You're probably out there hunting down ROMs for the new build of MAME. Well, some of those files are pretty big, and I doubt you're going to want them all. I'm here to let you know that you can save yourself fifteen megabytes of hard drive space, as well as immense frustration and embarassment, by leaving Power Instinct 2 off your list of downloads.

The Power Instinct series has always been a train wreck, right from the very start. The only games in the series worth playing are the recently released Matrimelee (designed by Rage of the Dragon creators Noise Factory) and a spin-off for the Saturn called Purikura Daisakusen, which starred one of the characters in Power Instinct but featured completely different gameplay.

None of the other Power Instinct games are worth playing, and Power Instinct 2 is no different. Sure, there are super moves and the ingenious ability to transform your characters, but everything else in this game is well below the standards of your typical SNK or Capcom fighter.

What's wrong with PI2, you may ask? Well, for starters, the computer opponents are absurdly cheap. Even when you set the difficulty to "very easy", it doesn't STAY that way for very long. In just a few rounds, characters like the stereotypical ninja Saizo will be darting back and forth, trapping you in deadly combos and beating you down without giving you a chance to fight back.

The characters themselves are awful, too. Typically, their moves are impractical and made overly difficult to perform. There's also a problem with balance... some characters have extremely powerful attacks that are nearly impossible to avoid, while others are, if you'll pardon the term, powerless.

Perhaps the most frustrating thing about Power Instinct 2 is that it rides the fence between being a serious fighting game and something more lighthearted, like Pocket Fighter. It doesn't compare favorably to standard fighting games, and its sense of humor is hard to appreciate. At the end of each match, the defeated opponent will be covered with graffiti as opposed to blood and bruises, and the character designs are at times really disturbing. There are old ladies who fight with their dentures, ancient men who snap their loincloths at you, and most frightening of all, a pudgy little boy wearing an apron... and absolutely nothing else.

Needless to say, I don't recommend this game. As an additional warning, stay away from the Japanese Playstation version which I've heard takes the already unpleasant Power Instinct 2 experience and worsens it with extremely choppy animation.

JR