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[Mellahan]

The Bouncer, an early PS2 title by Square. The hype train for this one was real. I can't remember a single publication that was not pumped for it. It definitely caught my eye early on and it wasn't until recently I finally got to check it out.

It's okay, I guess. I hear it's one of those love it or hate it things, but I'm really in the middle. The potential is tucked away behind so-so execution and murky controls. I think it would be interesting for SE to revisit the concept, at the least. Looks great, though.

Anyway, anyone here genuinely adore the game?

 

[EXPotemkin]

Yup, I'm here.

 

[legbone]

yeah, i bought it day one. there was a drought if i remember right. think it came out the march after the ps2 launch here in na. i enjoyed it for what it was. very good graphics for the time.


edit: march of 2001. damn, i can't remember what i had for lunch five days ago but i can remember when the bouncer came out. there's something wrong with me, lol.

 

[DarkKyo]

Haven't played it in forever but I loved it when it first came out. It was pretty impressive graphically, and I remember it playing pretty well, too.

Edit: Also how fucking cool was Mugetsu?!

 

[DirgeExtinction]

Here as well. It was my very first PS2 game. Can't even remember how many hours I clocked into it, both replaying and playing local co-op. It was also the game that made me go "wow" coming from an N64.

 

[DJIzana]

Yep. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

 

[MagicWithEarvin]

I actually liked it quite a bit. There really was ton of hype behind it because 'Squaresoft' were hot off their heels from excellent past releases.

 

[Axispowers]

Hell yes! Seriously one of my most played PS2 games. Sion was OP in multilayer

 

[consoul]

I enjoyed it, but was seriously let down by the final product after seeing early footage that included much more environmental interaction in battle. The fighting mechanics should have been Tobal 3/Ehrgeiz 2, but they turned out to be nothing special.

 

[d0c_zaius]

Yup, I'm here.

me too.

Dream Factory da best.

I think it's kind of misunderstood, or mis-marketed. It gets a lot of hate but I think it has some goodness.

 

[CommandThrower]

A thread about The Bouncer?! Count me in!


Yes, The Bouncer was one of the two games that got me interested in the PS2. I remember renting a PS2 from a local Blockbuster about a few months after the console launched just so that I could play the game. There were so many things about the game that I loved at the time. I thought all the characters were cool, the fighting was brutal and fun, and I thought the story was interesting.


Two years ago, I decided to buy a used copy of the game since I hadn't played it in many, many years. Does it still hold up? Eh, I suppose...it's a pretty average game, all things considered. Once you S rank Sion, Kou and Volt, and beat the game's survival mode, you've pretty much done everything you can. In spite of that though, I still enjoy myself when I play it. It's not a game that I play very often, but it's fun to play through once in a blue moon.

A few things that do hold up, is that I still think the combat is fun and satisfying, the soundtrack is top notch, and Volt's "No Escape" jacket is the only piece of video game clothing that I've wanted in real life. I do hope that someday these characters appear in a future Square-Enix title. The closest thing we've had is the Dog Street clothing brand in Kingdom Hearts 2. I want to see Mugetsu return to video games.

 

[Nuke Soda]

I liked it, but have not played it in years. Not sure what I would think of it now.

 

[Whompa]

Loved it. Loved the multiplayer even more even though the loading times were like a fucking half hour just to get a match in.

Multi-tap 4 player. So good. Played PD-4/Mugetsu and I think my group of friends outlawed Duragon C. Mikado 3 because he was OP. Bunch of characters had infinites too.

 

[Beaulieu]

First game I remember doing mutiple walkthroughs of.

 

[duckroll]

I bought a PS2 just before the game was released just so I would have the Japanese version on DAY 1. I was so hyped. It was going to be this amazing cinematic experience which showed the true power of DVD capacity with dual voice options, surround sound, cinematics, full voice, destructible environments, from the creators of TOBAL NUMBER 1.

Yeah, I was disappointed by the game, but it was still kinda fun in a totally silly cheesy way. I was dying of laughter in the final battle because the boss got STRONGER AND STRONGER as he started taking off more of his clothes.

