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Makeruna! Makendo 2
  PS1FightingJ  
  opened by paleface at 03:17:31 08/25/03  
  last modified by paleface at 12:25:50 03/05/24  
  paleface [sys=PS1; cat=Fighting; reg=JPN]
           
Port of a Super Famicom 2D fighter with that "super-deformed squared-off characters due to hardware limitations on sprite size" look we all know and love about the SNES.
 
The basic four-button KOF-style fighting works quite well, with crossover jumpkicks, short combos and other standbys of the 2D fighting world making frequent appearances. I'm less keen on the fifth button, which is used to activate five different types of power charges and, I think, super moves (I haven't actually managed to get a super move to trigger yet :p). Something's funky with the special move control input: I often have to do a QCF/QCB type motion twice before it fires, or do something like QCF+B, B in order for it to register. Bluh. Some of the moves are of the dash, dash, button variety, however, and these work much more reliably.
 
The quirky/cutesy characters have a certain degree of charm, and they talk a lot. But the backgrounds are the real show-stealers here as they pulse and quiver with color and life. Most feature multiple creatures grooving away to the stage music--the "Swan Lake" stage is an absolute classic.
 
Unfortunately, the music is way too loud and often contains one or two really irritating repeating sounds--the soccer stage has a loud referee whistle blowing in rhythm, for instance. Oh, and you've only got "story" and vs modes here, with a rather small (8-10 I think) cast of fighters. It's just as well, I suppose, since you probably won't be able to play all that long at one stretch before the pleasant characters and stages start to lose out to the flubby control input and musical irritations.
 
Oh (I should really stop writing these at 3 AM :P) another thing I wasn't too keen on: the difficulty is controlled in large part by health meters: as you play through, the enemy health meters get longer and longer. Yes this affects difficulty in a way but it would have been much nicer if they could have made the AI actually get smarter instead.
    

 
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