Friday 9 June 2006
Though many a classic game earns due attention through a hook, given time even the best find themselves in need of something else - an excuse. Whether it's an emulator release, backwardly-compatible console or just a chance visit to a retentive arcade, it takes a modern twist of fate to give a game like Power Stone another dance.

And it deserves the limelight. What a hook, after all: to be one of the only fighters to truly exploit the opportunities of 3D, doing so across exquisitely designed stages and atop a balanced set of rules.

The modern impetus behind this particular revival isn't so much the PSP's processing power as another of its assets: the ability to join four people in wireless conflict.

It's true that Collection is just about as no-frills a package as you might have predicted, the textures of its two incorporated Dreamcast titles receiving no secondary licks of paint to bring them up to date and looking surprisingly crude considering the original's Naomi-grade veneer. But their vitality, together with the suitability of the platform, are what pulls a nonetheless faithful conversion through.

An unfaltering framerate and anti-aliased image keep the action smooth during even the most frantic of moments, and in Power Stone there's little else.