As I mentioned in the review for Guilty Gear on the Switch (which you can read here) that 2019 marks developer Arc System Works 30th anniversary. And to celebrate the occasion they re-released Guilty Gear on the Switch. Well that wasn’t the only Guilty Gear related game on to the Switch. Along side that game, Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus R was also re-released on the Switch.
Let’s Rock Pt.2
Fighting system still solid- Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus R is the fifth update to 2002’s Guilty Gear X2 (Guilty Gear XX Midnight Carnival as its known in Japan). Being an updated version, Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus R improves on its fighting system, making some minor changes to some fighters and making sure the game is as balanced as possible. It’s been about seven years since Plus R originally released and now that it has been ported to the Switch the fighting system still stands up today. In fact some slight tweaks have been made to bring the game up to date.
Extended roster- Much like with the various iterations of Street Fighter II, the roster of characters expanded with each iteration of Guilty Gear XX. Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus R is the latest up date and thus has a extended roster of characters from previous games, totaling up to 25 fighters, which also includes boss characters re-balanced for play and a couple of “clone” characters.
Feature filled- Unlike the first Guilty Gear, Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus R is full of different modes that players can jump into. From arcade and story mode to M.O.M., survival and mission modes, Plus R is featured filled. It even has online multiplayer for those who want to fight online> Online is a bit of a hit or miss but once a match has been made, its time to throw-down.
Music still awesome- What more can you say about how awesome Guilty Gear’s music is? Much like Street Fighter II and its multiple revisions, Plus R features updated versions of each of the fighters’ themes, some fighters even have multiple versions of their themes.
Sprite work still holds up- The Guilty Gear series is well known for its awesome sprite work. With each entry and iteration of the series, the sprite work gets more detailed. And even though Arc System Works has moved on to using a different engine with Guilty Gear Xrd and BlazBlue (which are great in their own right) the 2D traditional pixel sprite art work of Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus R still holds up.
Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus R is a really solid package. Great music, great sprite work, great fighting mechanics and featured filled. It took everything from previous iterations of Guilty Gear XX to make a definitive version of the game, and this was back in 2014/2015 when it first released. Now with a Switch release, hopefully more fresh eyes can jump on the action not just at home but on the go as well. And at a budget price of $14.99, you can’t really beat that deal.
