Guilty Gear X2 is hands-down the most intense, fast-paced, visceral fighting experience in years.

User Rating: 9.5 | Guilty Gear XX: The Midnight Carnival PS2
Gameplay - I have never played a game that is this insane since MVC2 in arcades. The arial rave system is put in perfectly and the cacelation system is implemented with precision control making for some of the most over-the-top combos to be unleashed on-the-fly. And, the super moves are over the top, albeit some are pretty confusing to pull off on the spurr of the moment and they are fairly difficult to impliment into combos. The game is fast-paced and exciting during every second and no matter what happens on screen there is never even so much as a slight hiccup in the framerate.

Graphics - One of, if not the best looking 2D fighter available on the market. The backgrounds are just as exquistie as the character models are beautifully drawn and the anime style is perfectly fitting with the gameplay. No matter how close up the camera gets at times, nothing ever looks pixilated (save for one specific character's intro sequence where something that basically looks like a bunch of colored squares flies across the screen in front of everything). The intro sequence and the second movie sequence in gallery mode are especially awesome!

Sound - The sound is terrific and every hit, slash and clang sounds like it should and Sammy manages to keep the announcer un-annoying for the most part. The only thing I hated about the sound effects were how muffled the voices and most effects sound. What can I say about the soundtrack? It may not be as memorable as most classic 2D fighters, but it's metal! That's it, it's just rockin' heavy metal music! METAL!

Replay Value - GGX2 has the standard fair; Arcade, Vs 2P, Vs CPU, Survival, Training and Options. But, it doesn't stop there. You have the pleasure of knowing each of the 20 characters' story in Story mode, and get even more replay value in Mission Mode and Medal of Millionairs Mode. Yeah, there are only 20 characters, but they are so varied and original you'll never get bored of any you chose to play with and if there were more thrown in, repetition would have become inevadable.

Guilty Gear X2 is hands-down the most intense, fast-paced, visceral fighting experience in years. It is amazingly deliverant on every front and should not be missed by anybody who enjoys pristine gameplay.