1994 saw the release of Atlus' 2D fighting game Gouketsuji Ichizoku 2 in the arcades,
better known as Power Instinct 2 outside of Japan.
Aside from being a solid fighting game, it's probably most notable for its humorous approach
to the genre, especially compared to other popular fighters at the time, as well as its
stellar soundtrack, which featured full on vocal tracks in most stages.
The Gouketsuji Ichizoku 2 experience was eventually taken home in 1995, exclusively for the PlayStation
One, and only in Japan.
Unfortunately, however, it was a poorly done port, with the game pausing to load for seconds
at a time in the middle of matches when certain actions are performed.
Anyway, the reason I bring this game up is because I want to talk about the most prominently
featured character of the game, Kurara, who made her debut in this game and is basically
a parody of the "magical girl" sub-genre of Japanese animation.
Think Magical Princess Minky Momo or Sailor Moon.
Kurara has a magic wand that turns her opponents into animals, and can transform herself into
"Super Kurara," a powered-up, sexy adult version of the teenaged heroine.
Apparently, this character became quite popular--so much so that she was given her own spin-off
game, making her the Frasier to her Cheers.
Take one look at the character design and it's easy to see why she garnered such lavish
attention.
DAAAAT...
HEADGEAR!
This spin-off would be released in 1996 in arcades and the Sega Saturn, named Purikura
Daisakusen.
The title can translate to something akin to: Princess Kurara: Grand Battle Plan, but
the "purikura" part of the title is a bit of a double entendre.
Often in the Japanese language, longer words or phrases are abbreviated and made shorter,
either to save time or to sound catchy.
For example, the highly overrated, holy mecca of Japanese gaming, "Akihabara," is often
shortened to "Akiba."
Princess Kurara, pronounced in Japanese, is "purinsesu kurara," and when abbreviated,
becomes "purikura."
The phrase "purikura," however, is most commonly associated with "print club," those awful
photo booths that have become a staple of Japanese culture, where each year millions
of teens and young people waste what equates to millions of dollars into them.
These photo booths use "super" airbrush type filtering to supposedly make people look "super"
cute, but to me personally, it makes people look "super" creepy and fake, especially the
newer models that increase eye size.
*shudders* But I guess I'm one to talk, since I too was guilty of partaking in these shenanigans
in my younger days...once or twice.
Anyway, the double meaning is surely no coincidence, as both Atlus and Sega are responsible for
the creation of these mechanized monstrosities.
Now on to the actual game itself, which is a cute, colorful, isometric 3D action shooter
that can be played with one or two players.
Ah, the good old days where developers used 3/4 perspectives that fooled the gaming public
into thinking their games had actual 3-dimensional graphics.
Often times these games were notorious for their difficulty to control, such as Sonic
3D Blast, but Purikura Daisakusen plays surprisingly well and is a testament to the skill of the
development team...I mean, it is Atlus afterall.
The Kurara from Gouketsuji Ichizoku, it turns out, is on Earth participating in the fighting
tournament for educational purposes, and is actually a royal princess who hails from a
land above the clouds, the Magical Kingdom of Miracle World.
She returns to her homeland to find that it has been taken over by the hostile Scrap Empire,
which has kidnapped her older sister, Queen Urara, and turned the inhabitants of Miracle
World into animals that work tirelessly for the empire's ruler, Flash.
All this destruction was wrought for possession of Miracle World's prized sacred stone, the
Magical Orb, which can grant the wishes of any who take hold of it.
Purikura Daisakusen takes place over five levels that throw hordes and hordes of enemies
at you, each ending with a boss fight.
The game plays much like some of the classic run-and-gun action games that preceded it,
such as Mercs or Ikari Warriors, but with the isometric perspective.
Three unique characters are selectable--the titular Princess Kurara, her twin sister Kirara,
and the Queen's boyfriend, Grey, who's been transformed into a giant, overweight cat.
The differences between each character lie in their attack animations, as well as movement
speed and power, so you can choose a favorite based on your play style.
For me personally, I think Kurara is the best choice.
