Hybrid Heaven Retrospective

As someone who never owned a Nintendo 64 during the late 90’s, I can’t say I’m too familiar with Konami’s sci-fi action RPG Hybrid Heaven. And that’s why I find myself appreciative of this new retrospective on CVG that does a pretty good job of pointing out the game’s many strengths:

The bulk of the gameplay has you searching the depths of the alien base while using your trusty Defuser pistol to take out electrical equipment, such as floating laser drones and scurrying mines. There are platforming sections where you have to vault perilous pitfalls and run from charging beasts as well. But the real challenge comes from the hand-to-hand fighting system, which has you edging Diaz around a 3D arena while selecting punches, kicks and wrestling moves from a pop-up menu. While that may sound bizarre on paper, it offers a surprising degree of strategy and creativity, since you learn new moves by having them performed against you.

It’s a unique fighting system that injects a wealth of RPG elements into the formula. For instance, in addition to having an offensive and defensive rating for each limb, your individual fighting moves can be levelled up by using them consistently. So if you rely on fancy footwork rather than Running Headlocks and Elbow Backbreakers, your field of expertise will develop around kickboxing strikes rather than grappling techniques. You also have to gauge the fighting style of each grotesque opponent you meet, as while the humanoid pigs will try to tenderise you with a barrage of punches, the reptilian mutants will try to dislocate your shoulder with a sneaky Armbar. Bloody hybrids!