"Decaying fighting game paradigm" .....Bold words to say about a 3D fighter at a time when Tekken 3 and Tekken Tag Tournament were dominating the market.
Tekken 3(and Tag, don't know what that guy means by 2001, it was out 2 years before that), Soul Calibur, Street Fighter 3rd Strike, and Marvel vs. Capcom 2 (and Bloody Roar 2, because dangit I love that game) were all pretty solid. I guess Tekken 3 was a bit early for that period but eh, close enough. Maybe on the decline financially but I don't think they were declining in quality.
3:46 as soon as this hit I just said out loud “just say it. I know. I could tell immediately.” “Tetsuya Nomura designed all the main characters” “There it is.”
oh how i love Sion, a man haunted by a tragic past. Within him lies strength and kindness, but also a great sorrow. All this will change when he meets a girl named Dominique. These are the residents of DOG STREET: The Bouncer
The Bouncer is... bizarre, to say the least. It's a game where Proto-Sora Final Fights his way to rescue his robot not!girlfriend from the Shinra Corporation.
I'm honestly kind of shocked to hear that the game didn't sell well. I worked at a Blockbuster Video at the time and the game was always out of stock, with people constantly asking when we were expecting to get them returned.
It’s not shocking. Game rental is a big factor why it didn’t sell well-if everyone is renting it instead of buying the game, developers and publishers lose out. Japanese game industry even tried to ban game rentals in the US but US courts shot it down.
I would rather prefer it to play like Tobal instead of Yakuza. Kakuto Chojin's 4 player multi-player is basically The Bouncer but the mechanics are more akin to a fighting game.
Honestly, this has always been one of my favourite PS2 games. The fighting was fun (if sorely missing co-op) and the story was cool. The big twist with Dominique was one of the first times a video game made me emotional.
For anyone wondering, seiichi ishii is currently making a little game called Brain Fighters for a company called Minnapad. Keiji Inafune is also making his Beastroid game with them as well. The downside so far is that this company seems focused on NFTs, and their youtube channel has been pretty silent lately, so I'm not sure what's currently happening.
Seems like a waste of talent to be making a NFT game. Maybe it might be good, but from seeing the gameplay it doesn't really have anything so far. I would love for Ishii to make a Tobal style game, with Kakuto Chojins movement, and speed boost mechanic instead of this.
@@mechadekathat one's actually a different story. That kid basically was supposed to be noctis. Nomura was developing a game called Final Fantasy versus and was pulled from the project to make KH3. FFV was then turned into FF15 and that kid (Yazora) was his original design for Noctis. It should also be of note that Noctus means night in Latin and Yazora means night sky in Japanese
I remember seeing pictures of this game in PlayStation Power magazine and thinking “oh my God, the future has arrived!” Little did I know how short lived the future would be…
The Bouncer is my all-time favorite video game. This video taught me some interesting things about its development cycle. I was already aware of the planned interactive environments and Dominique’s potential playable role in the story, but I _wasn’t_ aware of the reason why the game’s release was pushed to March when it was originally due for January. In my perspective, The Bouncer was unfortunately subjected to immensely high expectations, which Square relied on exceeding for the game to financially succeed, but The Bouncer is an excellent game when you see it as it is, rather than what the press wanted it to be. I don’t think The Bouncer is as underwhelming as people say. The combat is surprisingly intricate and fun to learn once you’ve gotten the hang of the battle system and design. Movement is smooth and the attacks themselves are much fun to perform, even better when you learn how to string moves together wherever possible. The EXP system is unorthodox but enjoyable, and I think the story is by far the highlight in typical Square Enix fashion. The Bouncer is one of their best works in my opinion, as it tells one primary story that is broken up between three characters who all provide their own unique pasts and relation to the current plot. Every character outside of the main trio plays their own distinct role-there’s something to discover and learn about each of them. The mystery, the emotion, and everything in-between makes The Bouncer’s story stand out, which makes it such a shame that almost nobody understands it or even bothers to study it. The Bouncer is not a game you can understand just by playing it once. It requires replays, discussion and thinking, just like most other Square Enix games (Kingdom Hearts, for example). Those are just my two cents. The Bouncer is a very important game to me. Also, the Dog Street tribute in KH II definitely counts as acknowledgment towards The Bouncer. We’ve yet to see a remaster or re-release of some kind, but let Bouncer fans have this one. 😂
I will never forget when i finally got to experience this game back in Summer 2005, me and my cousin use to be dying laughing at the rag doll physics/body colliding for extra damage in VS mode. He hated when i used Volt for the Giant Swing. Good memories indeed 🙏 😂
I don’t think I’ve ever forgotten about a game as hard as I had forgotten about this one. It came out, I rented it and played it nonstop for like 2-3 days, and that was all the fun that could be had. It’s like I literally blocked out that game’s existence until I saw this video’s thumbnail.
