Guilty Gear
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Guilty Gear is a series of sprite-based fighting games designed by artist Daisuke Ishiwatari and Arc System Works and published by Sammy Studios. It is popular with fans for its detailed graphics, original characters, unique gameplay, and its numerous references to rock music, particularly the Heavy Metal subgenre.
The first game in the series, Guilty Gear, was released on the PlayStation home system in 1998. While it did gain some praise from the mainstream video game press such as Gamespot, [link] it didn't make much of an impact on the video game market. However, the release of its sequel Guilty Gear X on the ill-fated Dreamcast console in 2000 gained much more attention with its gameplay and more detailed graphics. In 2001 Sammy released Guilty Gear Petit and its sequel Guilty Gear Petit 2 later in the same year for Wonderswan, a very popular handheld gaming device in Japan.
In 2002, Guilty Gear XX (known as Guilty Gear X2 in North America) was released, furthering the individual stories while improving on gameplay and visuals. This was soon followed by Guilty Gear XX #Reload (pronounced "Sharp Reload"), which addressed a number of gameplay imbalances in XX and changed both matchplay tier arrangement and the "distance" between the tiers, added a new tournament-legal character, and brought the series online with Xbox Live. In 2004, Guilty Gear Isuka ("Isuka" meaning crossbill in Japanese, and representing the way two swords clash) was released, featuring up to four-player simultaneous gameplay, a side-scrolling mode called "Boost Mode", a customizable version of one of the characters, a new playable character, and various other goodies.
A new installment to the series, Guilty Gear XX Slash, has been released on arcade and Japanese PlayStation 2, and features one new character (Holy Order Sol, an alternate version of Sol) and a "balanced" version of A.B.A from Guilty Gear Isuka, as well as balance changes for the rest of the cast.
Two handheld versions are coming out on the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP. The titles are Guilty Gear Judgment (PSP) and Guilty Gear Dust Strikers (DS). Dust Strikers appears to be along the lines of Isuka, with four player gameplay being touted as the major draw point. It is also a "multi-platform" fighter, in the vein of games such as Super Smash Brothers Melee. Judgment is a port of the Japanese PSP version of Guilty Gear XX Slash, with a new, additional game, Guilty Gear Judgment. Judgment takes place through about 20 levels of side scrolling gameplay, similar to Isuka's Boost Mode, and contains branching story lines and new characters.
Recently, a port of the original Guilty Gear has made its way onto Japanese mobile phones. Titled Guilty Gear Club, this is an almost exact port of the original Guilty Gear, graphics and audio intact, with mini games, 4koma comic downloads, and new, downloadable characters. They have recently released one of the Judgment enemies as a playable character.
Games in Series
- Guilty Gear (1998) PSX
- Guilty Gear X (2000) Arcade (Sega Naomi), Dreamcast, PS2, PC
- Guilty Gear X 1.5 (2003) Arcade (Sammy Atomiswave)
- Guilty Gear Petit (2001) WonderSwan Color
- Guilty Gear Petit 2 (2001) WonderSwan Color
- [[Guilty Gear/Guilty Gear XX: The Midnight Carnival|Guilty Gear XX: The Midnight Carnival]] (2002) Arcade (Sega Naomi), Playstation 2
- [[Guilty Gear/Guilty Gear XX: The Midnight Carnival|Guilty Gear XX # Reload]] (2003) Arcade (Sega Naomi GD-ROM) (2004) Xbox, PS2, PSP, PC
- Guilty Gear X: Advance Edition (2002) GBA
- Guilty Gear Isuka (2004) Arcade (Sammy Atomiswave), Playstation 2, PC, Xbox
- Guilty Gear Club (2005) Mobile phones (Japan only)
- [[Guilty Gear/Guilty Gear XX: The Midnight Carnival|Guilty Gear XX Slash]] (2005) Arcade (Sega Naomi GD-ROM) (2006) Playstation 2
- Guilty Gear Dust Strikers (2006) Nintendo DS
- Guilty Gear Judgment Playstation Portable
Story
The Guilty Gear series takes place around the year 2180, in a chaotic, mystical future world. In 2010, mankind discovered an unlimited energy source of incredible power, which was fittingly labeled as Magic. Even with the various energy problems solved, however, wars still continued. With the power of Magic and science, living weapons known as "Gears" were created. These Gears eventually turned on their masters, beginning a century-long global war known as the Crusades where the Sacred Order of Holy Knights (Seikishidan being the Japanese name), fighting for the human race, was able to defeat Justice, the leader of the Gears. Justice having been locked away in a dimensional prison, all other Gears would seemingly cease to function, bringing an end to the Crusades.Guilty Gear
Five years after the war's end a Gear named Testament began a plan to free Justice. In response to this threat the United Nations began a fighting tournament in order to find fighters who would be able to defeat Testament and Justice. Ultimately, the immortal bounty hunter Sol Badguy brought down Justice again, and an uneasy peace began.