You also have the option to listen to the three heroes introduce themselves before starting
the game to get a feel for who they are, learn about their hobbies, dreams, etc., and witness
bits of sibling rivalry here and there.
The arsenal at your disposal is made up of a projectile shot, a melee attack, bomb attacks,
a short dash, and a familiar character who helps attack and can evolve into other, more
powerful forms.
The projectile is the main attack of the game and is pretty pathetic starting off.
However, there are red and blue power ups scattered across Miracle World that respectively
increase shot power and speed, making you into a one-man killing machine...er, little
girl or fat cat killing machine.
Holding down the shot button will cause a character to continuously shoot in one direction,
but with the added bonus of free movement.
Dashing is used to evade enemy attacks, and can be performed by a double tap with the
d-pad in any direction, or with the press of a button.
Executing a melee attack while coming out of a dash will result in a more powerful attack.
Bomb attacks change depending on which familiar is currently accompanying you, but often the
attacks just damage pretty much everything on screen.
Your familiar starts off as a walking egg, but can power up in between levels, depending
on what kind of items you collect from defeated enemies.
Killing foes with a standard shot will turn them into animals, and using a melee attack
will turn them into jewels.
You can also set off a chain reaction of explosions from baddies using the melee attack, which
translates to more jewels, and of better quality.
At the end of each stage, the totals for animals and jewels collected are tallied up, and if
a certain requirement is met for either, the next form of familiar is decided.
If you reach the requirements for both jewels and animals, then the one you have more of
will determine which familiar you get.
There are many different types of familiars and progression branches, and each one has
its own unique support attack.
The familiar system is a nice side objective for this style of game, and gives it a bit
more of a sim/RPG element that you don't find often in run-and-guns.
Finally, there are other power ups that aid you on your quest, such as cakes to restore
health, random trinkets to increase score, a 1-up item, and the Miracle Mirror.
This mirror will transform Kurara into her Super Kurara persona as seen in Gouketsuji
Ichizoku 2.
Much like her sister, Kirara will become Super Kirara, and when playing as Grey, you revert
back to his original form.
While powered-up, you become invulnerable, kill anything you touch, and shoot a projectile
that can cause chain reactions with exploding enemies...but only for a very brief amount
of time, of course.
Since Purikura Daisakusen was an arcade game first, it's short like an arcade game, beatable
in a little under a half an hour.
The game is housed in a fat, double CD jewel case, but comes with only one disc.
The rest of the case contains a bonus 1997 desk calendar, most certainly a service for
Kurara fans.
Purikura Daisakusen can be quite challenging, but it's definitely beatable on default settings,
especially if you're good at shooting games from the era.
If the game proves too difficult though, you can increase the number of lives, bombs, and
continues in the options menu.
Other than the familiar system and the struggle to clear the game on one continue, there is
replay value through multiple endings which change slightly depending on which character
you beat the game with, as well as the familiar you have with you.
Well, that's pretty much the gist of the game.
It's fun, funny, pretty, and pretty damn good.
If you're wondering what ever became of the Kurara character, well, the sequel to Power
Instinct 2 was brought to the arcade and Sega Saturn in 1997, named Groove On Fight.
However, since the game takes place 20 years after its predecessor, Kurara is not a playable
character and in her stead is Popura, her daughter.
Interesting that Atlus didn't go the Nina Williams route with their most popular fighting
game character.
Anyway, she DID make a return the to series in 2003 with the long-awaited next entry,
Power Instinct Matrimelee, and was a secret character in the 1996 3D Atlus fighting game,
Heaven's Gate.
With Matrimelee, her name was officially changed to the westernized Clara.
But since then, she's been a no-show, and with little hopes for a new Gouketsuji Ichizoku
game in the future, it seems that Kurara is just another character lost in the annals
of gaming history...but hopefully not!
As always, thank you very much for watching, and I hope you'll continue to watch my series,
comment, subscribe, and please follow me on twitter for updates and other import game
related riff raff.
Well, until next time!
The talk of magical girls is not over yet...