Guilty Gear (video game)

Its gameplay consists of one-on-one fights, a four-button attack configuration featuring special moves and instant kill techniques, as well as three different playable modes.

It has received favorable critical reception, with praise towards its characters' roster, 2D graphics and fast gameplay that differentiates it from other games of the same genre.

After a century of battles, a military group known as the Sacred Order of Holy Knights fought and defeated Justice, the leader of the Gears.

With Justice having been locked away in a dimensional prison, all other Gears seemingly ceased to function, bringing an end to an age of conflict.

Fearing this, the Union of Nations organized a fighting tournament in order to find fighters who would be able to defeat Testament and prevent her revival, awarding the winner with anything they may desire.

[13] During the planning stage, he was inspired by Street Fighter II, especially by its simplicity and tactics-emphasis, but he abandoned this idea in favor of a "flashy game" after discussing with programmer Hideyuki Anbe.

[15] Kidooka approved the idea and gave Ishiwatari a staff of around 12 people,[16] the so-called "Team Neo Blood", to develop it.

"[22] For this reason, the instant-kill techniques were added; their function was also to add tension or thrill to the fight as someone who was winning could be defeated suddenly,[21] "something we really wanted to be a strong theme for the game.

[15] It was divise feature among the staff;[21] in the end, Ishiwatari and Anbe concluded they were an extraneous mechanic, but they did not have time to remove them before release.

[30] PlayStation Power reported that both Japanese and American reviewers commended the combination of humor and "futuristic manga-style" action, and the variety of moves and combos.

[34] IGN staff said it would be well received by fans of traditional 2D fighting video games and considered it one of the bests of the genre on PlayStation.

[5] Writing for Eurogamer, Tom Bramwell noted "the classic 'cartoon' look suits Guilty Gear perfectly", and Randy Nelson from IGN praised its "unrivaled animation quality".

[36] In opposition, Ed Lomas of Computer and Video Games declared, "the graphics aren't great, but a lot of effort has been put into certain characters, especially in terms of animation.

[32] Nelson, on other hand, called them "the best ... outside Capcom/SNK",[6] and Mielke found them "truly awesome", noting that their diversity "keeps Guilty Gear fresh".

[6][9] On this matter, House commented "the computer will destroy you a lot", and that "[a] few characters can execute attacks that really take off way too much damage and this is real the problem with the game".

[5] Nelson declared "[n]o true fan of the genre should be without a copy",[6] and Bramwell urged "If 2D beat-em-ups are moving toward extinction, they really are ending on a high note with stuff like this.

"[9] In retrospect, Evan Shamoon wrote for the Official Dreamcast Magazine that Guilty Gear is one of the most "beloved-yet-under-appreciated" games, commenting it defined itself for its balance, "wonderful art design", and "extremely tight control.

Years later, a portrait of Clinton was later added to the Digital Figure mode in Guilty Gear Strive (2021) to commemorate the incident.

[36] For the game's 20th anniversary, Arc System Works announced the production of a port for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and PC.

[55] Guilty Gear Original Sound Collection was composed by Ishiwatari, Takahiro Uematsu, Hatsuaki Takami, Takuya Moritou, arranged by Yasuharu Takanashi,[55] and consisting mostly of rock and heavy metal music.

[1][2] The album was well received by critics; Don Kotowski of Square Enix Music called the tracks "very enjoyable", but he felt it is "less refined" than subsequent soundtracks.

[56] Another reviewer from the same site, GoldfishX, said the only drawback the disc has is the mastering of the CD which can make it difficult to hear the guitars on rhythm in some tracks.

A typical battle in Guilty Gear , featuring Ky Kiske and Testament . The upper bar shows the character's health while the bottom bar is the tension gauge. The red orbs under the health bar display the rounds each player has won.
Daisuke Ishiwatari, creator, producer, designer and composer of Guilty Gear