Guilty Gear X
Less than a year later there were reports of a newly discovered commander Gear. Fearing the start of another war once again, the United Nations held another tournament, offering a prize of 500,000 World Dollars for the destruction of this new Gear.
The Gear in question turned out to be a girl named Dizzy, who, while very powerful, had no desire to wage war or needlessly hurt others. She was defeated but spared by Sol Badguy; soon after, she was found by Ky Kiske, the charismatic police chief of the United Nations and ex-chief of the Sacred Order of Holy Knights. He soon entrusted care of Dizzy to Johnny, the leader of the Jellyfish air pirates, who then welcomed her as one of their own. Meanwhile, the bounty hunter and struggling chef Jam Kuradoberi arranged to take credit for Dizzy's disappearance and collected the reward in order to finance her restaurant.
Guilty Gear XX
In the time following Dizzy's disappearance, the mysterious Post War Administration Bureau began to secretly investigate the Gears and the various fighters of the previous tournaments for their own needs and ambitions. Various powers began to work in the shadows to fight for the control of the world, with many leads pointing to the creator of the Gears, a mysterious figure known only as "That Man" ("Ano Otoko" in Japanese). Again, the fighters from before find themselves in events beyond their control, most notably at the manipulative hands of a mysterious villianess by the name of I-No, who is revealed to be a servant of That Man for reasons yet unknown.
Characters
Guilty Gear is known for its varied and often bizarre cast of characters. The following lists various major characters in their order of appearance in the series. For more information see Characters in Guilty Gear.Guilty Gear
- *Sol Badguy
- *Ky Kiske
- *May
- *Chipp Zanuff
- *Dr. Baldhead
- *Potemkin
- *Zato-1
- *Kliff Undersn
- *Axl Low
- *Millia Rage
- *Baiken
- *Testament
- *Justice
- *Robo-Ky (as GGKy)
- *Holy Order Sol
- *That Man (Ano Otoko in Japan)
- *Raven
- *Gabriel
- *Sharon
- *Roger
- *S-Ko
- *April
- *Megumi
- *Tsuyoshi (Chipp Zanuff's shisho, or master)
Music references
Daisuke Ishiwatari is a devoted enthusiast of heavy metal and other forms of rock music. Throughout the series, the names of the various characters and attacks contain many references to various musicians, songs, bands, and album titles. For instance, Testament has an attack named "Master of Puppets", after the album of the same name by Metallica; Eddie is named after the zombie mascot of Iron Maiden; Axl Low is modelled on Axl Rose; and so on. Referenced more than any other group, however, is Ishiwatari's favorite band: Queen. Not only are there characters named after all four members of the band (May - Brian May, Johnny - John Deacon, Roger - Roger Taylor, and Sol's actual name is Frederick - Freddie Mercury), but a number of attacks are also named after their songs and albums. Slayer has an attack named "Under Pressure," and Potemkin's finishing move is named "Magnum Opera," a reference to the album "A Night at the Opera." Even the name Sol Badguy is a reference to Freddie Mercury's solo album "Mr. Bad Guy".
- A.B.A. is named for the Swedish band ABBA, as well as most likely an oblique reference to ternary form for music. Her special attack Erasure is the name of a British band, and her ax-like key Paracelsus might be named after alternative rock artist Peter Paracelsus and his self-titled album.
