Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that in this fighting game, players will use punches, kicks, grabs, throws, some swipes with weapons, and energy blasts in an attempt to bludgeon opponents into submission. All of the violence is cartoonish, and there is no blood or gore. The characters have superhero-style, impossibly proportioned bodies -- some scantily clad -- but there is no nudity. Parents should also be aware that the game has an online mode and that Common Sense does not recommend online play for anyone under 12.
Families can talk about realism and violence in games. Is violence more palatable if it's cartoonish rather than realistic? Are the effects of violence on players different depending on the presentation? Families may also wish to discuss the exaggerated body types. Do depictions of hyper-muscled men and super-busty women affect people's ideas about how bodies should look in the real world?
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Chris Jozefowicz
CAPCOM FIGHTING EVOLUTION takes five 2-D fighting titles from the 1990s and allows the characters to leap out of their original games and fight one another. For fans of Capcom's fighting games, pitting Street Fighter II's Ryu against Darkstalkers' Felicia might be a match made in retro heaven. But Fighting Evolution doesn't offer much to please gamers who don't already have a fondness for 2-D arcade-style fighting.
Unencumbered by a story, players face a computer challenger, a friend, or someone online in a one-on-one brawl. The characters mix basic punches, kicks, and grabs with some charged-up special moves. Some characters have bladed weapons that function like special punches. Nevertheless, fighting remains an entirely cartoonish and bloodless affair.
Many fighting matches involve two-character teams, although switching characters is only possible between rounds. Players must use some strategy in selecting a team before a fight, attempting to match character skills against the opponent's team. Yet the surest path to victory comes from spending time with a few characters and mastering their moves. This sometimes-frustrating task takes real dedication and practice using special button combinations, but it's also what makes fighting games like this rewarding.
For players who spent time in arcades in the 1990s, this sort of action may bring back fond memories. Fighting Evolution looks a lot like the games it draws from. The characters are large and pixilated, and the animation is sometimes choppy. Still, the cartoonish proportions -- men with enormously muscled chests, women with impossible curves, and brightly colored monsters that resemble escapees from a Godzilla movie -- endow the characters with a lot of charm.
Beyond that, this is a pretty bare-bones game with limited appeal. The number of fighting modes is small; players have only a short arcade mode, a two-player versus mode (both off- and online), and a training mode to chose from. Although the online community has some dedicated players, the overall population can be sparse and games hard to find. And it's hard to understand why Capcom didn't include more-familiar characters to broaden the game's appeal. Players looking for a punchier fighting game may want to try LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game.
Rate It!
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Sexual ContentAll characters are cartoons, but some are scantily clad, including a cat woman with large, barely covered breasts. |
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ViolenceLots of punching and kicking. Some weapon play. No blood or gore. |
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CommercialismThe characters are from other Capcom titles, such as Street Fighter II. |
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