 

[SpecX]

Awesome concept that turned into an sub - average game for me. I followed this title all the way to its launch and the final results were lacking from the original reveals. I think I enjoyed Jackie Chan Stuntmaster on PS1 more than this.

 

[Massive Duck. C.M.]

No escape, son

 

[DirgeExtinction]

A thread about The Bouncer?! Count me in!


Yes, The Bouncer was one of the two games that got me interested in the PS2. I remember renting a PS2 from a local Blockbuster about a few months after the console launched just so that I could play the game. There were so many things about the game that I loved at the time. I thought all the characters were cool, the fighting was brutal and fun, and I thought the story was interesting.


Two years ago, I decided to buy a used copy of the game since I hadn't played it in many, many years. Does it still hold up? Eh, I suppose...it's a pretty average game, all things considered. Once you S rank Sion, Kou and Volt, and beat the game's survival mode, you've pretty much done everything you can. In spite of that though, I still enjoy myself when I play it. It's not a game that I play very often, but it's fun to play through once in a blue moon.

A few things that do hold up, is that I still think the combat is fun and satisfying, the soundtrack is top notch, and Volt's "No Escape" jacket is the only piece of video game clothing that I've wanted in real life. I do hope that someday these characters appear in a future Square-Enix title. The closest thing we've had is the Dog Street clothing brand in Kingdom Hearts 2. I want to see Mugetsu return to video games.

Wait, what?

 

[valeo]

First game I ever played on PS2 - got all my friends around and we stayed up all night finishing it.

Not a good game; but the hype train was so big we thought it was the best thing since sliced bread.

 

[Parakeetman]

All I remember was the bosses were cheat as fuck.

 

[Evo X]

Yeah, I remember it. Was one of my first PS2 games.

The main character could pass for Sora's older brother.

 

[Silver_DNA]

I liked the game. I never fully beat it because, if I'm remembering right, it had a weird difficulty curve when leveling one character at a time. I still reflect fondly on it.

 

[t26]

So after reading this topic I looked up what Dream Factory was up to, and found that they made a Toshinden game for Wii in Japan!!!??

 

[mobius006]

Yep. Bought a multi tap just to do 4 player.

 

[eyeball_kid]

The IGNs of the day (IGN) showered endless hype on The Bouncer, but the hype quickly went silent post-release. In retrospect I should've picked it up though, had I known that the DreamFactory team made it -- Tobal 1 & 2, Ehrgeiz. They haven't had a unique IP to play with since then.

 

[amardilo]

I bought it just a short while after it came out in Europe.

I remember first seeing it in a VHS tape I got from a gaming magazine and it showed a level set in a subway station.

I also remember playing it and really liking it and not understanding why so many reviews I read were so negative on it. Although not sure I can go back to it now.

 

[CommandThrower]

Wait, what?

You didn't notice that in Kingdom Hearts 2?

In the opening portion of the game with Roxas, some of his friends are wearing Dog Street brand hoodies(I think...some sort of coat). Remember the logo on the back of Sion's hoodie? Well, Roxas' friends have that same type of logo, only it's made to look super kiddie. I believe their hoodies even say "Dog Street", just like Sion's in The Bouncer.

It's the most sublte nod to The Bouncer that Square has done so far since the game's release back in 2001.

 

[MrPink93485]

It was all about DORAGON C. MIKADO

 

[trikster40]

I loved the game, still have it. Won't ever get rid of it. Although, it would have been nice if it had lived up to that tech demo they showed...

 

[dream]

AlphaSnake redeemed?

 

[dark10x]

I had fun with it for sure.

For me, the single most annoying flaw stems from how segmented it felt. It was constantly popping up selection menus, save options, and the like between just about everything. It would have felt a lot better had it been a continuous experience with smooth transitions between gameplay and cutscenes.

 

[UrbanRats]

I remember being super hyped for it, but then the review destroyed it, and i passed on it.
Kind curious how it really turned out though.

