Ranma 1/2: Hard Battle

"It's hard to figure out how you could make a bad fighting game based on this Series. Guess what? They did...Almost"

Ranma 1/2, you'd think the game would be a perfect fit for a SF type fighting game. The manga itself is just packed full of good fight scenes, along with a whole lot more. Most of the characters already have a defined move set, which would make it easy to create a balance the characters. In short, the game should of been an instant classic.

But like so many other Anime based Video Games, the game itself is barely passable for fans of the series. The hideously awfully translation doesn't help either.

Pheraps the first clue at this game weakness is the fact that you have to change your control settings to get the jump command to work when you press up. What is normal fighting game logic is by passed by this game as another button is used for the jump command. Speed in the game is terribly slow, perhaps the slowest fighting game ever seen. The command system is a somewhat decent, using a simplified system to appeal to the younger fans of the series. Hardcore fighting fans will scoff at the simplicity though, and will try long and hard to find some combos in this game.

Still, their is a decent line up of characters in this game. Most of the Regulars (sans the Kunos) are here and playable, even though Ukyou is trasnlated bizzarly as Ukkyo. In fact long time fans of the series might have mroe fun MST3K the trasnlation for it's errors than playing the game, as DTMC seemed to have no idea about the orginal source.

It's hard to recommend this game to even the Die-Hard Ranma fans. Gameplay is lacking and the translation is laughable. If you must try, rent before you buy. But even then your money might be better spent on better fighters or the manga itself.

Reviewer's Score: 3/10, Originally Posted: 11/01/99, Updated 01/13/01