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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 creature, 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. While 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. When 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 smoke 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! This massive character has many devastating 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 pixilated 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!

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

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If you have any questions or comments, feel free to e-mail me at freedman@earthlink.net