The beat 'em up genre is home to some of the most manly and macho games ever made.
They put the player in role of a one-man army who can essentially do only two things--chew
bubble gum and kick ass.
And thankfully for us gamers craving some action, there's never a stick of bubblegum
in sight.
Though you can pretty much always count on finding meat and other food items in crates
and barrels as substitutes.
Beat 'em ups are simple, mindless entertainment that serve as an outlet of aggression for
many of us gamers by letting us pummel in the faces of hundreds of mostly generic bad
guys.
But in the middle of pile-driving a dude twice your size inside of a dirty subway car, have
you ever thought, "hey, this game is badass and all, but I'm secure enough in my masculinity
that I'd like to play a beat 'em up where all the protagonists are cute anime girls..."
And one that's not based on a TV show for aimed at six year old girls...
Well, for those of you out there that ever had that thought, you're in luck, as Arsys
Software delivered in the form of a little-known Super Famicom title that never made it to
the world outside of Japan.
Battle Zeque Den was published by Asmik in 1994, and is a 2D action beat 'em up with
heavy Eastern Asian themes and Buddhist influences.
The game is set in the distant past on the continent of Renben.
A prophecy proclaims that when "Ki" is completely separated and becomes light and darkness,
the end of the world is nigh.
"Ki" can be translated to something like "life force" or "life essence," kind of like the
Force from Star Wars.
Well, pre-midi-cholrians.
Anyway, three young girls trained in the martial arts all share a dream one night taking place
at the top of Mt.
Shumisen, where Ki is split in two in some kind of explosion.
Based on their dream and the prophecy, they decide to head toward Shumisen to prevent
the apocalypse.
Not really that original I guess, but hey, it's a breath of fresh air from the usual
kidnapping scenarios found in your average brawler.
That's the story, but at this point you may be thinking, "what about the cute anime girls?"
Battle Zeque Den gives you the choice between three lovely ladies to play as--Baby, Sporty,
and Ginger.
Er, I mean, Hamusu, Kairu, and Rufuu.
According to the manual, Hamusu is the powerhouse of the three with hard-hitting attacks, Kairu
is the speedy character with fast combos, and Rufuu's balanced stats make her a jack-of-all-trades.
But the thing that really sets each character apart from one another are their special attacks.
Unlike most traditional beat 'em ups, Battle Zeque Den's stages take place on a single
plane, which allows for a slightly deeper combat system similar to a fighting game.
As you might expect, only one button is used to execute normal attacks, which string together
into combos, and another button is used to jump, although tapping it twice results in
a double jump.
Pressing down, up, and the attack button will perform each character's special move.
Rufuu does a flying fist attack, Kairu shoots out icicle projectiles that freeze bad guys,
and Hamusu slams the ground which creates a shockwave that travels across the screen.
The X button is used to perform a magic attack, which be leveled up twice over the course
of game and changes depending on how much a meter is filled up, akin to Sega's Golden
Axe series.
Hamusu and Kairu can both continuously head stomp enemies, and can also perform throws
mid-air, two things Rufuu can't do.
But she DOES have a really good jump kick and a quick slide attack, which is incredibly
useful for getting in and out of the action.
She can even follow up a slide with her special move.
Because of her mobility, I'd say that Rufuu is the best character in the game, no contest.
Although it has beefier combat than other games in the genre, make no mistake about
it.
Battle Zeque Den is a beat 'em up, through and through, and is littered with many of
the established tropes in the genre.
Let's have some fun and take a look at a few of these and count how much there actually
are.
Desperation attacks?
Got 'em.
Yellow and red health bar...of course.
Protagonists come in three different spices.
You already know about that.
Touching foes causes you to grab onto them.
Sharing is caring.
Food health power-ups.
Yummy yum yum.
Stage hazards.
Better wear a hard hat.
Strong guy enemies.
Check.
Fat guy enemies.
Double check.
Chicks with weapons.
Sexy.
An elevator section.
"See you at the party, Richter!"
Fight all bosses again before the final battle.
This is a Japanese game, so yeah.
Coop mode!
Eh heh heh...yeah...
The biggest letdown of Battle Zeque Den is that it's a beat 'em up that is single player
only.
The option to switch between characters on the fly or in between levels could have made
up for this omission, but unfortunately, once you choose a character at the start, you're
stuck with her until the end.
Or if you run out of continues.
I'm guessing technical issues kept the development team from including a two player mode, but
whatever the reason, the lack of a multiplayer component really cuts down on Battle Zeque
Den's replay factor.
There are six stages total and the game lasts around an hour.
It's a pretty fun and challenging experience overall, though the fact that only two enemies
are ever on screen at the same time makes certain sections of the game drag on a bit
and feel tedious.
The options menu is completely in English, and allows you to change the difficulty, adjust
lives, and listen to any of the game's stage music and sound effects.
Battle Zeque Den is not a really pricey Super Famicom game, but is a little hard to find.
If you're a fan of beat 'em ups, check it out for a slightly different take on the genre.
If you're a fan of beat 'em ups AND anime girls, well, stick around for a while.
Why?
I only have one thing to say to you.
BRAINBUSTER!
Anyway, this is Jimmy Hapa from Import Gaming FTW, and as always, thank you for watching.