters) coupled with solid gameplay is the endearing factor of a video game. A good story is the icing on the cake of course, but in my opinion not a critical factor in video games (as in books or movies of course which is absolutely pinnacle).
Think about it. Does anybody remember Tekken 2 or 3 for its ... story? Both are better than Destrega, all three are fighting games, but those 2 are arguably top 3 contenders for top fighting games of all time. Still Destrega is not far below them. Probably a bad example now that I think about it, since a fighting game's appeal is definitely not the story anyway, still Destrega manages to deliver a mediocre and somewhat cheesy story; and just for that alone is a plus.
Rating: 8/10 - Great.
