Ranma 1/2: Hard Battle

"Just another boring Street Fighter II clone!"

I like Ranma 1/2, the anime' that is, I'm a big fan of the show, so it's obvious that I would try out any Ranma Video game. So I played Ranma 1/2 Hard Battle. As much as I like the anime' I did not like the video game, it presents itself well but there's not much gameplay elements to keep you playing it again and again.

Ranman 1/2 Hard Battle is a 2-D fighting game released in 1993 on the SNES by Ocean. It is another one of those Street Fighter II clones that game developers keep pumping out because of lacking ideas in creating original and innovative games and to imitate the success of the Street Fighter II games. The result is just another boring 2D fighting game that was overshadowed by Capcom's legendary fighting game. Sometimes you just gotta ask why? why bother making a game that is basically Street Fighter with different characters? why waste time creating another SF-clone when they could just make original games that's fun to play. Now for the review:

GRAPHICS: 8/10
Nice colors, definitely of SNES quality, it imitates the anime' quite nicely and the character animations are very good some are comedic. For a 16-bit game the graphics are good, I don't think the Sega Genesis can deliver the colors the same way the SNES did, of course the SNES is a much more superior hardware so it's understandable. Some of the backgrounds of the fighting stages are not that amazing, some don't have much just a scenery with not much to see, there are objects in motion on some of the backgrounds but they are far from impressive. Still the developers did a good job of making the graphics of this game better than other SNES fighting games(like Justice League Task Force).

MUSIC AND SOUND: 5/10
Music seems to fit the game but I don't like it, I'm more into the rock music in Guilty Gear X or the engaging music in Marvel vs Capcom. Some of you will like it, some will not. Sound seems a little better but still not up to my liking, you'll hear the standard smack sounds like those in Justice League Task Force or any other game only slightly different. It's average in my opinion, I just prefer other Music and Sounds like those in the stated games or Super Street Fighter II.

CONTROLS:
It's not as easy as the SF games, you can't jump with the directional pad Up instead you jump by using a jump button and that's not normal in fighting games. Aside from that the controls are the same as any other fighting games, you have a block button, punch, kick, D-pad for movement, and a power attack button. Also performing combos in this game is not quite as easy and as enjoyable as those in the SF game.

GAMEPLAY: 3/10
After finishing the game once, I didn't have anymore urge to play through the game for the second time. There's nothing to keep you interested, the fighting engine is not quite as enjoyable as the SF games or as entertaining as the Mortal Kombat games. There is a 2 player mode and a team battle mode but why bother playing it, you'll only bore your friends. Also the computer A.I. is dumb, I've beaten the game in both easy and normal difficulty with repetitious flying kick and follow up attacks.

REPLAY VALUE: 1/10
I gave it a 1 coz at least it's more interesting to play it than studying math. Anyway, after finishing the game once, there are no more reasons to play it. Oh there is an extra, a couple of secret characters giving you a total of 10 characters, but again why bother if the game is so boring.

WHAT THEY SHOULD'VE DONE TO MAKE IT GOOD:
If only they add innovations like being able to turn into the characters' other half(In the anime' some Ranma Characters turns into an animal or their opposite gender when they got wet by cold water) when splashed by water. They sould make water hazards in the stages or characters being able to pick-up a pail of water and get their opponenets wet. this could be fun and give the characters advantages or disadvantages. Better A.I., computer controlled opponents shouldn't be beaten by flying kick and follow-up attacks repeatedly, they should know how and when to counter my moves. And more fun combo system, like those in SNK and Capcom fighting games.

THE VERDICT:
It's not a good fighting game, it doesn't have the same gameplay elements that made the SF series great and SNK fighting games fun. Don't bother buying this game even if it's the cheapest game on earth. I only gave it score just for the nice graphics and Ranma characters, without those, I would've gave the game a 1/10. If you are a Ranma merchandise collector, then get this game just for the sake of your collection, no need to play it.

Reviewer's Score: 3/10, Originally Posted: 06/30/03, Updated 06/30/03