- Axl Low is clearly modeled (and named) after Axl Rose, frontman for Guns N' Roses. The fact that his laid back, happy-go-lucky personality sharply contrasts Rose's volatile nature suggests that this facet of his design is meant as an ironic one. The British flag design he wears on his shirt in XX as compared to X suggests AC/DC. Axl Rose once wore a British Flag outfit though. It may also be a reference to the character Billy Kane from the Fatal Fury series of fighting games who wore a similar shirt in many of his appearances. During his instant kill, he occasionally yells "Have a nice day!" which is a possible Bon Jovi reference, though it's a bit of a stretch.
- Anji-Mito's theme song, "Fuuga", is based on a Motley Crue song, "Live Wire". Also, his "Shitsu" projectile bears a distinct resemblance to Aerosmith's logo when transformed. The name "Anji" is most likely a reference to the instrumental guitar piece titled "Anji" written by Davy Graham. The song is also known as Angi, or Angie, but Anji is how the song appears when Simon and Garfunkel covered the song on their album Sounds of Silence.
- Bridget - His special move "Kickstart My Heart" is named after the Mötley Crüe song of the same title, his Shoot the Moon attack is named after a Mr. Big song (as well as preforming the same motion of the yo-yo trick with the same name), and his "Starship" attack is named after the band of the same name. Roger is named after Queen member Roger Taylor. The idea for the character comes from a song by The Who called "I'm A Boy."
- Chipp Zanuff is named for Chip Z'nuff, vocalist for glam rock band Enuff Z' Nuff. The opening guitar riff of Chipps's theme "Suck a Sage" highly resembles the main riff of "Loved to Death" by Megadeth.
- Dizzy appears to be named after Guns N' Roses member Darren 'Dizzy' Reed. It's also the name of a 1969 #1 hit song by Tommy Roe. Her "Skull Crusher" may be a reference to the Overkill song "Skull Krusher". Her overdrive "Gamma Ray", which Justice can also use, is named after the German power metal band. Her attack Hunger Strike is named for a song by grunge band Temple of the Dog. The main guitar riff of Dizzy's theme "Awe of She" strikes a huge resemblance with the intro to "Liar" by Helloween. Necro is possibly named after a Jewish rapper of that stage name.
- Eddie - see Zato-1, below
- Fanny was the name of an American girl group, one of the first rock bands to feature an all-woman ensemble.
- Faust may be named after Bård "Faust" Eithun formerly of black metal band Emperor, or "Faust", a German krautrock band. His attack Going My Way is a Lenny Kravitz reference.
- I-No - her name is pronounced "ee-no", and very likely a reference to Brian Eno. Her character is modelled after Shiina Ringo, a Japanese singer who shares both her characteristic mole and guitar. Her attacks "Chemical Love" and "Last Will and Testament" share the names of a Stevie Wonder song and a The Lurkers album, respectively. Her boss theme Midnight Carnival is practically a guitar-only version of the song "Kurenai" from the J-Rock band, X Japan.
- Jam Kuradoberi would be said in Japanese as "Kuradoberi Jam", a reference to Swedish pop/jazz group Cloudberry Jam who was popular in Japan at one stage.
- Johnny is named for Queen member John Deacon. Given that he is a hard-smokin', brawlin' womaniser (and his theme song, "Liquor bar and Drunkard" [The name based on the Thin Lizzy song "Whiskey In The Jar"], suggests quite a drinker), it is not much to assume that the man in black with the cowboy hat is also an homage to the late Johnny Cash (though Cash had not yet died at the character's conception). Also the way his black coat is open is simaliar to the way Toshimitsu Deyama or - Toshi from X Japan would wear his clothing during concerts. Possible reference to Black Sabbath song "Johnny Blade", as well as Ramones guitarist Johnny Ramone (whose bandmate, lead vocalist Joey Ramone, he coincidentally bears a striking visual resemblance to). His attack "Glitter is Gold" is a reference to Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven."
- Justice shares the Gamma Ray overdrive with Dizzy, an attack named after the band of the same name. Justice's name may be reference to Metallica's 1988 album ...And Justice For All.
- Kliff Undersn's attack "Soul Survivor" is either a reference to Helloween song Sole Survivor or Gorefest album Soul Survivor. He may also be named after the late bassist Cliff Burton, formerly of Metallica.
