Street Combat Game Sample - SNES/SFC
14Whelp, while I'm getting caught up on other things, it occurs to me that I haven't dug through my SNES/SFC or Gen/MD library in quite some time, so this is a good opportunity to put out some simpler videos while I work on the longer projects in an attempt to avoid a dry spell. There will be a few oddities here and there. That said...
Irem is known for putting out some pretty great games over the years... Moon Patrol and Kung-Fu Master (two of my personal favorites), Ninja Spirit, Hammerin' Harry, R-Type (of course)... the list goes on. That said, this is not one of their crowning achievements, as it is a mostly terrible game with few redeeming qualities (not flat-out horrible like some may put it, but still bad).
Street Combat is a fighting game that (like many others) attempted to capitalize on the fighting boom of the time by Capcom and SNK, released in 1993. It is notable for one main reason, and that's because it was a bastardized localization of (*wait for it*)... Ranma! Yes, that's right... that "Ranma" by Rumiko Takahashi. While this information isn't new in and of itself, it should be noted that Irem is not entirely to fault for the initial quality of the game... the original title (Ranma ½: Chōnai Gekitōhen) was the first game based around Rumiko's beloved franchise for the system and NCS/Masaya were stretched thin as it is with other projects, resulting in a less-than-stellar final product with bad collision detection and screwy A.I. (we show an example on the fourth stage).
The game was re-skinned in a notorious fashion, replacing all the music/sounds and characters with generic Western stereotypes as well as the first stage to take place on a city street (instead of a snowy street) as none of the other levels take place on a "street". The titular Ranma was replaced with "Steven", a generic cybernetic warrior who would even make Ken from "Street Fighter 2010: The Final Fight" and Captain Commando blush. One could argue that it's better than not getting it at all, but considering the great lengths they went through to re-brand the game, even going as far as replacing one of the women with some androgynous-looking clown person, somebody at Irem thought this was a prospect with at least some margin of success and took it upon themselves to do this... it was a calculated risk. All I can think of is that it would've been really interesting to be a fly on the wall during that whole brainstorming session. This game oddly keeps "Happy" too.
Besides the inherent flaws, the game has less detailed illustrations, removes the Ranma references from the options, and replaces female Ranma with another version of the main character, Steven (who has her slender feminine frame and animations... not weird at all). Outside of that, it's your typical 2D fighter with slightly better than average animation. Each character is distinct in their fighting styles including the two Stevens, who have subtle differences ("armor-less" Steven is faster, jumps differently and can kick off of enemies by holding back while kicking in air to help retreat) and characters get knocked down automatically if they take too many consecutive strong hits (three). Some moves have such long delays that they can be countered even IF it connects. Blocking special attacks does NOT inflict chip damage and much emphasis is placed on landing hits.
There are two simple bonus rounds that give you a chance to earn extra credits. Difficulties of normal or higher have somewhat psychic A.I., so that's something to consider. By default, you can only play with Steven/Ranma in Story Mode, but you can use others through a cheat, though it doesn't change the "plot".
As far as what it does at least somewhat right? Some of the animations are decent, and a few of the stages are okay... the bridge stage ironically has some of the most impressive running water in an SNES/SFC game, and the music isn't too bad, even if it's not as good as the Japanese version. Overall, it's an utterly forgettable game outside of its shared existence with Ranma ½. Speaking of, Ranma was dirt cheap, so we have that too. It'll be uploaded in a few hours so you can compare them.
This is a video of the game in action with an attraction at the beginning. Enjoy.
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