Unfortunately the
Spirit Detective’s adventures translates very poorly on the Game Boy Advance.
Imagine finding out that
you are dead and that the cause of your death was so heroic that the Prince of
the Spirit World has granted you an extra chance to live again but under one
condition: you help bring down evil spirits that are earthbound. This is the
situation that has made Yu Yu Hakusho Ghost Files: Spirit Detective something of
a fan favorite among those loyal fans of Japanese anime. Atari not only brings
us all the characters from the animated series but also allows gamers to relive
all the major scenes from the show. Does this make for an action-packed Spirit
Detective adventure fit for the Game Boy Advance, though? Ah, this is a mystery
that can only be solved by reading on.
If you’re not familiar
with the series’ premise, allow me to give you a brief synopsis. The series
revolves around 14-year-old Yusuke Urameshi, something of a rebellious youth
that is a jerk with everyone he meets and is a street brawler who is out to
prove that he’s the toughest kid in town. Suddenly his life changes when he
bravely pushes a little boy out of the way of a speeding car and is killed in
the process. He is awarded a chance to become Earth’s Spirit Detective as he
fights to rid the world of renegade spirits that haunt the Earth. He teams up
with a number of characters that include his Junior High rival, the girl he
likes and the Grim Reaper that has taken the form of an attractive girl.
Spirit Detective’s
beginnings were always about brawling, whether its Yusuke’s constant fistfights
with local rival Kuwabara to the thugs that surround the renegade spirits he’s
trying to bring down. So the first few missions revolve around you brawling
your way around the neighborhood, often fighting enemies that seem to attack for
no apparent reason at all. In fact, the story — roughly translated — doesn’t
really go into the reasons why thugs often come out of nowhere to put the hurt
on Yusuke or the other main characters you get to control. For example, when
you take up the role of Yusuke’s love interest, Kayko, you’ll be wondering why
thugs are trying to beat her up while attempting to cross the street.
Yet what makes the series
so intriguing is the fact that many of the characters have been blessed with
special supernatural attacks. Yusuke uses his finger to fire a blast of energy
(known by fans as his Spirit Gun) while Kuwabara focuses his Spirit Energy to
form a flaming sword of energy. These things come in handy whenever you’re
overwhelmed by the number of enemies that surround you (trust me, this
occurrence is often in this game) or during boss fights in the later missions.
The special attacks have their limits, though, and you can spend Spirit Energy
fairly easy. Thankfully you can collect Power-Up items such as orbs or potions
to revive your Spirit Energy.
Unfortunately, while it
might be fun to play as fan-favorite characters, the game’s action is extremely
repetitive. The characters move through the environments well enough but the
battles start becoming more of a nuisance rather than an entertaining
challenge. And yes the game brings to life the entire major plot points and
character origins from the animated series but the retelling is so chopped up
that it hardly makes much sense. Still, the game does attempt to offer a
variety and this comes in the form of unique levels. For example, one level has
you collecting the scattered pages of Kuwabara’s homework before the time runs
out or brave the fires as Kayko who attempts to rescue Yusuke’s body as his
house goes up in flames.
Visually, Spirit Detective
is not a very good-looking game . . . in fact; it’s a pretty horrible-looking
game. This is highly unfortunate since the environments are massive and can be
explored when you’re not being timed. The problem, though, is that the
environments are pretty plain and boring to look at since the details are pretty
sparse. The same can be said about the characters, but watching them punch or
use specialty attacks makes up for it. The game could have also used some
animated stills straight from the show.
Unfortunately the game’s
score doesn’t make up for the awful graphics and, while it is a pretty good
rendition of the score found in the animated series, it becomes too repetitive
to bear for very long. Each character, though, has his or her own music and
this adds more variety to the mix, but it really isn’t heard enough. There are
some good sound effects and listening to the characters slam their fists into
bad guys works well here but its the spirit attacks that sound really cool.
Yu Yu Hakusho Ghost Files:
Spirit Detective is not a bad game, but its repetitive action and poor retelling
of a great story keep this game from being a fan favorite. There are some great
moments worthy of playing, and plentiful characters to control offer some
variety, but even this is not enough to cover up the fact that the game lacks
intense action worthy of the animated series.
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#Reviewer’s |
Gameplay: 5.0
Brawling is the name of the game and
you’ll be doing a lot of that, but thankfully the game also follows the animated
series by including particular character attacks that will be familiar to those
who are fans of the show. The game also puts you in situations that will be
familiar since they come straight from the series, including the dialogue that
sets the story as well as introduces the key characters. Too bad that the
action becomes too repetitive to be fun for very long.
Graphics: 4.0
It’s sad to see such a beautifully
drawn animated series look so awful on the Game Boy Advance. Our beloved little
handheld system is capable of rendering beautiful graphics and could have given
us better looking animation screen than this. The environments are very plain
to look at and this is unfortunate since you can pretty much explore your vast
surroundings, which include streets with traffic and plenty of buildings. The
characters look plain as well, but once they start using their specialty attacks
the effects make up for it.
Sound: 5.0
The game attempts to bring the
series music to the GBA and, for the most part, it does a pretty decent job of
it. Unfortunately it also becomes so repetitive that gamers will be lowering
the volume just to avoid listening to the same lively tune over and over again.
Thankfully each character has his or her own theme music and that helps offer a
variety, but it also grows too repetitive to fully enjoy.
Difficulty: Hard
You’ll be constantly up against a
number of villains and thugs so often that you’ll wonder what the characters did
to deserve to be hunted down this viciously. In the early stages, characters
will be brawling their way just to collect things. If you decide to run away
from fights, the number of thugs increase to the point that you’ll be up against
literally dozens of characters who attack at the same time.
Concept: 6.0
It’s always a joy to play as
favorite characters, especially if the characters come from a beloved Japanese
anime series. After all, who wouldn’t want to kick tail as Yusuke Urameshi?
Fans of the Spirit Detective will love the fact that they can take control of
many of the main characters and use their signature specialty attacks such as
Kuwabara’s Spirit Sword attack. The game also takes you through segments seen
in the series, but they are so roughly translated that the story suffers because
of it.
Overall: 5.0
Unfortunately the Spirit Detective’s
adventures translates very poorly on the Game Boy Advance. There are a few
great moments in the game that fans of the series will truly enjoy, but these
moments are scattered far and between to make gamers want to stick with the game
for a long period of time. If you’re a big fan of the animated series, it might
be worth your while just to get to play through key moments of the series.
Other than that, keep away from this one.