- Ky Kiske is named after Kai Hansen and Michael Kiske from the power metal band Helloween. His special move, Ride the Lightning, and instant kill attack, Rising Force, are named after Metallica and Yngwie Malmsteen albums, respectively. (Incidentally, the first word in Ride the Lightning's title song is "Guilty.") Ky's theme song, Holy Orders(Be Just or be Dead), is a reference to Iron Maiden song Be Quick or Be Dead.
- Leopaldon is the name of a Japanese techno band.
- May, as mentioned above, is named for Queen member Brian May.
- Millia Rage is named after the band Meliah Rage. Her Iron Savior, Emerald Rain, Silent Force, Winger, and Iron Maiden attacks are all names of bands. Her Bad Moon attack is named for the Rory Gallagher song "Bad Moon Rising" or the Creedence Clearwater Revival song of the same name. In her background story, Millia undergoes the 6th forbidden magic, "Angra", to gain control of her hair as a weapon, and this ritual bears the same name as the Brazilian heavy metal band Angra. Her special move Secret Garden is possibly named after the Irish-Norwegian, new age band, as well as the Bruce Springsteen song "Secret Garden". There's a possibility that her character is modeled after Blondie singer Deborah Harry, either visual or personality-wise. She also bears a strong resemblance to Smashing Pumpkins bassist D'Arcy Wretzky, especially her appearances in photo and video promotion for the band's 1991 debut album Gish.
- Potemkin - his Hammer Fall attack is named after the band Hammerfall, or named after the song by Queen called Hammer to Fall. His instant kill move "Magnum Opera" is a reference to Queen album "A Night at the Opera" and/or Yngwie Malmsteen album Magnum Opus. The airborne nation of Zepp, from which Potemkin hails, is likely named for Led Zeppelin, or possibly the Zepp chain of concert venues across Japan. Adding further to the Led Zeppelin reference is the fact that Potemkin's theme song, "Burly Heart", is based heavily on the Led Zeppelin song "Kashmir".
- Raven could be a reference to the British heavy metal band from the mid 70's.
- Robo-Ky - his Aegis High is named for Iron Maiden's song Aces High.
- Slayer is named for the band of the same name. Several of his attacks (Under Pressure, Dead On Time, Spread Your Wings, All Dead, and It's Late) are all named for Queen songs. His Undertow is named for an album by Tool, while his Royal Hunt is a Danish metal band. While not a musical reference, Slayer himself is based mainly on the character Impact Alberto from the Japanese animation "Giant Robo". Not only is their look similar, but some of Slayer's special moves resemble a couple of Alberto's. Also, Slayer's winning animation where he steps into a large, red cape is done by Alberto in the show.
- Sol Badguy The name "Badguy" is a reference to Freddie Mercury's solo album "Mr. Bad Guy", and his full name is a near-anagram of the black metal band Bal-Sagoth. Sol's real name is Frederick, a reference to Freddie Mercury. His attack Napalm Death is named for a British grindcore band. Sol's theme song Keep Yourself Alive is named for a Queen song. Sol's trademark headband bears the words "Rock You", a reference to the Queen song We Will Rock You. According to the game's manual, Sol's hobbies are "Listening to Queen" and his favourite thing is Queen's 1974 album Sheer Heart Attack. On a somewhat tenuous note, the rather unusual way Sol holds his flaming sword (particularly while blocking) is remarkably like the way Freddie Mercury "swordfights" with his Mic stand in the Princes of the Universe video against Christopher Lambert.
- Testament is named for the band. His attacks "Grave Digger" and "Warrant" are both named for bands, and his attack "Master of Puppets", is named after an album by Metallica. His Seventh Sign attack is named for a song by Yngwie Malmsteen. His attack "Nightmare Circular" may refer to Testament's song "Nightmare."
- Venom - his name comes from the British heavy metal band Venom. His attack "Carcass Raid" could be a reference to the band Carcass, and his "Dark Angel" overdrive is a reference to the thrash metal band of the same name. Venom's theme music, A Soltitude That Asks Nothing In Return, is very similar to Breed to Breathe by Napalm Death, sans the lyrics and the intro.
- Zappa is named after Frank Zappa. His attack "Last Edguy" is a reference to the German power metal band Edguy.
