***Waku Waku 7 Review!!!***

[free...@earthlink.net]

Yet another 2D fighting game powered by Sega's RAM cart is here......but
unlike the others, this one has a few things different to offer!

---Game Information-------------------------------------------------------------

Waku Waku 7, originally a Neo Geo game by Sunsoft, is a strange fighting
game filled with cool moves, weird characters, and anime parodies!

Like some of the Neo Geo fighters out there, Waku Waku 7 contains great
graphics and animation, scaling, and excellent control.

The game features only 9 characters total, but what a cast it is! First
comes Rai, a young boy and the male lead of the game. Clothed in goggles,
a scarf, a jacket, and shorts, he reminds me oddly enough of a character
from a game made by Treasure. He possesses the moves of both Ryu and
Terry Bogard of Street Fighter and Fatal Fury fame. Arina, the game's
female lead, is pretty much like Rai, only she is clothed in a jumpsuit,
and has attacks similar to Ken from SF. Next comes Slash, who is really
the only character in the game who just doesn't fit the silly mood that it
presents. Wearing a long overcoat and carrying a laser-sword, Slash has
many cool attacks including multi-hit sword moves and the ability to
teleport, but he is much more serious than the the rest of the cast.
However, the reat of the game's characters get much wackier! Tesse, a
robotic maid, is the first character to fit this description. She has
such moves like the attack in which she thinks of an object, be it a book,
or a dog, or a bird, and then throws it at you, and her gigantic syringe
attack in which she can both draw energy to refill her life bar or
"poison" her opponent. Another oddball is Marurun, who is a parody of the
character in the anime "My Neighbor Totoro". Like the anime, he is a
giant cat/rabbit looking creacture, who fights the entire time with a
little girl on his back! His moves include several different punching
attacks, and a super move in which he "roars(looks like a belch to me)" at
his opponent! Dandy J is a giant man clad in a tank top and hat, and
carries a whip, which is where most of his attacks come from. However,
what makes him fun to play as is not exactly Dandy J himself, but rather
his companions. Whiel the fight is going on, a bouncy young girl(you KNEW
it had to be in here somewhere! :) and a cat cheer him on from the
sidelines. Whehn playing as Dandy J, you can have the girl throw the cat
at your opponent.....or have the cat throw the girl! Next comes Politank
Z, a strange little mech piloted by a small little man and a dog!
Politank Z's attacks include uhm, spouting out smke from the rear(^_^),
and shooting bombs of many kinds.

The two bosses of the game are the definitely the craziest. From the game
Galaxy Fight comes Bonus Kun, a punching bag that wears a red headband and
is a dead-on parody for SF2's Ryu. All of his attacks are just like
Street Fighter's famous character, including his win poses!

....But if you think that Bonuc Kun is crazy, nothing can prepare for the
game's final boss: Fernandeath! Quite possibly the funniest character
ever to appear in ANY video game, Fernandeath is simple a gigantic ball
with smaller balls for arms and legs, tiny wings, and a hilarious smile!
The massive character has many devasting attacks, including one where he
simply rolls right over you! One might think to hit Fernandeath before he
performs such an attack, but you'll be laughing too hard to do anything
about it! ;)

---Review-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Graphics:

Waku Waku 7 has some very nicely animated characters who are very large
and colorful, but it suffers from some pixelated backgrounds. Although
some are very nice, they do bring down the look of the game at first.

Sound:

The music in Waku is very nicely done, and the voices aren't too muffled
like some other Saturn games are. Waku Waku contains some excellent
samples too, like Fernandeath's hilarious laughing...

Control:

Gameplay wise, Waku Waku 7 plays fantastic. I found it easy to perform
combos and super moves, but the game DOES suffer from slowdown when big
characters like Marurun and Fernandeath are on the screen. While the
slowdown is very passable, it does sometimes get annoying. The game also
loads quite often, including in between rounds, but the load time is VERY
short.

Fun:

With it's cast of characters and great gameplay, Waku Waku 7 is one of the
most fun games that I have played in a long time. Fans of anime and 2D
fighting games are sure to love this game!

Graphics-9
Sound-9
Control-9
Fun-9

Despite slowdown, Waku Waku 7 is one of the better Saturn fighting games
to come out in a long time.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you have any questions or comments about the game, feel free to e-mail me.

Lee