I’ve noticed a pattern with Sony…they tend to botch their console launches due to being very thin on killer apps the first year of the console life. Lucky for them it hasn’t hurt them yet, but if this was the 80’s and early 90’s, a lack of games in that first year would have absolutely hurt them if they were competing with Nintendo and Sega
This game was...something. if I remember correctly I rented The Bouncer from the local video store, returned it the very next day, and never thought about it again until Max and co. posted a vid.
This was the first game I really connected to. Getting a historic breakdown of how rough it’s development was is very entertaining! I feel like I’m 5 years old again~
This and Tekken Tag were my first real experiences with the PS2, and will forever hold a special place in my heart. Nobody's cooler than Volt and nothing will ever change my mind on this.
Game's biggest flaw might be that it doesn't embrace its bouncer profession and goes instantly to full-on anime scifi. Perhaps bit slower start with basic bouncer action in fantasy setting and world-building which then builds up to a fight on space-ship.
For years this was my fever dream game, couldn't remember the name, but could vividly remember the gameplay, it wasn't until over a decade later that I finally learned the name and was able to get a copy to play it again
This was my 2nd PS2 game (1st being Street Fighter EX3). I enjoyed this game a lot. Kou was the best character to use for me while 2nd place goes to Adult Sora.
I was at a local street fighter tourney yesterday and my friend said "hey, come on" in a tone that reminded me of Sion more so than Terry and I told him it was from The Bouncer and i imitated it and talked about the trinity attack... and this vid comss out today. How topical.
Wild that Josh Strife Hayes mentioned this game in a new video yesterday and Matt makes a whole dissertation on it today. I went from not knowing what Josh was talking about to complete understanding in 12 hours.
I never played The Bouncer, but there's something unique about late 90s Nomura's artstyle, I think I kind of prefer the look of Final Fantasy VIII compared to VII. It also seemed like Squaresoft wanted to diversify their game output outside the realm of RPGs with games like Einhander, Bushido Blade and The Bouncer as well, but it seems like the failure of Spirits Within and their merge with Enix put an end to many of their plans
it was solely the failure of The Spirits Within. The merger with Enix was a consequence of that failure. It's actually sad, when you think about it. The Spirits Within was supposed to be a groundbreaking project. I can't believe that Square didn't put much effort into its storyline and characters. Literally all their games have interesting stories and characters (and music). They failed to include what they excell at. Very weird.
@@NoctLightCloud actually it was somewhat the opposite. The merger had already been in talks before 2000, and the failure of The Spirits Within gave Enix a LOT of hesitation about partnering with a company that was losing so much money. It nearly killed the deal. I believe it was the success of FFX shortly after that changed their minds.
Playing with 4 people on multi-tap was infinite fun for me when I was a kid. There's something extra fun about exploiting the janky combos and ragdoll physics the game has against your friends lol.
This game is such a guilty pleasure for me. At the time it came out it was certainly ambitious, had mind blowing graphics and I played the hell out of it and got all the characters to S rank. Don’t get me started on the escort mission through the robot factory though…
OMG no way! Just two days ago I left a comment on a video of yours from 5 years ago asking you to do a What Happened on this game! You actually replied and said "Maybe Some day". And now here we are two days later. My mind is blown! What timing! Thanks bro! This is awesome!
I actually loved this game but yeah it was heavy on the cinematics. That doesn't make it a bad game though, look at Metal Gear Solid. I even bought the 4 controller adapter so all my friends could play Vs. mode together. I'd knock opponents down then use Scion's move where he spins in a circle with his fist straight out in a T-Pose and it would do massive damage to downed opponents. It was cheese but it was so fun. The only thing that really disappointed me was the lack of a co-op story mode. I maxed all the characters moves out and unlocked everything, I really liked this game.
I don’t think I’ve clicked on a video that fast in at least 5 years. I was so hyped for this games release back in the day then, for reasons unknown, I never played it. Hell, I never even saw it in stores. Thanks for the video! Chaos Legion next?
