Review by: Leal Hsiao

"Hakaider" is a relatively new but obscure Stunner game released by Sega of Japan, and it probably won't make it stateside. The game is based on a Ultraman-like superhero known in Japan as (you guessed it) Hakaider; unlike Ultraman, Hakaider has a pretty cool shotgun-type weapon with six different modes, from the standard six-shot to a formidable bazooka. As for the game itself, the NCS product catalog describes it as a "Live action hero Stunner game."

For those of you light-gun-game fans who saw "Stunner game" and started to drool with excitement, wipe your mouths, cause this game can hardly be classified as a Stunner game. Much of the game consists of FMV scenes where rendered characters talk it out (in Japanese, of course) before engaging in battle. Perhaps those fluent in Japanese might enjoy the storyline (I'm assuming that there is a storyline to enjoy), but the Stunner action scenes that follow are very very lame. Sure, there are six weapons to select from, but you can change weapons simply by pressing start, and none of the six shooting stages lasts over five minutes, including the noticeable loading times. Unlike Virtua Cop, you can take multiple hits before going down, and a decent marksman can take out most of the enemies before they can get off a shot. In short, the gun action too easy and much too short for Virtua Cop veterans, and the only difficulty lies in choosing the right weapon for the right enemy. Oh, and for those who care, innocent bystanders are available for you to avoid shooting, but they don't add much to the excitement.

There's also an adventure mode similar to "D" in that you navigate in a 3-D FMV world. There is almost no interaction involved, however, making it even less interactive than "D" (yes, I too did not know that was possible). The fact that I was able to finish the game in three hours without any knowledge of the Japanese language be warning enough for those one or two people in the world who would want "Hakaider" for its adventure elements.

Graphics: 6/10 The shooting modes resemble "Lethal Enforcers" with rendered 2-D enemies and 2-D backgrounds, and the sprites get blocky at times. As for the adventure mode and FMV, both look reasonably good, using Cinepak compression for some of the cinemas. All in all, the graphics are acceptable.

Music: 6/10 Some of the tracks are plagued by static, most noticeably the intro music. The music itself is bizarre; perhaps it was taken straight out of "Hakaider" episodes or films. It lacks variety but suits the game's rather dark theme.

Sound: 5/10 The sound effects for the weapons are weak, and a very annoying "beep" is heard every time the text is advanced in the adventure mode.

Gameplay: 2/10 What gameplay? Okay, maybe with the Stunner the action scenes are kind of fun, but otherwise, what gameplay?

Overall: 4/10 For diehard "Hakaider" fans only, if there are any. Otherwise, most players won't care for the story, let alone the gameplay. Don't be fooled by the "A-" rating given by NCS.