God Hand[a] is a 2006 beat 'em up game developed by Clover Studio and published by Capcom for the PlayStation 2. It was released in Japan and North America in 2006, and in 2007 for PAL territories. It was re-released for the PlayStation 3 as a PS2 Classics downloadable game on the PlayStation Network on October 4, 2011. The game was directed by Shinji Mikami, who desired to create the game for hardcore gamers intermixed with a large amount of comic relief. It initially received a mixed response from critics and sold only modestly upon its release in Japan. It was Clover Studio's final video game. Retrospectively, the game has been received more positively and is considered a cult classic.

The game mixes western and Japanese-themed comedy, containing over-the-top characters and storyline events. The gameplay includes traditional elements of the beat 'em up genre with new features, these include being able to map and string together a large repertoire of fighting techniques to the gamepad's face buttons in order to create unique combo attacks. The plot follows a martial artist protecting his companion and wielding a legendary divine arm called the "God Hand", in order to save the world from demons.

Gameplay

The 3D action game has the player moving in all directions, attacking with the face buttons and using special moves. The player can turn around using a button, and all actions outside of basic attacks are performed via a context sensitive button.[6] Using the button allows the player, as Gene, to jump up ladders, pick up items, and use special attacks on abnormal enemies. Four dodge moves are mapped to the directions on the right analog stick. The player can assign any attacks, including the Circle, Triangle, Square, and X buttons. Square allows the player to chain multiple attacks at once.[6] There are over one hundred moves in the game for the player to choose from including basic jabs and punches to drunken-style and capoeira martial arts. More powerful abilities in the game can be utilized in the player's "God Reel" (or "God Roulette"), a roulette wheel containing moves that the player chooses.[7] These moves are limited to a number of "Roulette Orbs" that the player can increase by collecting "Skull Cards" found throughout each stage.[8][9] God Reel techniques cost between one and three Roulette Orbs. Some moves send each opponents flying into the stratosphere, while others are simple punches or kicks to specific bodyparts. Another gameplay mechanic in the player's arsenal is the God Hand itself. As the player strikes and defeats enemies, his "Tension Gauge" goes up. The player can also evade attacks, taunt, use tension boosting attacks, or find cards within each stages to increase the bar.[8][10] When it reaches a set amount, the player can remove Gene's bracelet from his arm and temporarily unleash the God Hand. In this state, he is temporarily invincible with his attack power and speed increasing.[7] By using various stat boosting items, the player can increase the size of his Tension Gauge to hold more power.

While in combat, the player can monitor a "Difficulty Level" bar that dynamically adjusts to how much damage the player is dealing or receiving.[7] If the player gets caught up in a flurry of punches and combos, the level will drop; the player can also use the Grovel God Roulette to manually decrease the level by one. If the player deals a large number of unanswered attacks to their enemies while also dodging their attacks, then the level will increase. The bar consists of numerical levels one through three with a fourth level designated "Die" being the highest overall.[9] During levels one and two, the enemies will not attack the player unless they are in his line of sight or he is attacking them. On levels three and Die, the enemies will attack regardless of the camera position. Also, enemy attack strength increases as the levels increase; at level Die a fully maxed out player character can be killed in a few hits. Defeating enemies at higher Difficulty Levels earns the player more bonus points at the end of a stage.[7] By finishing the game once, the player unlocks the Hard Mode when starting a new game, which sets the difficulty bar at "Die" from the start, and it cannot be lowered in any way.

Enemies will mostly engage Gene one-on-one, but as the difficulty level rises and as the player progresses through the game, they become more coordinated and will attempt to surround and/or flank Gene. They can also use team attacks, such as jumping on each other's back to flying kick Gene. Each enemy, when defeated, has a small chance to spawn a demon from their corpses, which are challenging enemies on par with sub-bosses. Defeating those demons will always award the player with large sums of money, technique scrolls or roulette scrolls. Certain demon battles are guaranteed in specific portions of the game.

Additional techniques can be found in stages in the form of technique scrolls. Techniques and roulette moves can also be purchased or sold at the shop, located on the map screen.[6][11] Also accessible from the map is a casino, which contains a number of minigames, including slots, blackjack, poker, chihuahua racing and a fighting arena.[11]