Not gonna lie this was one of my favorites back in the day. Trying to get everyone's skills and endings was pretty addictive. I wish they would revisit this in some way 😢
I do hate how that one thing says it only has a playthrough of 45 minutes but if you have to play through all the characters to get the full story then wouldn't that literally triple the time so all in all at 2 hours story and a handful of side stuff so not bad for a launch title on PS2
Game cannot be released as PS2 Classics as it uses a features that disappeared after the PS3. The game make uses of Pressure sensitive buttons, the ps2 and ps3 could tell with how much strength you would press the 4 main buttons and that transcribe in game as different attack move. light moves were the four main button pressed lightly and strong moves are imputed when pressing those buttons with more strenght... it was really hard to get use to it as in the action of a fighting game you tend to press the buttons harder resulting in combo not always turning out as you wanted, as the game combo system was a mix of light and hard press !
8:57 I agree with you. Just like in the Mortal Kombat 9 and 11 (I didn't played X and I yet) story-modes. They also consist of lengthy cut scenes and here and there a 60 second long fight-sequence. But the story-modes are so well done, that the mix between cut-scenes and fighting-sequences are a lot of fun. I really mean it, the cut-scenes in 9 and 11 are so awesome you don't want to skip them.
As a kid who played a crap ton of Streets of Rage, I rmr being so excited to visit the game store just to stare at the front and back of The Bouncer's game case. I just couldn't believe how great those graphics looked for a beat-em-up. I also rmr the utter disappointment I felt in discovering there was no couch coop for me and my brother. At least the ragdoll physics were funny af lol
i haven't even watched this yet but the YELL OF JOY i just let out seeing this thumbnail!!! i ADORE this silly little game, awful writing and mechanics and all!!! i feel like not too many people have played it so i hope this helps to bring more attention to what has been a huge guilty pleasure of mine for 2 decades now lol
Memory unlocked. Back then I blooming into a HARDCORE gamer (owning a PC and all three systems) and had a friend who was really into Square and FF. He pushed me pretty hard to get The Bouncer because of that and... it was probably one of the first experiences I had wasting my own hard earned money on an LJN quality game.
Marvelous video, as always! I got to play The Bouncer waaay back when it released. I liked it, albeit in hindsight it was more FMV than game; but hey, back then there were no digital storefronts, and as for me, IF I got a game, that would be my only game for at least a year, so you had to make do. I'd love for this little experiment of a game to get a re-release in some way, if only to ride the nostalgia train for a couple of hours. Cheers!
The Bouncer, the game I first learned from... you, about 12 years ago from a video from you lol A game that hasn't had anything new for it in decades, yet the usual suspects always bring it up. Also, I don't think I've seen a company just, stop, not die, but just... stop, and with only one employee left. I consider that even sadder.
Kinda funny personal annedode about this game. It’s one of my earliest childhood memories playing video games. My dad bought me two games for my ps2, this and Mega Man Legends. I was visiting my grandparents at the time and me and my cousin accidentally scratched the disc when it fell behind the bed. I remember we played it for a bit but it barely worked and I didn’t really understand how to play it. I didn’t play a lot of T rated games back then anyway so I play a lot of Mega Man Legends. I forgot about it but it still was in the back of my mind for years. The only thing I can remember about this one game I played briefly was a cutscene of “three guys standing on the back of a train in the snow.” When I saw Austin Eruption video also covering this game I was like “OMG THIS IS THAT GAME!” Great video Matt
Not sure why, but I still love The Bouncer and will bust it out every few years. Dauragon C. Mikado and Mugetsu are still great villains to me. I think I'm broken.
I genuinely loves this game as a teenager and still do. It's a bit clunky, but I love the open area beat em battles and the absurd story. It also has a pretty deep vs mode with multiple characters you can play as, including Echida and Dauragon. Plus, having Steve Blum voice Kou doesn' hurt.
Oh my gosh! This video just unlocked a memory that I never knew I had! I remember renting this game from Blockbuster in the early 2000s. Whenever my ma wanted to go rent some movies, I was always allowed to choose two games to rent. This game was one of them.
This was my first game for PS2. My dad bought me it with the console because I'd talked about it, and he was trying to win back my affection after leaving my mom. The condition was I could only play it at his apartment, to get me to want to visit 😅 I still fondly remember the game though. I still own the same copy, and I'm glad since it didn't get a re-release.
Check out The SoberDwarf's Video on DreamFactory HERE ➤ ruclips.net/video/1fJLmvONiE8/видео.html
Matt there are so many bad games now. How can you keep up with this?
You should cover Battlefield Earth for What Happened?