 

[PepsimanVsJoe]

Honestly if this game was just a straight beatemup I'd enjoy it a lot more.
The story mode was an absolute mess. Every couple minutes it felt like something else was going on. The final bosses were all cheap as hell. It was like sleepwalking for 45 minutes, one hour of banging head against the wall, ending.

The four-player mode was great though.

 

[Screaming Meat]

Duragon
C.
Mikado
Wins

 

[SolVanderlyn]

I loved and still love this game. I'm a fan of any game that takes the multiple POV approach.

Kou was the best.

Duragon
C.
Mikado
Wins

Besides this guy. I loved how he fought you with one arm tied behind his back, at first.

 

[Bam Bam Baklava]

Rented it when it first came out. Glad I did because that game was short as fuck.

 

[kittens]

I never played it, but I remember thinking it looked SO COOL when it first came out. I loved the art style.

 

[Freshmaker]

The Bouncer, an early PS2 title by Square. The hype train for this one was real. I can't remember a single publication that was not pumped for it. It definitely caught my eye early on and it wasn't until recently I finally got to check it out.

It's okay, I guess. I hear it's one of those love it or hate it things, but I'm really in the middle. The potential is tucked away behind so-so execution and murky controls. I think it would be interesting for SE to revisit the concept, at the least. Looks great, though.

Anyway, anyone here genuinely adore the game?

The reason people were so hyped for it was for a feature Square ripped out before the game shipped. Interactive environments.

Initial reveal had you hitting people with chairs, slamming them with tables etc. When the game appeared, all of that was gone.

In retrospect, it was probably one of the better attempts at a 3d brawler only bested by Urban Reign, but still the game feels pretty hollow compared to what Square had planned in the first place.

 

[ExiledMarkzmen]

Had a great time with this game back in the day. Loved the character designs. Wish I still owned it.

 

[pelican]

The reason people were so hyped for it was for a feature Square ripped out before the game shipped. Interactive environments.

Initial reveal had you hitting people with chairs, slamming them with tables etc. When the game appeared, all of that was gone.

In retrospect, it was probably one of the better attempts at a 3d brawler only bested by Urban Reign, but still the game feels pretty hollow compared to what Square had planned in the first place.

Yup, the moving of the goal posts was the problem.

If I remember correctly it was also hit with development days.

 

[TrueGrime]

I remember this game. I also remember that a lot of the characters look awfully familiar to some Final Fantasy Characters. Seriously, Kou looks like Laguna.

And not to mention this.

Edit: Screw that pic.

Anyway, take a look at Sion from this game and Sora from Kingdom Hearts.

 

[zon]

Maybe not a true fan, but it was my first ps2 game and I liked it a lot for what it was. I think I got them all to S rank at least.

A fighting game I was a true fan of was Fighting Force for PSX. I don't know how many times I played through that game.

 

[Freshmaker]

Maybe not a true fan, but it was my first ps2 game and I liked it a lot for what it was. I think I got them all to S rank at least.

A fighting game I was a true fan of was Fighting Force for PSX. I don't know how many times I played through that game.

Fighting Force pissed me off so much when it came out.

"It is basically SOR4!!!!"

Uh no. SOR was never boring as sin.

 

[Yoshichan]

Beat the game like 40 times. Probably spent 300 hours (or more) with it.

It was a horrible fucking game.

 

[nbnt]

Loved it back then. Awsome game.

 

[Prototype]

I thought the art style was pretty good, but I didn't care for the game much.

 

[Hours Left]

The gameplay wasn't very good, but I was obsessed with it when it came out. Played it endlessly.

Volt FTW.

 

[aygomyownroad]

It was an amazing game. Completed so many times to get different endings. The twist was poor tho

Spoiler

the girl is the bad guys sister... Who is a robot now

but damn those graphics, Square were amazing back then.

 

[SkylineRKR]

Amazing art, good music and Dream Factory framerate. But it wasn't much as a game. It was so short though, that I ended up finishing it 3 times in a row on a single day.

 

[Alphahawk]

The "levels" in that game were like 30 seconds long.

I'm pretty sure loading up a game and skipping past all the cut cenes took longer than playing through a round.