Old-school Fighter Shows It's Age

This game originated as an arcade/NeoGeo game released by SNK late in '95, later to be adapted into an OAV by director, storyboarder, character designer, and chief animator, Masami Obari (Fatal Fury). The animated OAV, made in 1996 ran at 45 minutes, featured large amounts of violence and fan service, and garnered generally favorable reviews. The game does not fare as well.

Featuring 10 playable characters and two play modes, single player or vs., Voltage Fighter Gowcaizer is a typical vs. fighter. As promised in the description, you can choose 3D or 2D backgrounds. The 3D backgrounds are simply the 2D background folded where the ground plane and background plane meet. The folded background then pivots disorientingly as your character moves back and forth. An simple option screen allows you to change options such as the number and length of rounds.

If you enjoy seeing the largest amount of fan service possible, I'd recommend playing Shaia. She has the same amount of exposed, bouncing, flesh as Mai from Fatal Fury, and she has cheap button mashing mid-range attacks that make it fairly easy to win. The downside is she comes with a flying robot sidekick that chirps like a parakeet. Her finishing line bears a disturbing resemblance to "Oops, I did it again!". If you manage like I did, to make it to the last round and defeat the final character by repeatedly mashing the same button, you will be treated to what is quite possibly the worst ending line in a vs. fighter ever, "To be continued...", followed after the credits by, "See you again." (not likely) and "Thank you" (for playing through this tedious game apparently).

The original SNK/arcade version may be worth taking a look at but the PlayStation port leaves a lot to be desired. The bare bones collection of CG artwork and character design sketches, weak voice mode, and basic character specs do little to lend depth to the game. On the plus side, you don't need any Japanese skills to enjoy the game.

Clearly a relic of a time when vs. fighters were the king of the hill, I don't think this game was especially good even back then. If you're looking for a better time, I'd recommend watching the anime instead.