*breaths in*
THE BOUNCER
*puts on sunglasses*
THE 🅱️OUNCER…
*Turn on speakers up to 20 and speaks into mic.*
THE BOUNCER
The 𝕭ouncer
*Blink*
[tiny bouncer blocks your windpipe]
The 🅱️ouncer
PS2’s “we have final fantasy at home”.
“IT’S NOT EVEN THE SAME GENRE MOM!”
"But it's from the makers of Final Fantasy."
@@wilsonchan9768”and it has spiky haired emo boy”
I got this game for Christmas thinking it was FF-adjacent. I was so disappointed.
But it definitely has the aesthetic and writing of Final Fantasy from that era.
This game is way better than 90% of the Final Fantasy games out there
"Decaying fighting game paradigm" .....Bold words to say about a 3D fighter at a time when Tekken 3 and Tekken Tag Tournament were dominating the market.
It's IGN, what did you expect
Tekken 3(and Tag, don't know what that guy means by 2001, it was out 2 years before that), Soul Calibur, Street Fighter 3rd Strike, and Marvel vs. Capcom 2 (and Bloody Roar 2, because dangit I love that game) were all pretty solid. I guess Tekken 3 was a bit early for that period but eh, close enough. Maybe on the decline financially but I don't think they were declining in quality.
This was back in an era where every single Square protag looked exactly the same with the same spiky hair.
I always wondered why Sion was just an older Sora from Kingdom Hearts lol
It's Gackt all the way down
Tetsuya Nomura's spike hair is the Rob Liefeld's shoulder pads of the early 2000
Don't forget the zippers and belts.
@@Maxwel_RodriguesDon’t forget the belts… And the chains…
"THE BOUNCER".
Always love this sting.
Ah yes, the game where I thought Sora from Kingdom Hearts grew up. 🤣
Bouncer came out before Kingdom Hearts though
IM GLAD THATS NOT JUST ME LOL
Nah that's his older brother (not really but I like to pretend so)
@@Kolbatsu That's my headcanon; Sion is Sora's older brother he doesn't talk about 🤣.
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
6 year old me thought the main trio were the coolest looking characters ever
Because they are!!!!!!1
@@Bman32xnah, they're mad cringe lol
@@TheRealMycanthropewhy
3:46 as soon as this hit I just said out loud “just say it. I know. I could tell immediately.”
“Tetsuya Nomura designed all the main characters”
“There it is.”
I mean they look like past final fantasy characters
Bro was created first and that Sion kid still just looks like discount "We have Sora at home"
Fun fact this is the last thing Mimi woods who originally voiced major Motoko Kusanagi ever did before she retired
Based.
oh how i love Sion, a man haunted by a tragic past. Within him lies strength and kindness, but also a great sorrow. All this will change when he meets a girl named Dominique. These are the residents of DOG STREET: The Bouncer
impossible to read on a CRT at that time ! XD
🥲 childhood memory unlocked. Thank you
The Bouncer is... bizarre, to say the least. It's a game where Proto-Sora Final Fights his way to rescue his robot not!girlfriend from the Shinra Corporation.
Led by blonde Sephiroth & his assassin…. Cyborg hybrid Speed of Sound Sonic-Ghirahim?
I'm honestly kind of shocked to hear that the game didn't sell well. I worked at a Blockbuster Video at the time and the game was always out of stock, with people constantly asking when we were expecting to get them returned.
It’s not shocking. Game rental is a big factor why it didn’t sell well-if everyone is renting it instead of buying the game, developers and publishers lose out. Japanese game industry even tried to ban game rentals in the US but US courts shot it down.
I love this game. It was one of my first ps2 games. The final battle against Duragon C. Mikado was something ill hate forever.
only people who played this game say his whole name :)
@@crashspike22 God I thought it was just me
@@crashspike22well his full name is fun to say
Same here I played it a lot back in the day. And yes Duragon C. Mikado was a pain in the rear but man it felt good kicking his ass.
That BS combo his final form had was brutal. I’ll never forget it.
Tetsuya Nomura is like the eternal edgy teenager with his character designs.
That man single handedly keep the angsty Eno aesthetic alive for twenty years
@@mastermaniac1911I don’t like him much either I think he’s a hack.
He's the Japanese Rob Liefeld.
@@Sturmfall1 I've called him the Japanese David Cage, he's a hack as a producer and director.
@@DontKnowDontCare6.9 so no one criticize the rich if you never made a company got it bro
If the Bouncer ever came back, all they gotta do is just copy Yakuza/Like a Dragon 100%
was just thinking in an alternate timeline this game essentially became the yakuza series
I would rather prefer it to play like Tobal instead of Yakuza. Kakuto Chojin's 4 player multi-player is basically The Bouncer but the mechanics are more akin to a fighting game.
