Better than dark tournament, but not the best anime based fighter you have ever played before.
This game is based on the Yu Yu Hakusho anime, and its story line reaches up to the end of the dark tournament saga.
This game is better than the Yu Yu Hakusho Dark Tournament game that was released in the united states three years earlier, but not by that much. The lackluster elements from the american released DT game are not found in this one, but that doesn't mean that this game is a shining example of how anime fighting games should be done either. Don't get me wrong, it's not mediocre or average...it's just not the greatest fighting game you've ever played, that's all. There is nothing wrong with the game, there is just nothing that makes it stand out either, is my point.
The first thing you will notice is the fantastic modeling and graphical quality of the characters. Yusuke's hair CANNOT be any more detailed, and that goes for every aspect of all of character's looks and appearances. The characters are full of livelyness and spark, making them good representatives for the anime fighting game genre. Unfortunately, the character's spirit based specials don't match the figures in spectacularness or visual appeal. These specials just don't have the "Oomph" that the DT game had. That said, the ultimate spirit attacks are a different story altogether. They are great to look at, pull off, and experience.
The most enthralling part of a character's attacks aren't their ultimates though, it's their throws. Yes. You read right,....their throws.
Each character has an assortment of throws and grapples that are not induced by the player's inputs, but how the opposing characters are positioned to one another when the throw command is issued and executed. That is what determines a judo throw from multiple knees to the opponent's head, being displayed in cinematic cut sceen fashion, onto your tv screen.
The character roster is lower than the dark tournament game, but each character has a much wider selection of moves that are closely related to the street fighter series. That means, to commit Yusuke's Spirit Gun special, you'll do a down, down-foward, foward plus punch...moveset.
The story is conveyed using actual clips from the anime, just like in the dark tournament game. There are lots of modes to go through after completing the story mode.
That is all to say, I guess...if you like Yu Yu Hakusho, then it is a good game to have...if you are not...you can live without this game being in your ps2 game library.
*note* this is a japan only ps2 game. If you want it, you'll have to import it.