Ultraman Nexus, The Game Review

Arguably the Darkest of all Ultraman series. Nexus has paved it’s way to the PS2 for quite some years. Developed by Bandai, the game incorporates similar features from the 2004-2005 Live-Action series. Complete with Anphans, Junius Red, Junius Blue, Dark Faust, Dark Mephisto, Dark Mephisto Zwei, Dark Zagi & Noa. Each with it’s own unique abilities.

Unlike other ultraman games, this edition features a simple yet decent depth of gameplay for ultraman fans. The use of Punch,Kick,Grapple and Power button is easy enough for players of any age. Combination Skills are easily done by tapping & combining several Punch and Kick (Square & X). Though too easy, the combo’s are very fast and connectable. The fastest ultraman game as of yet.

Stages in Nexus are very simple compared to Ultraman Fighting Evolution Rebirth game. There’s no collapsing buildings at all. But the Dust and Sky effect might just do the work for some less-demanding gamers. It’s more similar to the stages in oldschool sega megadrive ultraman games where there’s a wide road to run.

Regarding powers, Nexus uses the oldschool 3 Level power gauge that can be stored whilst hitting the opponent and then can be initiated with the (Circle) power button (Remember to use the directional button to choose which power level are going to be used). Of course, the powers can be blocked for a more realistic gameplay.

The story mode tells the Trinity of ultraman nexus in a simplified plot. So don’t expect you can understand the whole story without watching the series itself. Players will be given the role of the 2nd Deunamist, Jun Himeya at first try. Each fight with a monster in story mode will be divided in two. 1st is where you weaken the monster’s life to a certain degree, 2nd is when you’ll finish off the monster inside the Meta-Field that ultraman created.

Should you lose the match, you will return to being the human deunamist and will have to fight on the ground. Run,Locate,Reflect and Blast the gigantic monster until the hero has enough energy to resume his ultraman transformation. Then you will continue the unfinished fight until you win.

If you lose the round after the re-transformation, Himeya will die and you shall continue the game with the 3rd Deunamist Ren Senjyu. Keep in mind that Ren will be the last Deunamist you’ll play although there’s actually Five people in the real story.

Just below the VS Mode, there’s a menu for 1P vs ALL CPU. Win the game with all available ultramans and you’ll find yourself a secret character unlocked. Do save the game as it’s a little pain to replay the game for unlocking purposes. There’s also a Tag Mode for 2 Players to bash-up a single enemy.

If you’re obsessed with the character Komon Kazuki (The last deunamist) and his Night Raider team. Night Raider mode is what you’re looking for. You will be given the chance to purge Space Beasts under the order of C.I.C (Chief in Command). Though to frankly say, there’s nothing special in this 3rd person shooting mode except the part where the actors face is pasted on the 3D model. The models are also done very decently, and there’s nothing special about the weapons too. So this the most boring mode in the game.

Bear in mind that most ultraman games are in Japanese (NTSC-J). This can also be played using PCSX2, a Work-In-Progress PS2 emulator for the PC.

Official Game Site:
http://www.bandaigames.channel.or.jp/list/ps2_ultraman02/

Support Original Copy at:
http://www.play-asia.com/paOS-13-71-40-49-en-70-k5q.html