They gotta keep the shit ragdoll physics, though.
Somewhere there’s a parallel timeline where The Bouncer became a franchise and Yakuza/Like A Dragon never even got a sequel.
@@foxyfoxington2651and here I thought WE lived in the darkest timeline!
The Bouncer = Road House meets Final Fantasy
Now I'd fancy seeing a Flophouse Plays video on Ehrgeiz to see why it apparently gives Matt a case of the heebie jeebies!
He's actually praised the game feature wise in the past.
Mostly the side RPG mode if I recall.
Honestly, this has always been one of my favourite PS2 games. The fighting was fun (if sorely missing co-op) and the story was cool. The big twist with Dominique was one of the first times a video game made me emotional.
You needed the multitap for 4player
Yeah that shit was wild, finding out she was an android and I was like WHAAAAAT
@@venomouskiss320would still smash 😤
@@venomouskiss320 Watching her throw-down was quite something.
VS Screen Announcer when you select a character fast:
🎤 "DURAGON C. MIKAD, DURAGON C. MIKAD, DURAGON C. MIKAD, DURAGON C. MIKADO!!" 😂
For anyone wondering, seiichi ishii is currently making a little game called Brain Fighters for a company called Minnapad. Keiji Inafune is also making his Beastroid game with them as well. The downside so far is that this company seems focused on NFTs, and their youtube channel has been pretty silent lately, so I'm not sure what's currently happening.
Seems like a waste of talent to be making a NFT game. Maybe it might be good, but from seeing the gameplay it doesn't really have anything so far. I would love for Ishii to make a Tobal style game, with Kakuto Chojins movement, and speed boost mechanic instead of this.
After the might no 9 fiasco I'm not surprised inafune went into a hole
I wouldn’t be surprised if they put all their eggs into NFTs, and now that NFTs are dead, they don’t really know what to do.
I don't know why my comment disappeared, I said Keiji Inafune's career went downwards after his kickstarter game
Thank you for sharing this curious information!
Why does Sion look like an adult Sora ☠
Same Artist
The character designer lacks creativity?
Nomura knows what he likes
The same reason that kid from the KH3 DLC looks like Noctis.
@@mechadekathat one's actually a different story. That kid basically was supposed to be noctis. Nomura was developing a game called Final Fantasy versus and was pulled from the project to make KH3. FFV was then turned into FF15 and that kid (Yazora) was his original design for Noctis. It should also be of note that Noctus means night in Latin and Yazora means night sky in Japanese
The Bouncer walked so Urban Reign could run.
I remember seeing pictures of this game in PlayStation Power magazine and thinking “oh my God, the future has arrived!”
Little did I know how short lived the future would be…
The Bouncer is my all-time favorite video game. This video taught me some interesting things about its development cycle. I was already aware of the planned interactive environments and Dominique’s potential playable role in the story, but I _wasn’t_ aware of the reason why the game’s release was pushed to March when it was originally due for January. In my perspective, The Bouncer was unfortunately subjected to immensely high expectations, which Square relied on exceeding for the game to financially succeed, but The Bouncer is an excellent game when you see it as it is, rather than what the press wanted it to be. I don’t think The Bouncer is as underwhelming as people say.
The combat is surprisingly intricate and fun to learn once you’ve gotten the hang of the battle system and design. Movement is smooth and the attacks themselves are much fun to perform, even better when you learn how to string moves together wherever possible. The EXP system is unorthodox but enjoyable, and I think the story is by far the highlight in typical Square Enix fashion. The Bouncer is one of their best works in my opinion, as it tells one primary story that is broken up between three characters who all provide their own unique pasts and relation to the current plot. Every character outside of the main trio plays their own distinct role-there’s something to discover and learn about each of them.
The mystery, the emotion, and everything in-between makes The Bouncer’s story stand out, which makes it such a shame that almost nobody understands it or even bothers to study it. The Bouncer is not a game you can understand just by playing it once. It requires replays, discussion and thinking, just like most other Square Enix games (Kingdom Hearts, for example).
Those are just my two cents. The Bouncer is a very important game to me. Also, the Dog Street tribute in KH II definitely counts as acknowledgment towards The Bouncer. We’ve yet to see a remaster or re-release of some kind, but let Bouncer fans have this one. 😂
I played the absolute hell out of this game. DAURAGON C. MIKADO
Why’d the say his middle initial 😂😂😂 cracked me up every time
We have a street in our town called Caldwell and every time I drive by I hear in my mind LEANN CALDWELL.
