Everybody knows Ultraman. He's a hundred times taller than Superman, bug-eyed, loud-mouthed, and not above smacking some alien hooligan right smack in its kisser. He's the epitome of Japanese pop culture packed into a concise red-and-silver tights-wearing package, and like him or not, he's garnered more than his fair share of fans since his humble 1960s origins. No surprise there've been more than a few video games based on his television Earth-saving exploits, and while those games have rarely been very good, they've always remained true to the source material. Ultraman Fighting Evolution, the first full-3D Ultraman game ever, is no exception. It's your typical worse-than-average 3D fighting game, but it captures the spirit of Ultraman perfectly such that no fan of the series could possibly be disappointed.
Ultraman Fighting Evolution looks great. The colorful, motion-captured fighters look like they were ripped right out of the show. That is to say, they don't seem so much like ten-story-high heroes and monsters, so much as they seem like guys dressed in spandex and stuffy latex costumes trying to act like ten-story-high heroes and monsters. Three generations of Ultrapeople are present, in the form of classic Ultraman and TV descendants Ultraseven and Ultraman Taro. But even their fanciest kung fu showmanship won't make the going easy against the likes of their alien foes. These include the ubiquitous scissor-handed Alien Baltan, crazy space ape Dada, big yellow dinosaur Eleking, karate kicking squid man Alien Metron, and the funky gold space robot King Joe. Four hidden characters are also lurking about just waiting to be found.
You won't be shortchanged as far as pretty special effects are concerned. Each fighter packs a whopping unblockable projectile that lights up the whole screen, and every hit that connects causes sparks to fly. Even the backgrounds, though not particularly original, look nice (and even beautiful in some cases) in their full polygonal splendor. Ultraman Fighting Evolution sounds just as good as it looks, with audio effects lifted straight from the show including Ultraman's raspy battle cries and Baltan's guttural laughter. The musical score is also true to the series in all its upbeat, orchestral splendor. Some audio quality is forfeited in the transition to PlayStation-generated streaming audio, but the soundtrack remains catchy and enjoyable, and above all else perfectly suited to the half-serious nature of the game.
Gameplay in Ultraman Fighting Evolution is almost an afterthought. It's your typical best-of-three, one-on-one combat where you use punches, kicks, blocks, dodges, and throws to beat the other guy up before he does the same to you. In short, the developers played some Virtua Fighter and tried their best to emulate it. Each character packs a number of short punch and kick strings, which may be changed to trick the opponent into blocking the wrong way. Otherwise, the different fighters boast a handful of high-risk specialty punches, kicks, and throws, which deal big chunks of damage. But Ultraman Fighting Evolution offers nothing in the way of complex fighting game mechanics like reversals, counters, juggle combos, or desperation moves. Hit detection is passable at best, and inconsistent or even absurd at worst. Move detection is sluggish but not impossible.
In short, the last reason you want to get your hands on this one is for its gameplay. If you're an Ultraman fan, however, and you're willing to accept a little semi-sentient action in exchange for being in control of your favorite Japanese superheroes and villains, then you won't go wrong with Ultraman Fighting Evolution. You'll never see it released in the United States, but the whole game is in English so it makes a great import.
