Have you ever wanted to just jump into a fighting game and start kicking ass immediately without learning a bunch of special moves and combos? What if the game only had one attack button and no confusing joystick and button combinations? Well, that's exactly what Evil Zone is. In an attempt to make a simplistic fighting game, Titus has employed a very unique fighting engine in Evil Zone that only uses one attack button, yet still exists in a fully polygonal universe.
 The fighting system in Evil Zone works like this. There are only two buttons used, guard and attack. Different attacks can be executed by pushing the attack button while tapping the D-pad in one of the four basic directions. Your attack will also vary depending on how far away you are from your opponent. This allows you to jump right into the game and start pulling off special moves immediately. It also allows a very shallow learning curve and you can be equally matched with your friend who is an expert at fighting games even if you are a novice.
 While great for beginners, this fighting system may be frustrating for experienced gamers. It can become confusing at times because distance between you and your opponent is not an exact science. Even a slight misjudgment of distance can result in your fighter executing a completely different move than you intended. Successful counter attacks are almost impossible to execute because of the fighting system and the fighters can't jump or crouch. This means that blocking is pretty much your only defense. This results in the necessity to block often and wait for your opponent become vulnerable before you attack. This frowned upon fighting style, known as "turtling", is unfortunately the only real way to win regularly in Evil Zone.
 Gameplay isn't the only thing that makes Evil Zone an interesting experience. I knew this game was going to be a strange ride immediately upon viewing the opening sequence. The game opens with a voice that proclaims a being named Ihadurca threatens the world of I-Praseru (Happy Island). After listening to this narrative featuring some hilariously awful voice acting, we are treated to a full motion video sequence. It's typical anime. Once the game is begun, Evil Zone whips out its vast collection of bizarre plots, strange attacks, and just plain non-sequiturs.
 Evil Zone contains all of the modes of play you would expect in a fighter, but story mode is where things really get odd. The stories are told as if they were television programs, but they have bizarre plots indeed. One fighter named Erel engages in her first battle because her opponent objects to her calling herself beautiful. Other motives for Erel's battles include an opponent making fun of her armor, one opponent is angry with Erel for sharing stale crackers, and Linedwell is simply a pervert who informs Erel that she "has a great body" that "looks truly delicious." Then Erel returns to her part-time job as a waitress where she tries to sell a bamboo pole. What? I'm sure this makes total sense in Japan, but I'm still trying to figure out if Evil Zone was actually designed in an insane asylum or if the designers just took too much LSD ;)
In reality, Evil Zone was simply translated directly from Japanese to English without making proper cultural changes. The direct translation can be seen in the game's cut scenes where character's mouths are still moving long after they have stopped speaking. I guess it takes longer to say "What, did I lose? Damn you!" (actual quote) in Japanese than it does in English. Another tell tale sign of Japanese workmanship can be seen in the large breasts and short skirts of the female fighters. For fans of very Japanese games such as Rival Schools and Pocket Fighter, this will seem familiar. Strictly American gamers, though, may become confused, disoriented, and dizzy.
Gameplay: 6
 I have to give kudos to Titus for trying something new with the gameplay in Evil Zone. It certainly was a risky move. The idea is very successful in its intent to allow players to dive into the game immediately, but it fails in the long term. After you get over the fact that you are fighting like a pro immediately, you realize that the fighitng system allows little freedom. Sure you can almost always pull off some impressive moves, but it is difficult to know exactly which move you are going to perform. This is a great game if you want to just dive in and have some quick beat 'em up action, but is not what you want for strategic battles with your friends.
Graphics: 8
Evil Zone has some of the best graphics that I have seen on the Playstation yet. The hardware is pushed to its limit with all kinds of beautiful lighting and particle effects. Every move in the game looks like one of the impressive spells from Final Fantasy VII. The backgrounds were designed with attention to detail and provide a real sense of atmosphere. The animation is also dead-on and makes Evil Zone a very nice game to look at. I do wish that the fighters were a little bit larger. Despite the stunning in-game graphics, the cut scenes look so bad that you just have to laugh. Since I think they did this on purpose (at least, I hope they did), I didn't deduct points for it.
Sound: 7.5
The sound in Evil Zone reminds me of old school fighting games. Almost every move in the game has an accompanying comment from the fighters. Many fighters also speak when blocking moves. This is one of those games that never shuts up. The quotes are substantially cheesy, my favorite being Ihadurca's comment, "Go to Hell!" when she slams you to the ground. While this may annoy some, it really does add a lot of character to the game. Background music is well done, appropriately drawing from varying disciplines to accompany the different environments. The quality of the samples is not great and you will notice if you have a surround system, but it should sound fine on a normal TV speaker.
Value: 6
Evil Zone can be an insanely fun game to play. That fun, however, wears off after you have seen everything in the game. Once you have beaten Evil Zone with all the characters and done everything there is to do, there is little reason to go back and play seriously again. You may want to play through a particularly funny story mode again, but it will not be the game of choice for serious fighting game fans. When you want some serious fighting action with your friends, you'll probably turn to a different game.
Overall: 7
Evil Zone is a solid game. It's definitely worth playing simply for the unique engine and nice graphics. You will find an added level of enjoyment if you're the type of person that can laugh at extremely bad voice acting and ludicrously nonsensical plots. Just don't expect Evil Zone to be the kind of game that you will go back to again and again. Since Evil Zone lacks long-term playability, I recommend renting it before purchasing. On the same note, just about anybody could enjoy this game for a day or two, so it's worth checking out.
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 Reader Reviews
- N/A
| Score: |
| 7 |
| Gameplay |
| 6 |
| Graphics |
| 8 |
| Sound |
| 7.5 |
| Value |
| 6 |
| "Evil Zone has some of the best graphics that I have seen on the Playstation yet" |
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