Ranma 1/2: Hard Battle is based on the Japanese Anime series Ranma 1/2. It was a comic book, then they made the T.V. show. I beleive three movies were then made, anyways, this game has most of the main characters in Ranma 1/2. The game is a one-on-one fighting game like Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat. You can pick from 10 characters to play as. The game opens up with the Prinicpal of Furinkan High School conning the character you chose into fighting the other characters. Each character is trying to accomplish something, for example, Ranma is trying to get out of taking tests, and Akane wants the Principal to impose stricter rules on the school so boys will leave her alone. Anyways, your character will fight the other nine characters, and then must beat Johnny Pantyhose in both of his forms to win the game. Depending on which difficulty level you had the game on(easy, normal, or hard) the ending will be slightly different.
Graphics [8/10]:
This game is guaranteed to make you laugh with all the different comical animations throughout the game. The characters make a funny face sometimes when they get hit or lost the round. The characters seem well detailed and look very much like their cartoon counterparts. I suppose some animations could have been less jerky and they could have put a little more time into some of the special effects. However, the graphics are good enough to do the job, and that's what counts.
Music and Sound [7.5/10]:
I do have to say I'm a little dissapointed that I haven't heard any music from the T.V. shows or the movie put on this game. I haven't seen many T.V. shows and have only seen one movie, so I could be wrong. There is nothing wrong with the music on this game, I just think they should have taken music from the T.V. and movies like most games that are based on T.V. shows and movies. Like the graphics, some of the sounds on this game will tickle your funny bone. I guess considering this game was Japanese, the sounds are pretty good. They did a good job of translation in this game.
Gameplay [8/10]:
Yes, I am a Ranma fan, and may be a little bias, but this game deserves some credit. It is not as hyped up as Mortal Kombat or Street Fighter, but I think Ranma 1/2 is the best one-on-one fighter out there. It is a blast in the two player mode because of the team challenge. You and another player pick five characters and whoever wins the most fights wins. The special moves in Ranma are easy to pull off, unlike other games where special moves require about five different buttons being pushed. The only thing wrong with Ranma is some characters, like Ranma and Shampoo, are too fast and powerful. Others like the King and Gosunkugi are too slow and not very good. This does give the game good character diversity, but it makes some battles unfair.
Challenge and Replay [9/10]:
The reason this game has high replay value is each character in the one player mode has a different story and different ending. Also, every time you beat a character in one player mode, you and your defeated opponent chat for a moment and sometimes jokes are cracked. You gotta play as all the characters just for curiousity sake. Another thing is when you beat the game and play in one player mode again, you can play as Johnny Pantyhose in both forms. Johnny Pantyhose must defeat all the original characers, and then he must beat Happosai. Yes, you can even play as Happosai, during the character vs. screen, hold R,X, and A at the same time. This will take you to a huge options screen, and here you can change your character to Happosai. The challenge on this game is adjustable. You can pick easy, medium, or hard. If you beat it one medium or hard, you get a visual treat while viewing the credits at the end of the game.
Conclusion/Overall [9/10]:
I know this review is a little biased because I am a Ranma fan. However, we don't give games like this a fair chance because they are not hyped up and/or don't have the most impressive graphics or special effects. I admit, I got caught up in Mortal Kombat fever too, but got tired of it because I woke up and realized it's not really as great as it is hyped up to be. Ranma 1/2 is a good one-on-one fighting game, and I'm not even a big fan of games of this genre, but Ranma 1/2 impresses me. Ranma has the fundamentals of fun gameplay, funny animations, and funny sounds. This game will keep you entertained longer than you think, believe me. To tell you the truth, I actually was introduced to Ranma 1/2 by playing this game, so maybe I'm not as biased as you think. Surprise, surprise, huh? It goes to show again a game does not need have fancy special effects to be good.