DAURAGON C. MIKADO
DAURAGON C. MIKADO
DAURAGON C. MIKADO
DAURAGON C. MIKADO
Fastest click ever right when I open up youtube.
Same and almost no one else posts on sundays
Lol me too
If any game deserves a What Hapun, this is it
Haha hell yeah!!
Soooo fast. It was the first video on my feed
I will never forget when i finally got to experience this game back in Summer 2005, me and my cousin use to be dying laughing at the rag doll physics/body colliding for extra damage in VS mode. He hated when i used Volt for the Giant Swing. Good memories indeed 🙏 😂
Loved all 2 hours of this game. The gameplay looked like a ps1 cgi, and the cgi looked like peak 3d anime
Oh mannn i've been waiting for this😭. I still play this on my ps2 lmao
I don’t think I’ve ever forgotten about a game as hard as I had forgotten about this one. It came out, I rented it and played it nonstop for like 2-3 days, and that was all the fun that could be had. It’s like I literally blocked out that game’s existence until I saw this video’s thumbnail.
Bruhhhhh, I still have this game. First Square game I ever played. Funny enough this game got me into Final Fantasy
I’ve noticed a pattern with Sony…they tend to botch their console launches due to being very thin on killer apps the first year of the console life. Lucky for them it hasn’t hurt them yet, but if this was the 80’s and early 90’s, a lack of games in that first year would have absolutely hurt them if they were competing with Nintendo and Sega
This game was...something. if I remember correctly I rented The Bouncer from the local video store, returned it the very next day, and never thought about it again until Max and co. posted a vid.
*THE BOUNCER!*
5:52
*THE BOUN...*
"Yes, thank you!" 😅
The Booty!
Me, my brother, and cousins spent many hours playing versus, such good times!!!
Hell Yes! I really liked this game. Felt like a cool RPG Beat Em Up with the Square vibes we all crave
This was the first game I really connected to. Getting a historic breakdown of how rough it’s development was is very entertaining! I feel like I’m 5 years old again~
This and Tekken Tag were my first real experiences with the PS2, and will forever hold a special place in my heart. Nobody's cooler than Volt and nothing will ever change my mind on this.
Thanks
"I know I'm The Bouncer but when do I actually start being A Bouncer?"
A question with an answer that has eluded me for years.
Game's biggest flaw might be that it doesn't embrace its bouncer profession and goes instantly to full-on anime scifi. Perhaps bit slower start with basic bouncer action in fantasy setting and world-building which then builds up to a fight on space-ship.
@@Yurikon3 tfw you realize that GTA Gay Tony is a better bouncer game than The Bouncer
For years this was my fever dream game, couldn't remember the name, but could vividly remember the gameplay, it wasn't until over a decade later that I finally learned the name and was able to get a copy to play it again
This was my 2nd PS2 game (1st being Street Fighter EX3).
I enjoyed this game a lot. Kou was the best character to use for me while 2nd place goes to Adult Sora.
I would just use adult Sora and spam the donkey kick
I was at a local street fighter tourney yesterday and my friend said "hey, come on" in a tone that reminded me of Sion more so than Terry and I told him it was from The Bouncer and i imitated it and talked about the trinity attack... and this vid comss out today. How topical.
You should totally review twewy 🤘🏾
I second this ⬆️👍🏻
I’ve heard both games have a very interesting development history, yeah.
@@wingedmirage4226 oh yeah and some cut content
Love this game man. The graphics were so ahead of its time.
I really liked this game back in the day, but it definitely didn't live up to what they promised
I remember this game being like 80% cutscenes.
I still find it funny and cool that Sora's outfit is based on Sion's outfit, actually color scheme wise but still a cool and funny fact
Wild that Josh Strife Hayes mentioned this game in a new video yesterday and Matt makes a whole dissertation on it today. I went from not knowing what Josh was talking about to complete understanding in 12 hours.
Wow people remember "The Bouncer". I had some good times playing this with my good buddy from middle school.
I never played The Bouncer, but there's something unique about late 90s Nomura's artstyle, I think I kind of prefer the look of Final Fantasy VIII compared to VII. It also seemed like Squaresoft wanted to diversify their game output outside the realm of RPGs with games like Einhander, Bushido Blade and The Bouncer as well, but it seems like the failure of Spirits Within and their merge with Enix put an end to many of their plans
it was solely the failure of The Spirits Within. The merger with Enix was a consequence of that failure. It's actually sad, when you think about it. The Spirits Within was supposed to be a groundbreaking project. I can't believe that Square didn't put much effort into its storyline and characters. Literally all their games have interesting stories and characters (and music). They failed to include what they excell at. Very weird.
