Raging Fighter

"An overlooked fighter from the early Gameboy years..."

Intro:
A early fighter from Konami, released in 1993. It never really took off in North America . Whether it was bad advertising or gamers just didn't care I'm not sure.

Gameplay:
As with any fighter you have your basic moves such as kick, punch and jump. It is up to you to find out how to do special moves such as wheel-kicks. The gameplay is sometimes slow, the controls don't always seem to cooperate with you as you'd expect from a fighting game. When you first start it is extremely hard to pull off good moves, since figuring out the special moves is the key to winning. Though once you get used to the game it becomes easier and bash your opponents into a monochrome pulp.

Story:
There isn't really much of a story, you are competing against 6 other fighters to become the champion of a tournament.

Graphics/Sound:
For a game made in 1993, for the original Gameboy, the graphics are very good. The pictures of the characters on the select screen are very detailed drawings. While fighting the fighters all look different, like their portrait, and there are many different backgrounds. Such as in a hallway, in front of pillars, or in a ballroom. The sound is what you might expect from a Gameboy game, sub-par. Though if you really do enjoy it there is a Sound Test option to listen to your favorite tunes over and over again as you please.

Play Time/Replay-ability:
With a lack of game modes this fighter can get boring quickly. Even though it comes with a Story mode its basically the same as tournament mode. The practice is only good for becoming better at a certain characters techniques. The main draw about this game is the 2 player action. You can link up with a buddy and face off, this also will become tiresome eventually since there are only 7 characters to play from. Plus the chances of your buddy also owning this game are slim. Fans of fighting games might enjoy this game because of the portability the Gameboy provides and the gameplay for a early Gameboy game, but the casual fan won't be able to play this for very long before they get bored.

If your a fighting fan then I would recommend looking for this game someplace and picking it up cheap. If your more into the new, fast paced games on the Gameboy Advance then I'd stay away from this. The slow response of the controls will become frustrating.

FINAL SCORE: 6 out of 10

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 10/22/03