- Zato-1/Eddie - Eddie is named after the zombie mascot of Iron Maiden. His attack "Break the Law" is a reference to the Judas Priest song "Breaking the Law" and his instant kill "Black in Mind" is named after an album by Rage. His Shadow Gallery attack is named for an American progressive rock band, and his "Amorphous" attack is named for Finnish band Amorphis. Also, his "Rise and Fall" attack from the original Guilty Gear is named after a song by Helloween. Zato-1's theme, "Feel a Fear", seems to have an opening similar to the opening guitar riffs in the White Zombie song "Grease Paint and Monkey Brains." The title of Zato-1's original theme music, "Black Soul", as well as his stage's background in the original Guilty Gear are references to the album Souls of Black by Thrash metal band Testament. Also, while not a music reference, Zato-1 was probably named after the legendary Japanese movie character Zatoichi (ichi means 1 in Japanese).
- The "Heaven or Hell" at the start of every fight might be a reference to the Black Sabbath album "Heaven and Hell" or a reference to the song by The Who of the same name. It is NOT a reference to a Gamma Ray song of that name because the first Guilty Gear was released in 1998 and Gamma Ray's single was released in 2001.
- The orginal Guilty Gear was subtitled "The Missing Link", which shares it's name with an album released by Rage.
- The word Slash, shown on screen whenever one character defeats the other by a knockout, is also the name of a former Guns N' Roses member Saul 'Slash' Hudson.
- One of the stages in the game is named Nirvana, after the band Nirvana.
- Guilty Gear X's title screen shows a subtitle of "[BY YOUR SIDE "G.GEAR"]" - referencing the Black Crowes album, By Your Side.
- An album containing Guilty Gear vocal tracks was released in Japan, named Rising Force of Gear Image Vocal Tracks, a reference to Yngwie Malmsteen album Rising Force. Of the three CDs of the album, one is titled Side I - ROCK YOU!! (a reference to Queen song We Will Rock You) and the second Side II - SLASH!! (a reference to guitarist Slash). The third Side III - DESTROY!! may be a reference to Metallica song Seek and Destroy.
- The song "D.O.A", the GGXX Character select music, seems to be based on the intro to "Kiss of Death" by Dokken as well as the intro to DOA by Van Halen and the song "Kiss Of Judas" by Stratovarius.
- The stage for Eddie in XX - Hell, is actually a reference to the American heavy metal band, Iced Earth.
- I-No's regular GGXX stage shows a placard on the far right side bearing the word "Innuendo," the name of the fourteenth studio album by Queen. Also, the lyrics to that album's title track are printed on the inside back cover of the "Guilty Gear X Drafting Artworks" art book published by Enterbrain.
- The main riff to A.B.A's Guilty Gear Isuka theme "Quicksilver" is similar to a riff in the Testament song "Sins of Omission", from the album Practice What You Preach.
Trivia
The known crew of the Jellyfish Pirates (who appear in May's Instant Kill attack), are all named after months of the year.
- Janice (January), a black cat
- Febe (February), the record-keeper
- March, the youngest, who always carries her stuffed penguin
- April, May's best friend, the pilot
- May
- June, a purple-haired girl with a sextant in hand
- July, an eyepatched girl with a sword, said to be the fourth-strongest fighter after Dizzy, Johnny, and May.
- Augus (August), a swift fighter
- Sephy (September), who cleans the deck
- Octy (October), a girl with hidden eyes and telescope in hand
- Novel (November), a girl who always rides a large red mecha
- Dizzy (December)
- and Leap (Year), the cook.
All of the Guilty Gear X series, including Isuka, have had a japanese PC release, using compression and OGG Vorbis audio tracks to shrink the two later games down to only around 1 GB in size. Surprisingly, This has made it possible to release the games on CD, rather than DVD.
The various games in the Guilty Gear series are frequently referenced in the manga series Genshiken and its anime adaptation. Its characters are often shown playing the games, the character Kanako Ohno cosplays as Jam Kuradoberi, and gameplay video is used in the opening sequence of the anime.
External links
- [Official Japanese homepage of the Guilty Gear X series]
- [Majesco's GGXX#Reload Official Site]
- [Guilty Gear Isuka official site]
- [Dustloop Forums] - Gameplay Related Guilty Gear Forum
- [Guilty Gear Project] - Russian fansite
- [Guilty Gear Series at MobyGames]
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