@@NoctLightCloud actually it was somewhat the opposite. The merger had already been in talks before 2000, and the failure of The Spirits Within gave Enix a LOT of hesitation about partnering with a company that was losing so much money. It nearly killed the deal. I believe it was the success of FFX shortly after that changed their minds.
Playing with 4 people on multi-tap was infinite fun for me when I was a kid. There's something extra fun about exploiting the janky combos and ragdoll physics the game has against your friends lol.
Has one of the dopest soundtracks that I've ever heard, and I still listen to till this day!
I think I have the DNA of Scooby-Doo. I read the thumbnail as "The Rouncer"
Wow you weren’t lying when you said this was worth the wait. Amazing as usual
Man. I remember playing this game when I worked for Blockbuster. I wanna say I made it half way through the game.
“Stop it Dauragon!” - Volt Krueger
This game is such a guilty pleasure for me. At the time it came out it was certainly ambitious, had mind blowing graphics and I played the hell out of it and got all the characters to S rank.
Don’t get me started on the escort mission through the robot factory though…
OMG no way! Just two days ago I left a comment on a video of yours from 5 years ago asking you to do a What Happened on this game! You actually replied and said "Maybe Some day". And now here we are two days later. My mind is blown! What timing! Thanks bro! This is awesome!
I actually loved this game but yeah it was heavy on the cinematics. That doesn't make it a bad game though, look at Metal Gear Solid. I even bought the 4 controller adapter so all my friends could play Vs. mode together. I'd knock opponents down then use Scion's move where he spins in a circle with his fist straight out in a T-Pose and it would do massive damage to downed opponents. It was cheese but it was so fun. The only thing that really disappointed me was the lack of a co-op story mode. I maxed all the characters moves out and unlocked everything, I really liked this game.
I don’t think I’ve clicked on a video that fast in at least 5 years. I was so hyped for this games release back in the day then, for reasons unknown, I never played it. Hell, I never even saw it in stores. Thanks for the video! Chaos Legion next?
Not gonna lie this was one of my favorites back in the day. Trying to get everyone's skills and endings was pretty addictive. I wish they would revisit this in some way 😢
13:43 Last sentence of that quote giving chilling vibes comparable to standing on the tracks while hearing the distant train whistle coming...
I do hate how that one thing says it only has a playthrough of 45 minutes but if you have to play through all the characters to get the full story then wouldn't that literally triple the time so all in all at 2 hours story and a handful of side stuff so not bad for a launch title on PS2
IGN: "decaying fighting game paradigm"
Matt: "And I took that personally."
I know I'm one of like 6 people who loves Ehrgeiz. Playing the demo disc was one of my first gaming experiences.
I mean, it generally reviews as "okay"
Nobody hates it really
Just... Most people barely care outside of the guest characters
Ehrgeiz felt like such an acid trip of a game.
@1stCallipostle Never said it was hated. Typically, from what I've seen, most people don't have strong enough feelings to love it or hate it.
Game cannot be released as PS2 Classics as it uses a features that disappeared after the PS3.
The game make uses of Pressure sensitive buttons, the ps2 and ps3 could tell with how much strength you would press the 4 main buttons and that transcribe in game as different attack move. light moves were the four main button pressed lightly and strong moves are imputed when pressing those buttons with more strenght... it was really hard to get use to it as in the action of a fighting game you tend to press the buttons harder resulting in combo not always turning out as you wanted, as the game combo system was a mix of light and hard press !
Best ragdoll physics in any game ever imo…
8:57 I agree with you. Just like in the Mortal Kombat 9 and 11 (I didn't played X and I yet) story-modes. They also consist of lengthy cut scenes and here and there a 60 second long fight-sequence. But the story-modes are so well done, that the mix between cut-scenes and fighting-sequences are a lot of fun. I really mean it, the cut-scenes in 9 and 11 are so awesome you don't want to skip them.
Omg The bouncer . Man this was my favorite game . Beat it more than 20 times lol .
As a kid who played a crap ton of Streets of Rage, I rmr being so excited to visit the game store just to stare at the front and back of The Bouncer's game case. I just couldn't believe how great those graphics looked for a beat-em-up.
