Ultraman – Fighting Evolution 2

Ultraman – Fighting Evolution 2 Rom is a PS2 fighting game from Banpresto, the kind you run through a PS2 emulator with a proper bios, and it pits Ultramen against giant Kaiju in stomping, city-leveling brawls. The roster pulls straight from the old shows. Daisuke Gori narrates the whole thing, which gives the fights this oddly serious weight even when two rubber-suited monsters are throwing each other into Osaka Castle.

Three Stories, And Only One Was Made Up For The Game

Story Mode hands you three arcs to pick from, and two of them are lifted right out of old episodes. The Prince of Monsters comes from episodes 26 and 27 of the original Ultraman. The Ultra Guard Goes West pulls from Ultraseven, episodes 14 and 15. But the third one, the Great Earth Invasion Operation, was written just for this game and doesn’t tie back to any aired episode. Finishing each arc unlocks characters, so there’s a reason to grind through all three. Watching Yapool show up in the Ace Killer cutscenes is a nice touch for anyone who remembers the Ace run.

The Support Characters Do The Heavy Lifting

Some of the best moments come from fighters who aren’t even playable. Astra drops in as a finisher for Ultraman Leo. The Giras Brothers wrap up Alien Magma’s big move and also turn up in the Mission 3 cutscene. Dead Spirits back Tyrant, and Yapool floats around supporting Ace Killer. None of these you control directly. They just appear at the right second and remind you this game knows its source material cold.

Stages You’ll Recognize And A Few You Won’t

Ten stages, and they range from grounded to strange. You get the Port of Kobe, Osaka Castle, a construction site, the Ultra Guard Base. Then there’s Yapool’s Alternate Dimension, which looks nothing like the rest. The Flooded Capital is a personal favorite because the water actually changes how the camera frames the bigger monsters. Fighting at the Industrial Site at dusk feels different from brawling in the City at night, even if the mechanics don’t shift. Small thing, but it keeps the 8-opponent Arcade run from blurring together.