IGPX
Posted October 9, 2006
IGPX stands for Immortal Grand Prix, which is currently a popular show on the Cartoon Network. Bandai is the license holder for IGPX and the game has been brought to us by the NamcoBandai group and developed by Sting. In the year 2049 the sport of choice is the Immortal Grand Prix, which is even bigger than NASCAR if you can imagine such a thing. In fact this sport is so huge that an entire city has been erected for the sole purpose of this destructive form of racing. Can this game make us all so crazy for IGPX that we build our own hulking race city? I doubt it, but it can be fun at times. You are the leader of team Satomi and your team has just won an amateur tournament that launches you into the top echelon of the sport, the IG-1. Now you must take your team of amateur mech pilots all the way to the biggest event in world of sports, the Immortal Grand Prix.
Gameplay:
I admit I've never seen an episode of this anime, but taking a look at the cover I was intrigued at the prospect of trying this game out. Unfortunately as soon as I popped the game into my PS2 I was a bit disappointed as it seems you have to know something about the anime just to get through the menus. The terms used in the game are derived straight from the anime, so it may be a good idea to know something about it before you start. There are a few tutorial videos that show you what it takes to win in IGPX and although they can be long and fairly boring it's definitely a good idea to watch them, otherwise you'll have no clue at all once you start racing.
You'd better hope your memory holds up after watching the videos because there is no way for you to practice any of the moves shown during the videos until you're actually on the track in a simulation race. Unless you want to continually end the races early and go back to the videos you're stuck mashing buttons, trying to remember how to execute a hold or a punch on an opponent.
Unfortunately once you have the basics down the game doesn't ramp up much in difficulty at least not quickly. There are a few ways to handle each race you can either choose to go strictly for racing, battling, or a mix of the two. You have control of three mechs during the course of the race and you can set up a mix between racing styles, but be advised, you don't actually do any real racing in IGPX till about the last 20 seconds of each race so you may want to keep that in mind when setting up your race strategy. Races are three laps long and the first lap is spent on setup, the second and most of the third on combat and the last part of the last lap is an all out drag race to the finish. The surest way to win a race is to destroy the mechs on the opposing team. To accomplish this you must grab, punch, and smash your opponents over the course of the race. While this is fun at first it becomes an extremely tedious task after a few races simply because the number of moves you can execute is so limited. You can do a standard punch against an opponent by hitting the X button on your controller or land multiple punches on them by hitting X repeatedly. Yeah that's basically the gist of it but there are combo moves that can be executed by grabbing an opponent and you can perform tag team style moves with another mech on your team but the overall fighting mechanic in IGPX falls way short of the mark. When you grab an opponent you can smash them into the ground causing sparks to fly which looks really cool but it doesn't cause much damage. Until you earn enough by winning races you can't upgrade your mech to execute more interesting maneuvers like picking up an enemy which can lead to some pretty cool combinations when combined with other teammates.
The tracks in IGPX are not challenging. I was under the impression when I first started the game that the first course was probably just a beginner course and the difficulty would ramp up. But to my disappointment the tracks never get difficult and there are very few obstructions between you and the finish line. You can basically just race backwards and fight for the first two laps because you're probably not going to crash into anything and facing your enemies makes them easier to deal with. You will be informed when the race is about to end. At this point it's all about timing, you have a boost gauge that is basically useless throughout the race although you do use it to quickly escape your enemy's grasp from time to time; this can be used for hyper-boosting at the end of a race but it doesn't last forever so you'll want to try to get the timing perfect and hope it runs out as you're crossing the finish line. That's really all there is to IGPX, if you get the basics down you'll go far.
There is a Multiplayer option in IGPX and I convinced a friend to play. After about five minutes though he was bored out of his mind and decided making fun of my pile of dirty dishes was a much more constructive use of his time. I can see the multiplayer adding to the replay value of IGPX quite a bit, but it's obvious that the game isn't for everyone. If you have an open minded friend or two who are into anime you may fare far better than I did.
Graphics:
There is no progressive option for IGPX which leaves the game looking washed out on my HDTV and there really isn't much in the way of detailing on the tracks or the mechs, yet somehow the game does have a sort of arcade quality charm. The game looks cool but at no point are you going to be blown away by its visuals, unless of course you have an extreme fascination with sparks in which case you're in luck because the sparks never stop flying in IGPX with different mechs give off different colored sparks which I suppose is cool. My one serious complaint about the graphics in IGPX is that you're supposed to be traveling well in excess of 300MPH and yet it feels like you're barely breaking most parking lot speed limits, leaving the sense of speed solely to your imagination.
Audio:
The audio in IGPX is pretty decent but nothing to write home about. I assume the sound effects come mostly from the parent anime but it reminded me of Bubblegum Crisis, which isn't a bad thing it's just nothing groundbreaking. The sound is clean and the soundtrack is repetitive as you may expect. When punching an enemy the sound of clanging metal is effective and when smashing a mechs face into the pavement the grinding sounds are satisfying but they don't do much to heighten the mostly mundane effects of your attacks.
