I’ve been involved in IT management for fifteen years and learned to appreciate systems that are innovative and efficient, even though they may appear to be impractical at first. Power Stone, as a fighting game, fits that model — it appears chaotic, operates effectively due to a genius design and simultaneously is both unpredictable and skill-based.
The reason that very few gamers remember Power Stone indicates something fundamental about gaming — innovative ideas do not always generate popularity and many underappreciated games can be more interesting than their popular counterparts.
A 3D fighting game, Power Stone allows four players to simultaneously compete in an arena. Players may pick-up items in the arena and use them as weapons; Power Stones are located in the arena and provide temporary invincible and power-enhanced statuses when picked up. Essentially, it’s chaos and yet, one of the best-designed fighting games I’ve ever encountered.
What Power Stone Does
You will be competing in an arena with four opponents simultaneously. All four opponents will be fighting you at the same time. Items such as barrels, crates, and weapons will be available in the arena and may be grabbed to utilize as weapons. There will be three Power Stones in the arena which, upon collection, will temporarily make you invincible and enhance your power. The first player to win a best-of-three match will be declared the winner.
Although the concept seems to be chaotic, it is actually controlled chaos. The controls are responsive; the collision detection is fair; the special moves are distinct per character; the Power Stones are located in known areas that are discovered through experience; and the game achieves a seemingly perfect balance, despite its apparent randomness.
What impresses me is that each match will feel unique. Since all four opponents are competing simultaneously, the dynamics of each match will change continuously. You might be attacking one opponent when another strikes you from behind; you might be defending against two opponents and then one opponent becomes isolated by the other, creating space to breathe; you are not using a chess-like method to plan your strategy — you are reacting to and adapting to events in real-time.
Why Four-Player Fighting Games Are More Challenging Than One-On-One Fighting Games
One-on-one fighting games work as well as they do, because there are only two variables to balance for each character matchup. Four-player fighting games have infinitely more variables than one-on-one fighting games. The position of each player in the arena, who has which item, and who has Power Stones, all affect the possibilities for each fighter. The sheer number of possible game states is staggering.
That Power Stone achieves a balance in spite of this complexity is an accomplishment worthy of admiration. There is no single strategy that will prevail. Zoning is effective until someone picks up an item; rush-down strategies are effective until you are surrounded; defensive play is effective until someone ganging up on you isolates you; everything has a counter and the counter has a counter.
The Power Stone System
The Power Stone system is brilliant, particularly because it provides a lot of power, but only temporarily. You cannot sit on the stone and control the game indefinitely — it runs out. Therefore, you must continually adapt and be able to turn the tide of battle back-and-forth with the other players.
Design Philosophy
From an IT standpoint, what Power Stone accomplishes is creating a system where individual player decisions influence the outcome of the game, but luck also plays a role. You cannot control when other players pick up items or when Power Stones are generated. You cannot control whether you are fighting one opponent or three opponents simultaneously. However, you can control how you react to the changing circumstances.
This is actually fair game design masked as randomness. The randomness of four-player simultaneous combat generates a greater variety of situations than would be possible with purely skill-based systems. You are evaluating your ability to think quickly and adapt under pressure, as opposed to simply memorizing combos and analyzing frame data.
The environmental hazards function similarly. At times, the arena changes shape, and new obstacles are created. At other times, stage hazards cause damage to all players equally. The game trusts the players to adapt to these situations, as opposed to attempting to create perfect balance in the game.
Does Power Stone Still Function Well?
Yes. The controls are responsive. The fighting is engaging. The chaos is fun. When you play this with other people (and this is the intended environment), the game is extremely enjoyable. The single-player story mode is adequate, but this is clearly a multiplayer-focused game, and that is acceptable.
The graphics are outdated, but charming. The character designs are memorable. The move effects are easy to read and understand. All of the elements communicate what is occurring, even during the most intense four-player battles, where numerous moves are executed at the same time.
The roster of playable characters is limited (only eight), but varied. Each character has a distinct fighting style and special move set. The movesets are simple enough to pick up, but complex enough that you can spend hours optimizing.
Why Power Stone Is Important for Fighting Game Design
Power Stone showed that fighting games do not have to be competitive. You can create a game that is fun as a party experience that is also mechanically sound. Power Stone acknowledges player agency while accepting the inherent chaos of four-player simultaneous combat.
Most games after Power Stone attempted to replicate the experience and failed, as they attempted to impose order on something that works as controlled chaos. Super Smash Bros partially succeeded in recreating Power Stone’s spirit, as it understood the importance of accepting chaos and designing around it, rather than trying to fight it.
The Tragic Fate of Power Stone
What bothers me most about Power Stone is that this is an exceptional game that few people know exists. It was developed and published for Dreamcast and later for GameCube. It had a sequel for PlayStation 2, which was better than the original. Yet Power Stone never received recognition, as fighting games began to transition toward competitive esports and Power Stone is fundamentally a party game.
In a world where everyone is vying to be the next Street Fighter or Tekken, Power Stone represents a different philosophy regarding fighting games — one that is fun for casual players and exciting enough for competitive players, although it will never be an esports title for pure skill-based fighters.
Conclusion
Power Stone is a fighting game that exemplifies the idea that innovation is worth far more than recognition. Four-player simultaneous combat that is somehow balanced. Environmental objects that add a layer of strategic depth. Power-ups that allow for a comeback opportunity without providing too much advantage. Distinct and pleasing special moves. A difficulty progression curve that teaches players without overwhelming them.
Power Stone is a game that should be remembered as a significant moment in the history of fighting game design — the moment someone asked, “why can’t fighting games be fun, non-competitive experiences?” and proved that the response could be, “exceptionally fun and exciting.”
If you have never played it, find it. If you create fighting games, study how Power Stone balances four simultaneous opponents and chaos with environmental objects to create unpredictability that pure skill-based systems cannot match.
Rating: 9/10 — The fighting game that demonstrated that chaos could be made beautiful.
John grew up swapping floppy disks and reading Amiga Power cover to cover. Now an IT manager in Manchester, he writes about the glory days of British computer gaming—Sensible Soccer, Speedball 2, and why the Amiga deserved more love than it ever got.
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