This looks to be french version of Ranma 1/2 Hard Battle, although the game is in english, the names of some of your opponents (namely, Mousse and Shampoo) are the french versions of their name. This is a fighting game, and a bit bare bones, with one weak attack, one strong attack, and a jump button unless you reassign it. Not a lot of variety but at least the moves look different between light and hard attack. Each character comes with special moves, most follow a charge-up effect of holding the button down. The show Ranma 1/2 spanned many books/seasons and had a large cast, nearly all of them martial artists in their own right. So how is the selection of fighters in this game from the source? Its decent, considering Ranma had years to develop and this is just a single game. The main characters are here, and a few oddballs to round it out.
Ranma- You get your Street Fighter style KEN/RYU right off the bat with Ranma. Since he is cursed to turn into a girl if he gets cold water on him, you can play as either version right at the start, you won't change into the other sex, which is a bit of a disappointment as this element is worked quite often to cause turmoil or comedy in the story.
Akane- She's the tomboy fiancé of Ranma. Not a bad fighter, but nothing too special. Although this gets her character quite right, as she often fought traditional and left the crazy moves and unusual attacks to the others.
Shampoo/Bambou - She is the purple haired amazon from China. She is a pretty good opponent and often the easiest to win the game with. She gets a double jump, a couple of fast moves. But that double jump can be abused to victory very easily.
Mousse/Mathias - The man with the glasses is known from the manga as the master of hidden weapons. Virtually anything can come out of his sleeves! Since Ranma is a comedy show, many of his attacks are unorthodox weapons, and knowing what surprise will come out is a key to using him.
Ukyo- Spatula girl. She's a chef, and has probably the weirdest home stage, as you fight on a giant Japanese pancake. Her best asset is her reach with the spatula, which with one simple button press, you can extend even further. Outside of her reach, she has a missile attack as well.
Genma - The panda. This is actually Ranma's dad, who also got cursed. He communicates with hastily drawn wooden signs, and these make up some of his attacks. He's a big target, but his jump doesn't suffer and he has one of the most punishing moves in the game.
Gosunkugi- The creepy boy with the candles on his head. He's into voodoo, and attacks using straw dolls. Not a great pick for a beginner, as his attacks are slow or lack range.
Gambling King- The guy looks like he came from a playing card! He's got some unique attacks, using cards and dice. So he has a bit of a surprise for people not expecting it. But he doesn't have much defense when someone gets in close.
Ryoga - The lost boy with the headband. This is a strong character. He has a lot of moves.
There are a few others but they are hidden, I'll let you find them.
9 - Graphics: They did a good job here. The character models all look very relevant to the source, no off colors or odd faces. Fun animations as well. The backgrounds are nicely detailed and some use smoke effect.
7 - Sound: The sound is good and bad. The stage music variety and quality is actually quite good, some of it takes me back to the anime, although all are original pieces. The voices however, are not even close. Boy Ranma sounds like a 30 year old man. The sound effects for attacks are plain, some sounds a bit off, but not a big deal. If you excuse the fail on matching the anime voices, the stage music is fun and engaging.
6 - Addictiveness AND Depth: Its a Ranma game, so knowing the material will make you want to play more. But each character has a totally different story and ending, and there are several hidden characters, so there is replay in that and depth. Although depth couldn't be given higher due to the limited move set of only two attack buttons.
5 - Story: You get a beginning, and an end to it. There are cut scenes when you beat up your opponent, much like Street Fighter, but these are not all done really in the style of the original characters. Some (Ryogas) are better than others. For what they are, none of the stories really has a satisfying ending, but they are told with humor in mind, so at least it matches the tone of the show.
6 -Difficulty: Apart from some characters (Shampoo) seeming more aggressive, this is not a difficult game. You get as many continues as you want. There are not a lot of moves, so you will hit on what works for you and what doesn't, and that's all there is to it.
Differences between game and other media. The story of everyone going to the principal for the contest is OK, but many elements of the story are out of character. Shampoo loves ancient proverbs? Since when? But its not the worst they could have done. The character designs, animations and moves closely match the show however, I was very impressed. So other than the background for each person entering, a good job was done. One thing that stood out a lot about this game is the cpu AI kind of match the skill level of their character in the manga/anime. Ranma and Shampoo are very strong, and Gosunkugi and Gambling King have less moves and tend to be easier to beat AI wise.
This is a silly fighter that doesn't do a disservice to matching the look of Ranma 1/2. But it could add a lot more. |