Conclusion:
I don't really like stereotyping like this especially because I'm into anime and I know how hard it can be to explain to people that it isn't just for kids. But I have to assume that IGPX targets a much younger audience. The game is simply too easy and only kids who enjoy the show would probably get into the game. I can appreciate the concept but the execution just isn't there. I suggest waiting till this game hits the bargain bin before picking it up; if you can't wait till then; rent it if at all possible.
Gameplay:
I admit I've never seen an episode of this anime, but taking a look at the cover I was intrigued at the prospect of trying this game out. Unfortunately as soon as I popped the game into my PS2 I was a bit disappointed as it seems you have to know something about the anime just to get through the menus. The terms used in the game are derived straight from the anime, so it may be a good idea to know something about it before you start. There are a few tutorial videos that show you what it takes to win in IGPX and although they can be long and fairly boring it's definitely a good idea to watch them, otherwise you'll have no clue at all once you start racing.
You'd better hope your memory holds up after watching the videos because there is no way for you to practice any of the moves shown during the videos until you're actually on the track in a simulation race. Unless you want to continually end the races early and go back to the videos you're stuck mashing buttons, trying to remember how to execute a hold or a punch on an opponent.
Unfortunately once you have the basics down the game doesn't ramp up much in difficulty at least not quickly. There are a few ways to handle each race you can either choose to go strictly for racing, battling, or a mix of the two. You have control of three mechs during the course of the race and you can set up a mix between racing styles, but be advised, you don't actually do any real racing in IGPX till about the last 20 seconds of each race so you may want to keep that in mind when setting up your race strategy. Races are three laps long and the first lap is spent on setup, the second and most of the third on combat and the last part of the last lap is an all out drag race to the finish. The surest way to win a race is to destroy the mechs on the opposing team. To accomplish this you must grab, punch, and smash your opponents over the course of the race. While this is fun at first it becomes an extremely tedious task after a few races simply because the number of moves you can execute is so limited. You can do a standard punch against an opponent by hitting the X button on your controller or land multiple punches on them by hitting X repeatedly. Yeah that's basically the gist of it but there are combo moves that can be executed by grabbing an opponent and you can perform tag team style moves with another mech on your team but the overall fighting mechanic in IGPX falls way short of the mark. When you grab an opponent you can smash them into the ground causing sparks to fly which looks really cool but it doesn't cause much damage. Until you earn enough by winning races you can't upgrade your mech to execute more interesting maneuvers like picking up an enemy which can lead to some pretty cool combinations when combined with other teammates.
The tracks in IGPX are not challenging. I was under the impression when I first started the game that the first course was probably just a beginner course and the difficulty would ramp up. But to my disappointment the tracks never get difficult and there are very few obstructions between you and the finish line. You can basically just race backwards and fight for the first two laps because you're probably not going to crash into anything and facing your enemies makes them easier to deal with. You will be informed when the race is about to end. At this point it's all about timing, you have a boost gauge that is basically useless throughout the race although you do use it to quickly escape your enemy's grasp from time to time; this can be used for hyper-boosting at the end of a race but it doesn't last forever so you'll want to try to get the timing perfect and hope it runs out as you're crossing the finish line. That's really all there is to IGPX, if you get the basics down you'll go far.
There is a Multiplayer option in IGPX and I convinced a friend to play. After about five minutes though he was bored out of his mind and decided making fun of my pile of dirty dishes was a much more constructive use of his time. I can see the multiplayer adding to the replay value of IGPX quite a bit, but it's obvious that the game isn't for everyone. If you have an open minded friend or two who are into anime you may fare far better than I did.
Graphics:
There is no progressive option for IGPX which leaves the game looking washed out on my HDTV and there really isn't much in the way of detailing on the tracks or the mechs, yet somehow the game does have a sort of arcade quality charm. The game looks cool but at no point are you going to be blown away by its visuals, unless of course you have an extreme fascination with sparks in which case you're in luck because the sparks never stop flying in IGPX with different mechs give off different colored sparks which I suppose is cool. My one serious complaint about the graphics in IGPX is that you're supposed to be traveling well in excess of 300MPH and yet it feels like you're barely breaking most parking lot speed limits, leaving the sense of speed solely to your imagination.
Audio:
The audio in IGPX is pretty decent but nothing to write home about. I assume the sound effects come mostly from the parent anime but it reminded me of Bubblegum Crisis, which isn't a bad thing it's just nothing groundbreaking. The sound is clean and the soundtrack is repetitive as you may expect. When punching an enemy the sound of clanging metal is effective and when smashing a mechs face into the pavement the grinding sounds are satisfying but they don't do much to heighten the mostly mundane effects of your attacks.
Conclusion:
I don't really like stereotyping like this especially because I'm into anime and I know how hard it can be to explain to people that it isn't just for kids. But I have to assume that IGPX targets a much younger audience. The game is simply too easy and only kids who enjoy the show would probably get into the game. I can appreciate the concept but the execution just isn't there. I suggest waiting till this game hits the bargain bin before picking it up; if you can't wait till then; rent it if at all possible.