History VideoGame / GuiltyGearTheMissingLink

''Guilty Gear: The Missing Link'', known simply as ''Guilty Gear'' outside of Japan, is the first installment in Creator/ArcSystemWorks' ''VideoGame/GuiltyGear'' series. It was released for the UsefulNotes/PlayStation on May 14, 1998 in Japan, October 31, 1998 in North America (published by Creator/{{Atlus}}), and May 2000 in Europe.

The game would later be ported to multiple platforms over the years, starting with a port for NTT [=DoCoMo=] i-mode phones on January 10, 2006. A re-release for UsefulNotes/PlaystationNetwork would be released in Japan and Europe on May 31, 2007 and August 6, 2009, respectively. Finally, it was released on UsefulNotes/{{Steam}}, UsefulNotes/Playstation4, and UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch on May 16, 2019.

* AwesomeButImpractical:
** Axl's Yousou Renjin is an autocombo ending in a LauncherMove, making it the only Chaos Move that can be comboed out of. However, the combo drops roughly halfway through, allowing the opponent to simply block the rest of it, if they don't just tech the first hit and punish Axl then.
** His other Chaos Move, Byakue Renshou, isn't much better. Its first hit sends the opponent flying too far up for the rest of the move to connect.

** Testament can tech by pressing up + any attack button, instead of up + Punch + Kick + Slash like the rest of the cast.

* ArtificialStupidity: AI never does neither Tech or Quick Rise, making it susceptible to more infinites than a human player.

''Guilty Gear'' begins in the (no longer) future of 2010, when mankind discovers an unlimited energy source they name "magic", providing solution to the world energy crisis. Despite this, the world continues to be engulfed in conflicts, and experiments harness this power and combine it with living creatures, developing a LivingWeapon called "Gears". This turns out to be a bad move when the Gears turn against the human race, sparking a century-long war ("the Crusades") that ravages most of the surface on Earth. After much bloodshed, when the Gears' leader Justice is captured and locked away, all the other Gears are deactivated and the world is seemingly at peace at last. Fast forward to 2180, five years after the end of the Crusades, the dimensional prison that seals Justice starts to deteriorate. An international event known as the Second Holy Order Selection Tournament is quickly organized to pick out the strongest warrior, promising a handsome reward if one can stop Justice before she wipes out what's left of the human race.

* NotJustATournament: The midboss of Normal Mode, Testament, reveals that this tournament is part of their machinations to resurrect Justice, planning to use the winner as a last HumanSacrifice.

* {{Retronym}}: Officially, this game is simply called ''Guilty Gear'' (with only a subtitle ''The Missing Link'' in the Japanese package cover), and this persists in re-releases. Fans like to call it ''Guilty Gear 1'', ''Guilty Gear [=PS1=]'', or ''The Missing Link'' when referring to this game specifically.

''Guilty Gear'' begins in the (no longer) future of 2010, when mankind discovers an unlimited energy source they named "magic", providing solution to the world energy crisis. Despite this, the world continues to be engulfed in conflicts, and experiments harness this power and combine it with living creatures, developing a LivingWeapon called "Gears". This turns out to be a bad move when the Gears turn against the human race, sparking a century-long war (the Crusades), which ravages most of the surface on Earth. After much bloodshed, when the Gears' leader Justice is captured and locked away, all the other Gears are deactivated and the world is seemingly at peace at last. Fast forward to 2180, 5 years after the end of the Crusades, the dimensional prison that seals Justice starts to deteriorate. An international event known as the Second Holy Order Selection Tournament is quickly organized to pick out the strongest warrior, promising a handsome reward if they can stop Justice before she finishes off what's left of the human race.

* {{Retronym}}: Officially, this game is simply called ''Guilty Gear'', with only a subtitle ''The Missing Link'' in the Japanese package cover, and this persists in re-releases. Fans like to use the Japanese subtitle when referring to this game specifically.

The first ''Guilty Gear'' was produced by the series creator Creator/DaisukeIshiwatari, who had drafted the plans of the game since his days in vocational school, in a desire to create a fighting game with truly "cool" characters. While joining and working in Arc System Works, a contract developer that worked for publishers with few original games, he came up to its president Minoru Kidooka one day and asked if he could make the game. Ishiwatari got his approval, so his development team spent a year and a half creating ''Guilty Gear'' in which he provided illustrations, soundtrack, and voice works for one of the playable characters, Sol Badguy. On release, the game won critical acclaim from critics and fans alike despite its rough edges, changing the fate of him and the company forever.

''Guilty Gear: The Missing Link'', known simply as ''Guilty Gear'' outside of Japan, is the first installment in Creator/ArcSystemWorks' ''VideoGame/GuiltyGear'' series. It was released for the UsefulNotes/{{Playstation}} on May 14, 1998 in Japan, October 31, 1998 in North America, and May 2000 in Europe.

* HeadsIWinTailsYouLose: Testament pulls this after you defeat him, opting to use himself as the last sacrifice to revive Justice.

* PressXToNotDie: Instant Kills can be avoided by inputting quarter-circle backward and any attack button before the opponent inputs quarter-circle forward and any attack button.

** Axl's Yousou Renjin is an autocombo ending in a LauncherMove, making it the only Chaos Move that can be comboed out of. However, the combo drops roughly halfway through, allowing the opponent to simply block the rest of it.

* Some of Axl's normals have random intervals during their animations where both hitboxes and hurtboxes are missing.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness/GuiltyGear Oh boy, where to start...]]

* FinishingMove: Each character has a unique Instant Kill attack, performed by inputting quarter-circle forward and an attack button while in the Sakkai state. If successful, you automatically win the entire match.

* JumpPhysics: Every character can jump, super-jump, and DoubleJump, and [[FragileSpeedster Chipp]] can triple jump.
%%* LagCancel:

** Potemkin, being a MightyGlacier, lacks the ability to dash forwards or airdash. He's also the only character to have both a forward throw and a backward throw, although the former is bound to the Kick button instead of the Heavy Slash button.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness/GuiltyGearTheMissingLink Oh boy, where to start...]]

%%* JumpPhysics:

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Oh boy, where to start...

The game would later be ported to multiple platforms over the years, starting with a port for NTT [=DoCoMo=] i-mode phones on January 10, 2006. A re-release for UsefulNote/PlaystationNetwork would be released in Japan and Europe on May 31, 2007 and August 6, 2009, respectively. Finally, it was released on UsefulNotes/{{Steam}}, UsefulNotes/Playstation4, and UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch on May 16, 2019.

The game would later be ported to multiple platforms over the years, starting with a port for NTT DoCoMo i-mode phones on January 10, 2006. A re-release for UsefulNote/PlayStationNetwork would be released in Japan and Europe on May 31, 2007 and August 6, 2009, respectively. Finally, it was released on UsefulNotes/{{Steam}}, UsefulNotes/Playstation4, and UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch on May 16, 2019.