God Hand is a 2006 beat 'em up game created by Clover Studio and published by Capcom for the PlayStation 2. It was first released in Japan and North America in 2006 and later in 2007 for PAL regions. The game was released again for the PlayStation 3 as a downloadable title on the PlayStation Network on October 4, 2011. Shinji Mikami directed the game, aiming to make it appealing to experienced players while including many humorous moments. Initially, critics had mixed opinions about the game, and it sold only moderately in Japan. It was the last video game made by Clover Studio. Over time, the game has received more positive reviews and is now considered a cult classic.
The game combines Western and Japanese-themed humor, featuring exaggerated characters and events. It includes traditional beat 'em up gameplay with new features, such as the ability to assign and combine a wide variety of fighting moves to the gamepad’s buttons to create unique attack sequences. The story follows a martial artist who protects his companion and uses a powerful divine arm called the "God Hand" to save the world from demons.
Gameplay
The 3D action game allows the player to move in all directions, attack using face buttons, and perform special moves. To turn around, the player uses a specific button. All actions other than basic attacks are controlled by a button that changes its function depending on the situation. This button lets the player, as Gene, jump up ladders, pick up items, and use special attacks against unusual enemies. Four dodge moves are assigned to the directions on the right analog stick. The player can choose any attacks, including the Circle, Triangle, Square, and X buttons. The Square button lets the player perform a series of attacks quickly. The game includes over 100 moves, ranging from simple jabs and punches to complex styles like drunken-style and capoeira martial arts.
More powerful abilities are accessed through the "God Reel" (or "God Roulette"), a roulette wheel that displays moves the player can select. These moves require a limited number of "Roulette Orbs," which the player can collect by finding "Skull Cards" in each stage. Using God Reel techniques costs between one and three Roulette Orbs. Some moves send enemies flying high into the sky, while others are basic punches or kicks to specific body parts. Another feature is the "God Hand," which becomes available when the player's "Tension Gauge" fills up. The gauge increases as the player defeats enemies, dodges attacks, or finds cards in stages. When the gauge reaches a certain level, the player can remove a bracelet from Gene's arm to temporarily use the God Hand. In this state, Gene is invincible, and all attacks become stronger and faster. Using stat-boosting items allows the player to increase the size of the Tension Gauge, giving it more capacity.
During combat, the player can see a "Difficulty Level" bar that changes based on how much damage the player deals or receives. If the player is hit repeatedly or uses many combos, the level decreases. The player can also manually lower the level by one using the "Grovel God Roulette." If the player lands many attacks without being hit, the level increases. The bar has four levels: one, two, three, and "Die," which is the highest. At levels one and two, enemies only attack if they are in the player's line of sight or if the player attacks them. At levels three and "Die," enemies attack regardless of the camera position. Enemy attacks also become stronger as the difficulty level increases. At level "Die," even a fully upgraded player can be defeated quickly. Defeating enemies at higher difficulty levels gives the player more bonus points at the end of a stage. After completing the game once, the player unlocks "Hard Mode," which starts the game at level "Die" and cannot be lowered.
Enemies usually fight Gene one-on-one, but as the difficulty increases and the player progresses, they work together and may surround or flank Gene. Some enemies use team attacks, such as jumping on each other's backs to perform flying kicks. When defeated, enemies have a small chance to summon demons, which are tough enemies similar to sub-bosses. Defeating demons always rewards the player with money, technique scrolls, or roulette scrolls. Some demon battles are guaranteed in specific parts of the game.
Additional techniques can be found in stages as "technique scrolls." These scrolls, along with roulette moves, can be bought or sold at a shop on the map screen. The map screen also shows a casino with minigames like slots, blackjack, poker, chihuahua racing, and a fighting arena.
Plot
In the game's story, a fallen angel became the Demon King Angra. His demonic army attacked the world. A man who had the power of God defeated Angra, sending him into exile again. This man was given the title "God Hand" by the people he saved. A human clan was created to protect the God Hands because it is said that anyone who holds one can become either a god or a demon. The main character is Gene, a 23-year-old fighter who has one of the God Hands. A group of demons wants it. Though Gene is loud and confident, he has a strong sense of justice. He is joined by Olivia, a 19-year-old who is from the clan that once protected the God Hands. After demons killed her family, she ran away with a God Hand. She attached it to Gene when she met him. Gene saved her from bandits who tried to take the God Hand from her. This event also caused Gene to lose his right arm.
The main villains are the Four Devas, a group of demons trying to bring back Angra to control the world. The group includes Belze, the leader; Elvis, a member who loves cigars; Shannon, a flirty circus ringmaster; and Azel, also called the "Devil Hand." Azel is a human who has one of the God Hands and joined the Devas for his own goals. The game includes many recurring enemies that Gene faces. These include two very strong men dressed in fancy clothes who are openly gay and flirt with Gene; the group that removed Gene's original arm; a gorilla wearing a lucha libre wrestling mask and outfit; a fat, black-clothed ninja master; a martial artist with an afro and two girlfriends; an android warrior sent by Belze twice to stop Gene; two musicians who sold their souls to the demons for power; and a group of dwarfs wearing Super Sentai-style costumes with playing card symbols. Most battles are shown through funny situations and dialogue.