I also rmr the utter disappointment I felt in discovering there was no couch coop for me and my brother. At least the ragdoll physics were funny af lol
The Bouncer was one of my favorite games of all time. Loved the combat and multiplayer.
Maybe am the only one, but I loved this game back in the day. Definitely one of my favorites on ps2
Man!!! Such a classic!! The memories I have replaying through the story mode many times over..
EHRGEIZ MENU NOISE LETS GOOOOOOO
i haven't even watched this yet but the YELL OF JOY i just let out seeing this thumbnail!!! i ADORE this silly little game, awful writing and mechanics and all!!! i feel like not too many people have played it so i hope this helps to bring more attention to what has been a huge guilty pleasure of mine for 2 decades now lol
Memory unlocked. Back then I blooming into a HARDCORE gamer (owning a PC and all three systems) and had a friend who was really into Square and FF. He pushed me pretty hard to get The Bouncer because of that and... it was probably one of the first experiences I had wasting my own hard earned money on an LJN quality game.
😂😅
Same
Marvelous video, as always!
I got to play The Bouncer waaay back when it released. I liked it, albeit in hindsight it was more FMV than game; but hey, back then there were no digital storefronts, and as for me, IF I got a game, that would be my only game for at least a year, so you had to make do.
I'd love for this little experiment of a game to get a re-release in some way, if only to ride the nostalgia train for a couple of hours.
Cheers!
The Bouncer, the game I first learned from... you, about 12 years ago from a video from you lol A game that hasn't had anything new for it in decades, yet the usual suspects always bring it up.
Also, I don't think I've seen a company just, stop, not die, but just... stop, and with only one employee left. I consider that even sadder.
It at least explains why they haven't done anything significant since the 00s. At least Ishii is still making games with that Brain Fighter project.
Kinda funny personal annedode about this game. It’s one of my earliest childhood memories playing video games. My dad bought me two games for my ps2, this and Mega Man Legends. I was visiting my grandparents at the time and me and my cousin accidentally scratched the disc when it fell behind the bed. I remember we played it for a bit but it barely worked and I didn’t really understand how to play it. I didn’t play a lot of T rated games back then anyway so I play a lot of Mega Man Legends. I forgot about it but it still was in the back of my mind for years. The only thing I can remember about this one game I played briefly was a cutscene of “three guys standing on the back of a train in the snow.” When I saw Austin Eruption video also covering this game I was like “OMG THIS IS THAT GAME!”
Great video Matt
Not sure why, but I still love The Bouncer and will bust it out every few years. Dauragon C. Mikado and Mugetsu are still great villains to me.
I think I'm broken.
I rented this game from blockbuster back in the day. I remember having nothing to do one summer and playing it over and over. I hated it.
I genuinely loves this game as a teenager and still do.
It's a bit clunky, but I love the open area beat em battles and the absurd story.
It also has a pretty deep vs mode with multiple characters you can play as, including Echida and Dauragon.
Plus, having Steve Blum voice Kou doesn' hurt.
A What Happened episode on a Sunday? i don't mind if i do, thanks for all the work and dedication you put into this series Matt, i love it :)
How does this channel not have like 3 million subs at this point? The content is always amazing
OMG I fucking love this, still own a copy thought the concept was great but needed a sequel to bring it all home
Oh my gosh! This video just unlocked a memory that I never knew I had!
I remember renting this game from Blockbuster in the early 2000s. Whenever my ma wanted to go rent some movies, I was always allowed to choose two games to rent.
This game was one of them.
This games infamy refuses to die!😂
This game looked really good at launch and still better than most games that came out on the ps2 and early days of the ps3.
*The Bouncer.* 🤯
Great Stuff, as always!
funny seeing games are just interactive cutscenes now
I just loved this game. It was my very first ps2 game. Played it over and over again with my cousin
for a second i thought this was a spin off of KH because of the MC
This was my first game for PS2. My dad bought me it with the console because I'd talked about it, and he was trying to win back my affection after leaving my mom. The condition was I could only play it at his apartment, to get me to want to visit 😅 I still fondly remember the game though. I still own the same copy, and I'm glad since it didn't get a re-release.
Colin Moriarty's favourite game.
The former IGN reviewer? Or the Fallout 3 character?
@@richardofredemption the ign guy, one of his more out there hot takes from the Playstation podcast.
I still remember him having that hot take about mass effect 3 from back in the day 😂
This was one of the first games I ever played for the PS2 and the part I remember most was the song at the credits. Love is a gift by Shanice.
I. Fucking. Loved. The Bouncer.