Destrega - Unique with endless multiplayer gaming FUN
Well this review is subjective by the fact that is has been made in 2005, however I will try to remember this game was released early on the PSX in 1998 (Japan) and 1999 in Europe.
Well my first experience of Destrega was handed to me by my close friend who happened to have it on a demo disk for his PSX, only two characters were available one of which being Gradd while the other escapes my memory, however from the moment I played it I loved it, plain and simply this game was exactly what I'd been looking for. 6 long years passed till I finally found it as an ex-rental copy off of the internet on some shady looking website for about $15.
Story Mode: 7
Well the story mode is not its best part at all, well actually it boarders terrible, the story is the classic "hero comes good" story where you play a character named Gradd who must overcome his enemies and stop the death of the Strega people, hence the title of the game Destrega. The cut scenes in this game are unusually long for a game of its age, in fact it almost felt as if the cut scenes were longer than the actual gameplay portion of the game, reminded me of the hours I spent watching the cut scenes for the Metal Gear Solid game, however it just doesn't have the same appeal. For the time this game was made I'd really have to say the voice acting was Good, not amazing but not terrible at all, and for cut scenes which ventured over ten minutes long, the voice acting was pretty decent. As an added bonus to story mode, there is also another playable character (female) for you to take hold of.
Gameplay: 8
The great thing about this game is the fact you have relative total freedom, you are free to run around the whole 3D environment, the addition of props such as buildings make a nice addition to environments as they can be used to block opponents incoming attacks. The main bulk of fighting is done in the form of energy attacks, 3 different types to be exact that can be mixed together, and for example mixing a speed with a power attack makes for a faster more powerful energy blast obviously. Each character also has his or her own special attack which is done by pressing all attack buttons at the same time once you have enough energy. There is also close quarters combat where each character can perform 3 different melee attacks not to mention the dash attack which can be used to catch your opponent of guard. Another nice addition is the energy shield which not only looks good but does the job very well when in need to block high powered energy attacks hurtling forward about to dismember your character. For me after all this play time the novelty of running about and blasting energy attacks at an opponent has not run out, however I can see people who may get bored which would then make this game get repetitive very quickly. The most important gameplay fact about this game is the amount of fun that can be had playing it, most importantly this game is one of the most FUN games I have ever played.
Graphics: 7
As I said above this game was released in 1998 so considering this the graphics are okay, nothing special, the low polygon count however make it look a tad like Battle arena Toshinden, and considering Tekken 3 and Soul Edge were released just after they make the graphics on Destrega look pretty bad, however while playing and when camera pans out the graphics do look okay. The graphics in the cut scenes do differ, the characters look okay with good gestures along with the speech however the backgrounds are boring and drab, nothing special here. The intro FMV however is a treat to watch.
Sound: 7
Old school retro music mixed with a few battle chants for each character. The songs, I like very much and in my opinion are easily classics however each character has only one set battle cry for each attack which do not differ so with 3 attacks and 3 different battle cries, this can soon get annoying. There is nothing really amazing about the sound in this game however it does not sound bad, just average.
Multiplayer: 10
I don't usually add multiplayer section to my reviews but I believe this game warrants its own section. Watching someone power up their special attack only to take them down with a quick speed energy attack or putting up your energy shield just in time to block a power energy attack coming towards you is what makes the difference between winning and loosing. To some up this Multiplayer experience for this game is WWWOOOAAAIIIOOOHHHAAAA, brilliant. I love it, I have had endless hours of fun playing with my friends Destrega, seeing who can outsmart their opponent, who has the skill to mix in melee with energy attack and come out the overall winner. Brilliant. Every since the first time I played the demo I knew I would be hooked on its multiplayer mode.
Conclusion: 8 out of 10
If you still play your PSX as I do and you are a fan of fighter games then this should be in your collection for sure. Some people may get bored of this game however to this day I haven't. the graphics are definatly good enough to play and sound is good, however this game is all in the multiplayer, at a games party or just a rainy day indoors with a mate or a few mates this game is sure to keep you entertained for a couple of hours. If your only buying this game now (2005) it will be hard to find but if you do you can pick it up for around $10 which is near to nothing for a game these days.
Note final verdict score is NOT an average of the above scores.