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Any fans of The Bouncer out there?

I really liked it. I used to play it at my friends house all the time back in the day. Too bad they'll never make a sequel, but it would be cool to see it on the PS4!

Also, Sion Barzahd's theme is fantastic.
 

mattiewheels

And then the LORD David Bowie saith to his Son, Jonny Depp: 'Go, and spread my image amongst the cosmos. For every living thing is in anguish and only the LIGHT shall give them reprieve.'
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.
I guess that's why it looked so great, since it was so segmented.
 
The Bouncer. Back in the day I remember seeing the commercials and trailers and being wowed by how it looked. Sold me on a PS2 even though EX3 & Tag 1 had it as a lock when it dropped in the US.

The game was and is still fun. Playing it recently proved that much. This game just needed a bit more time to be a better game. Additional Story Modes for the other characters; 3 Player Story Mode & Trinity Attacks in Multiplayer.

And that soundtrack. So good!

I really think that this game could've worked as a HD Remaster with online for both modes and 3P Local Story Mode. But that's too much work for Square for something that didn't quite live up to their expectations.

Would've easily worked in a collection with both Tobal games & Ehrgeiz given this game's lineage.

One day I'll have my dream of owning a replica of Sion's Black Dog Street Hoodie. So sick.
 

Oublieux

Member
Enjoyed it at the time, but it was definitely an average brawler at best. It's one of the few games on PS2 that use an edge blurred AA technique that gave the game a jaggy-free look. But... if I remember, the game could be completed within an hour. It was ridiculously short.
 

J2 Cool

Member
This and Fighting Force especially were like perfect weekend rentals for me. Fun action, good timing on breaks for snacks, fun story. Wish they made more these days, but I get they wouldnt be expansive enough for modern games I suppose.
 

HyperHip

Member
This the first PS2 game I ever owned despite having the getting the PS2 for Christmas. I remember liking the game a lot, I would also play in one sitting due to no memory card.
 
I did like the game back then. Extremely nice artstyle, cool OST and the trio was quite good.

The gameplay was a bit odd/mediocre and the story had a pretty ridiculous twist.

It still has a place in my heart, but I would never call it a good game. Could've been way better and I feel that the lack of a proper CO Op mode was unfortunate.
 

Bogard

Member
Never got to try the game. I had an old tips and tricks magazine that featured The Bouncer that month, and it sounded like an absolutely massive game at the time.

If I remember correctly, not one single place near me had the game, retail or rental. I'll have to chase down a copy someday.
 

Forkball

Member
If you skip cutscenes, you can beat this game in literally 30 minutes. The multiplayer was kind of fun in a stupid, goofy way. I remember the hype for this game though. People honestly thought it was going to be a movie or something.
 
I remember being wowed at the bullet time stuff but then I played it and it was just mediocre. They should just surrender and give it to Platinum if they felt like bringing it back at all.
 

-MD-

Member
Ya know it's funny, I had been googling The Bouncer like 2 hours before this thread was created.

I remember loving the game back in the day and playing through it multiple times with my friend and multiple times by myself, mostly because I remember it being like 90 minutes long, but it was still a badass game.
 

LogicStep

Member
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I remember seeing that boxart and thinking it looked cool as hell but I never played it.
 

w00zey

Member
I remember three things about the bouncer.

1. I was really excited for it at the time.
2. It was really short.
3. I enjoyed it but just felt like something was missing.
 

Lord Phol

Member
Yeah man I played the shit out of this game, so much fun. Was a bit short though and multiplayer was super unbalanced (blonde gf robot neckthrow ftw!), but great for multiple playthroughs.
 

Seik

Banned
I remember seeing that boxart and thinking it looked cool as hell but I never played it.

I still dig that box art, god it looks good.

I'm here! Loved the game back then. I remember playing it at a friend's place because he was one of the only people I knew that had a PS2 back then. The biggest disappointment when we rented it was that we discovered that we couldn't play multiplayer. :/

We went through it anyway, just switched controllers at the end of every chapters.
 

Kimosabae

Banned
The character announcer was the best. ("DURAGON C. MIKADO"). Character designs were some of the best (in real life a wore a bracelet inspired by Sion as a kid) and I thought the multiplayer was fun - no one talks about the mp for some reason. I thought it was a blast with four-players, showed that the novelists were expansive enough, and let the aesthetics shine. I loved the game, almost purely due to its aesthetics.


I really want these characters back.
 
I remember playing it, and beating it, but can't recall many details from it. There was a guy who fought with one hand behind his back at one point I'm sure.
 
If the game lived up to the trailer, I would have been. After buying it and completing it, I was no fan and very disappointed outside of the visuals which were impressive for the time. Dream Factory, what happened to you after the Tobal games??
 

KalBalboa

Banned
I had the name "Kaldea Orchid" in my head the other day. This thread reminded me where that came from.

Loved the 4-player brawls back in the day.
 

ksdixon

Member
still salty this wasnt 2player st8rym8de with a multitap. I wanted to see what the other two party members did when u take the robot girl through the basement.
 
Yup, I remember seeing a review of it on toonami before I had a ps2 and thought to myself I had to get it. Needless to say it was part of the first few games I got for the system.
 

Vitanimus

Member
Yessssss! I loved that game. I would go to my neighbour's house all the time just to play the game lol. Dominique was so fun to play as.
 
The Bouncer was badass, but forgettable. I remember really enjoying it and playing through it multiple times, but I couldn't tell you for the life of me what it is about.
 
I remember the game was really bad but at that time, i remember the PS2 had no new games so the thirst was there for new games on PS2, that's why i bought the Bouncer but regret it big time.
 

rezn0r

Member
I was in. I don't remember it being so short, but I was also probably drunk as shit whenever my friends and I played it (early 20s). I remember really loving it though. Something about coming off of PSX and thinking Squaresoft were gods, then they come out with that, it was just perfect timing.
 

Pop

Member
Love it. I can still remember it pretty good till this day, especially the very beginning cutscene. Was one of my very first games on Ps2.
 

casmith07

Member
One of my favorites from PS2. Still have my Day 1 copy. Loved the game.

Always wanted a sequel as I think it had a lot of potential but they never re-approached it.
 

Despera

Banned
I played it but can't remember if I finished it. All in all it was an underwhelming experience, but the graphics were amazeballs at the time and it had squaresoft on the cover so I had to get it.
 

koopas

Member
Funny enough I just played through the game over the weekend for the first time (as Sion) I'm impressed by the graphics for sure. There was some real heavy hitters involved with this game and it turned out good but not great.

It's still one of the better beat em ups though.
 

raven777

Member
I imported The Bouncer day-1. The graphics were amazing and the fight wasn't THAT terrible. But the story was bad and the game was way too short. I wish the game was longer.
Still love the art style.
 
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