However, the execution's another story. It's like putting eggs on the bottom of a shopping cart and then stacking everything on top of them. That's because the game gets too much done with its multiplayer, and soils the very concept it was trying to unfold. As multiplayer begins with three or more people (because, let's face it, a game like this thrives with the more players you add), the screen begins to clutter. And clutter. And clutter some more. It's like I can hear it gasping for air between certain stages. Clover Studio probably would've been wise to tone things down, as the action gets so hectic that it nearly becomes uncontrollable. I'm trying to figure out where my combos should go or, for that matter, where the heck my player's going to land so I can plan my next strategic attack.

See, there is a chance this game would've survived had Capcom and Clover toyed around with the old formula that made the Power Stone games work so well on the Dreamcast. I could see the possibility of cel-shaded characters bouncing around a 3-D environment, picking up items and taking part in multi-directional combat in similar worlds. There, it would have worked perfectly. But I guess Capcom's tired of that brand, for some God-only-knows reason, and tried to make it all happen in limited 2-D environments. And it just doesn't work. It makes me yearn for Power Stone 3 even more, wherever in development hell it is.

That's too bad, because the series' appeal still tries to remain intact. The cel-shaded graphics and backdrop designs look to be innovative, and the sound is still just as appealing with a jazzed-up soundtrack and sound effects aplenty. It's like Clover wants to appeal to the senses and then come in for the overload. Worse yet, there's no real point to brawling, as there's very few to come back for once you realize that each fight is just the same crammed mess. There's nothing I hate seeing more in a successful series than a chapter that has little point of existence. Imagine cracking open a good book of Lord of the Rings and getting introduced to some pages that tell you how to make Hobbit Chowder. You get my point.

Viewtiful Joe: Red Hot Rumble is a clear example of a game that has its say on the planning stages and yet comes out completely different on the other, as it just never reaches the enjoyment level of the first two chapters in the series. Perhaps with the next-generation, Clover will stick with what works and give us another side-scrolling epic advanced well beyond its means, and not something ridiculous like Viewtiful Joe Soccer or what have you. Stick with what you do well, and don't toy to be something else. That's where the originality of the gaming world thrives.

I just gotta say it. "Henshin-a-no-no, baby!"