Guilty Gear Isuka

Gaming Nexus

Nice touches are strewn about the game such as dust clouds that arise in the wake of your characters, bright visuals that can blind a cat and my favorite, minute versions of your characters by the energy bar that mimic your character's current actions.

My Gamer

Guilty Gear Isuka is to 4 player fighters as "Half-Life" is to first person shooters-a benchmark that every game in the genre should follow.

GamePro

Simply put, if you're already a fan of 2D fighters, you'll love what Guilty Gear Isuka has to offer. [Dec 2004, p.110]

GMR Magazine

Perhaps not groundbreaking, Isuka is value-packed to the gills. [Nov 2004, p.132]

Warcry

Combat is full of crazed, blood-pumping, lip-chewing action. I used up half a stick of Chapstick playing this game, and it normally takes me a month and a half to use that much.

GameZone

It has smooth animation, great graphics, and wonderful gameplay.

XGP Gaming

After playing for about 30 minutes the first time I put the disk in, I had to actually force myself to stop and walk away. My adrenaline was pumping so quickly, I thought my heart was going to jump right out of my chest.

GamingTrend

A button-masher can hold his or her own, but mastering the game will take a very long time. Those looking for a deep but fast fighter with four-player capabilities should look no further than Guilty Gear Isuka.

eToychest

If you’ve got three other players, the game becomes a blast to play—though it does border close to insane.

Worth Playing

It is a lot faster paced than "Blade Warriors" and surprisingly you can somewhat button mash in this game (Usually doesn't work out though since the game requires a massive amount of skill).

PGNx Media

The visuals are among the finest in the genre, and the gameplay is as smooth as ever when you can figure out what is going on.

Play Magazine

You'll use every technical trick in the book to survive, or else degenerate into a frenzy of button-mashing delight. [Dec 2004, p.76]

Siliconera

The most noticeable and welcome addition to the series is the possibility of 2 versus 2 fighting. Fights now take place on two lines, one in the foreground and the other in the background.

netjak

A fun game, but its main mode is a step down from "Guilty Gear X2." However, it is easily the best four-player game for the Playstation 2 (not that it had any real competition here), and Guilty Gear Boost mode is certainly worth a playthrough.

PSX Nation

If you love 2D fighters with loads of variety and customization and you have two or more friends handy to share in the chaos, Guilty Gear Isuka is made for you, but if you're looking for something with a deep single-player mode and online play, then you might want to pass on this one.

Console Gameworld

GG Boost mode adds in a nice change of pace, seamlessly blending a complicated tournament fighter with a traditional, simplistic side-scrolling beat-em-up; Multi-tap support makes for great 4-player party fun.

Official U.S. Playstation Magazine

Most Guilty Gear fans will enjoy thse new features, but the incessant manual turning will undoubtedly prove irksome to some, as will the chaos of four-player battles. [Nov 2004, p.142]

DailyGame

Boost mode alone is worth the price of admission, but the rest of the game is solid too.

PSM Magazine

Isuka has the same deep, 2D fighting that's been around for years, but it's also remarkably fresh. [Holiday 2004, p.98]

VGPub

The graphics are as beautiful as ever, Aba is a good addition to the roster and the new backgrounds and soundtrack will be adored by fans of the series. If you aren’t a Guilty Gear diehard, you should stay away from Isuka and try another part of the series.

Game Revolution

While the multiplayer fighting system is flawed, the solid gameplay is largely unchanged and the extra modes add a nice dash of variety.

Gamer's Hell

Arguably the best feature included with the game is the inclusion of 4-player simultaneous play. Much like Super Smash Brothers, or Power Stone, battles are an all out free-for-all brawl.

TotalGames.net

Certainly not the revolution in 2D fighting games that Arc System Works describe it as, or we were hoping for. We won't bore you with any more of the Greek myth or ornithology laboured analogy crap, we're sure you get the picture.

IGN

The bizarre decision to include the turn button as part of single player, a lack of a story to keep you interested when you're playing solo, and the fact that the Xbox version is going to support online while this one doesn't really takes away from the experience.

GamerFeed

The four-player action is hard to top, the Boost mode plays like an old school brawler, and the character customization options are some of the best seen in 2D fighters. However, the game doesn't feature online play, something "Guilty Gear X2 #Reload" features on the Xbox for a mere $20.

Armchair Empire

If you want a taste of fighting in the Guilty Gear universe, skip this title, and get "Guilty Gear X2" instead.

Weekly Famitsu

7 / 7 / 6 / 7 - 27 [Vol 816; 6 Aug 2004]

Game Informer

Instead of a fantastical jaunt down a rabbit hole, Isuka is more similar to being unceremoniously stuffed into a dingy crawl space. [Dec 2004, p.177]

GameSpot

While many fighting games this year have gone online, Guilty Gear Isuka takes a step back and to the side with its awkward multicharacter fighting system.

Gamenikki

Guilty Gear Isuka does a lot of new things. They just aren't fun things.

GameSpy

Feels more like an ill-fated fan disc than the $50 follow-up to one of the PS2's best fighters. It has some great ideas -- four-player action, build-your-own-character -- but the execution just falls flat.

Electronic Gaming Monthly

It takes true talent to consistently orchestrate the chaos (four times the falshy signature strikes amount to a psychedelic supernova). [Dec 2004, p.161]

G4 TV

Over 20 truly bizarre and inspired characters, great backdrops, fantastic special moves, and plenty of game modes all add up to a solid, if faulty package.

Game Over Online

Isuka would've made a great 3D brawler in the tradition of "Power Stone," or a cool two-on-two team game like "X-Men vs. Street Fighter," but in its current state, it's just not much fun at all.

games(TM)

Unfortunately, the measures included to make the four-way fighting work - the inclusion of a ‘turn around’ button, for example - mean that with anything less than three players, Isuka is all but redundant. [Aug 2005, p.104]

Official Playstation 2 Magazine UK

An honest stab at genuine change which, unfortunately, dilutes what Guilty Gear does best but should still appeal to die-hards at this bargain price. [Feb 2006, p.96]

Thunderbolt

It has all the right characters, tons of style and amazing imagery, and a fast-paced fighting engine unlike anything ever seen in a 2D fighter. However, the uninspired arcade and customization modes leave little to be liked, with only a decent beat’em up minigame to salvage them.

Stuff

After two ass-kicking PS2 installments, the Guilty Gear fighting series has finally KO’d itself.

1UP

It feels like a grab bag of ideas, none of which got fleshed out enough to work perfectly. There's fodder here for a much better Guilty Gear sequel -- it would be a shame if the old Factory closed for business after this game -- but for now, there's not quite enough in the grab bag to justify a $50 asking price.