After Gene defeats Azel at the Tower of Angra, Angra wakes up inside Azel's body. Azel then removes his God Hand and gives it to Gene, not wanting to be controlled. With both God Hands, Gene defeats Angra and saves Olivia.
Development
The game was first announced in April 2006 with a small teaser page on the Clover Studio website. It was developed by the team that made Resident Evil 4. Shinji Mikami, known for creating the Resident Evil survival horror games, supervised the development. Atsushi Inaba was the producer. The idea for God Hand began during a conversation between Mikami and Inaba about action games. They noticed that many games at the time focused on using weapons and had moved away from hand-to-hand combat. Mikami later said the concept started in 1999 after playing Final Fight Revenge, a game based on an arcade series he liked. He disliked Revenge, calling it "bad," and wanted to create a better beat-'em-up game.
Mikami showed Inaba a poster with two stylized fists to represent the type of game they wanted to make. Initially, God Hand was meant to focus only on "hardcore action" without humor. However, after showing a trailer at the 2006 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) that included some funny moments, the team decided to add more comedy based on audience reactions. Inaba said the game targets "hardcore gamers," which is reflected in its difficult gameplay. Unlike Viewtiful Joe and Ōkami, the team did not aim for a specific graphical style for God Hand. They only wanted it to look more realistic. While God Hand shares elements with classic manga and anime, such as Fist of the North Star and JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, no specific anime was named as inspiration. Inaba noted the game's style resembles "80s action anime."
There are some differences between the North American and Japanese versions of the game. For example, the "Chihuahua Curry" power-up was renamed "Puppy Pizza" in the English version. A feature called "Pan Drop," which gives temporary invincibility in exchange for taking damage, was removed from the American version because the joke about a pan falling on someone’s head was too tied to Japanese humor. Instead, the North American version included a move called "Head Slicer," which lets players decapitate enemies, while the Japanese version did not due to censorship rules in Japan.
Masafumi Takada from Grasshopper Manufacture composed the game's soundtrack, with one track by Jun Fukuda. The music includes references to older video game themes and is influenced by 1960s and 1970s songs, as well as genres like techno, rock, and funk. Mikami told Takada that the soundtrack should help players relax because of the game's intense nature. Takada used similar musical themes in boss battle songs since players face many bosses multiple times. Different arrangements were used to remind players of previous encounters. The soundtrack, called God Tracks, includes 23 songs and was included with the Japanese version of the game. A 128-page guide titled God Hand Official Guide Book was published by Capcom in Japan on October 7, 2006.
Reception
Upon release, the game received "mixed or average reviews" from Metacritic, a website that collects video game reviews. Critics praised God Hand's combat system and its effort to follow an "old-school brawler" style, but they also noted serious issues with its graphics, controls, level design, and camera. In the United States, Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine wrote, "God Hand is a very bad game, yet I can't stop playing it. It's strangely appealing in how bad it is in almost every way." In Japan, the game was listed on Famitsu's "Top 10 Reader's Most Wanted" for several weeks. Famitsu gave it scores of 6, 7, 7, and 6, totaling 26 out of 40.
Sean McCabe of 411Mania gave the game a score of 9.6 out of 10, saying, "This is the best game of its kind in 15 years and one of the best games of the 128-bit generation. It is not for everyone, but I really enjoyed it." However, "D.W." of the same site gave it 5.5 out of 10, stating, "It's a shame this was Clover's last game, but if this was the best they could do, it explains why they're not around anymore." The Sydney Morning Herald gave it 3.5 out of 5 stars, saying it was "like a mix of WWE Smackdown and a funny TV show called Benny Hill." Maxim gave it 3 out of 5 stars, saying it "may not be perfect, but it's still fun in its own way." The A.V. Club gave it a C+ grade, saying, "Playing this game is like drinking a lot of energy drink—painful, exciting, and sometimes funny."
Despite IGN giving the game a score of 3 out of 10, the website later ranked it #100 on its "Top 100 PlayStation 2 Games" list in 2010. Independent PlayStation Magazine listed it among "11 PS2 Games You Need to Play (But Haven't)." The game was nominated for "Best Fighting Game" at the 2006 Spike Video Game Awards but lost to Mortal Kombat: Armageddon. Rab Florence of the Scottish TV show VideoGaiden called God Hand "one of the best games ever made," saying, "What an ending for Clover Studio: We made one of the best games of all time, and it was just a game about punching people."
During its first week of release, God Hand was the fifth best-selling game in its country, selling 48,280 units. By the end of 2006, Capcom sold nearly 60,000 copies in the country. The game was later re-released as a budget title under the CapKore line and the PlayStation The Best collection.
God Hand was the final game made by Clover Studio, which closed after the game's release in North America. Over time, the game became a cult classic, gaining a loyal fanbase and generally positive reviews. Capcom considered adding a character from God Hand to their fighting game Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds, but the character was replaced by one from Ōkami. In 2010, God Hand was included in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die. After Asura's Wrath was released, its developers said the game could satisfy fans wanting a sequel to God Hand. They were happy people noticed the similarities between the two games.
Many people who worked on God Hand later joined PlatinumGames. The fast-paced fighting style from God Hand is still seen in games like MadWorld, Bayonetta, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, and Vanquish.