G.A.S.P!! Fighters' NEXTream is a fighting video game for the Nintendo 64 released in 1998. The story follows a series of fighters that have each received a mysterious letter to compete in a legendary contest, and about a champion that has disappeared. The American and Canadian versions are known as Deadly Arts. The story and the player profiles don't appear in the instructions for the NorthAmerican version. Except for the name change it is basically the same as the Japan and Europe versions, with slightly changed voice messages, and different character nameplates. Despite its US title none of the characters actually die, but use of choke holds and other animated violence earned it a Teen 13+ rating.
Gameplay
The player can choose from one of the eight fighters in a match or "Duel" after beating the other seven characters and an identical version of themselves. There are two other opponents: Gouriki, a character wearing a cat mask and rope-like fairy wings, and Ohgami Reiji, the final boss that wears a large straw hat covering his eyes, and business suit. Reiji while fighting can change into one of two other characters: Hikari, an all-white humanoid with a third eye in his forehead, and Yami, a grey-skinned man with purple beard and long sideburns. The difficulty of the opponents can be changed from very easy up to expert, while the rounds and how long they last can also be manipulated. There is a Versus mode, for teaming up or one on one, as well as a create your own fighter option. Unlike most 3D fighting games such as Virtua Fighter and Tekken, players also receive points for how well they do, and the combination of moves they use. While creating their own characters, players can choose which type of body, height and such, then practice with the new characters in the training area to gain more moves. The player's game progress, scores, and created player can be saved onto Memory Paks, allowing the player to continue to try to improve their stills or challenge friends when playing on their Nintendo 64 console. There are 12 arenas in all, nine of which are available at the beginning of play and three unlockable ones. The two main boss characters also become playable after unlocking them, with Reiji the two creatures can also be transformed into and used while playing.
Next Generation reviewed the Nintendo 64 version of the game, rating it one star out of five, and stated that "The bottom line is that this is not only a crappy fighting game but a sad excuse for a game in general. Bad graphics, bad control, and utterly generic designs all add up to an experience you'll want to miss at all costs." The game received generally negative reviews and has a GameRankings score of 41.17%. Matt Casamassina of IGN gave the game a 3.2/10, noting "stale, sub-first-generation graphics, terrible control and detestable framerates." Jeff Gerstmann, writing for GameSpot, was similarly critical, concluding that the game was too basic and uninteresting.
