
	Platform Neo Geo Genre Fighting Publisher SNK Developer Sunsoft ETA 1996
Newsletter
Be notified of site updates. Sign-up for the Newsletter sent out twice weekly. Enter E-Mail Address Below: Subscribe \| Unsubscribe

Waku Waku 7

There have been a number of light-hearted, silly fighting games to come out over the years, but that has always stood out for me was Waku Waku 7 on the Neo Geo. It was one of the earlier games in the genre to take a tongue-in-cheek approach to fighters, and had a cast of simple, likeable characters. At the same time, it was also a fairly easy game compared to a lot of other fighting games out at the time, but it made for an enjoyable experience, and is one of the hidden gems of the Neo Geo's library by many people's accounts.

The game's story harks back to Dragonball with players trying to collect seven magical orbs. Whoever is able to gather them all will be granted one wish to come true, so there's quite the incentive to track these things down.

Advertisement

Players have nine characters that they can choose from, many of whom are light-hearted, or poke fun at anime / gaming conventions. Some of the more notable characters include Mauru, who looks a lot like Totoro from My Neighbor Totoro, Slash, a stereotypical anime badass, and Politank-Z, a big mecha tank piloted by the chief of police with the help of his chief mechanic, who

Advertisement

happened to be a dog. The two silliest characters were only available in Waku Waku 7's versus mode, and consisted of a living punching bag named Bonus-kun, who was a parody of Ryu from the Street Fighter series, and Fernandez, a giant black ball with bat wings for ears, and little black orbs for his hands and feet. All-in-all, it was a silly motley crew of characters, but their silliness did tend to come off as charming.

Keeping the atmosphere light is the overall gameplay here. The moves are very easy to perform, on par with what one would find in Street Fighter II. On top of this there are simple super moves, as well, players can do basic dodging and counterattacks. It's a very inviting atmosphere that draws the player in, as opposed to some of fighters that were emerging at the time making use of more complicated, and as a result potentially intimidating, control schemes.

Players can blow through Waku Waku 7 with relative ease, but the game isn't really about providing a steep challenge. Instead it provides a nice, light, little experience that seems more focused on making gamers smile more than anything else. It sure beats a lot of other fighters out there that leave me wanting nothing else but to toss the controller at the TV.

Mr. Nash
October 31, 2010