E3 2021: Immortality is the Next Narrative Adventure from Sam Barlow

La Pucelle Tactics is a tactical role-playing game from the makers of Disgaea and Phantom Brave.

<h2>Overview</h2><p data-right-indent="0" data-left-indent="0">In La Pucelle, you play as a young lady (who hunts demons) named Prier who wishes to become a priestess. The game is a turn based strategy that also has a monster capturing element to it. Rather than captures them (in the good ol' Pokemon fashion) you actually have to purify them and convert them to your side.</p><h2>Story</h2><p data-right-indent="0" data-left-indent="0">The story of La Pucelle takes place in a far away kingdom named Paprica. There in the church of the Holy maiden, in the city of a Feu are story begins. Prier and her younger brother have just joined the churches Demon Hunting group. There is a prophecy among the church that says that the Dark Prince will rise to raise chaos upon the land but a warrior Maiden will be the Champion of light and bring about his downfall. Prier has joined the church thinking that she will be that Maiden.</p><h2>Characters</h2><p data-right-indent="0" data-left-indent="0">The jovial caste of La Pucelle.</p><ul><li style="margin-right:0px;"><a href="//www.giantbomb.com/prier/3005-1813/" data-ref-id="3005-1813"><strong>Prier</strong></a>: The heroine of this strange story. She joins the Church’s Demon Hunting squad in hope that she will become the Maiden of Light from the prophecy.</li><li style="margin-right:0px;"><a href="//www.giantbomb.com/culotte/3005-6766/" data-ref-id="3005-6766"><strong>Culotte</strong></a>: The younger brother of Prier. He often acts more mature than his sister.</li><li style="margin-right:0px;"><a href="//www.giantbomb.com/alouette/3005-6764/" data-ref-id="3005-6764"><strong>Alouette</strong></a>: Prier and Culotte’s instructor. She wandered into the Church of the Holy Maiden 2 years ago with no memory of her past. She possess great spiritual power which in turn enables her to quickly rise up with in the ranks of the Church.</li><li style="margin-right:0px;"><a href="//www.giantbomb.com/croix-bartel/3005-10512/" data-ref-id="3005-10512"><strong>Croix</strong></a>: He was once a freelance Demon Hunter but he has his suspicions about the Church and their True intentions. So he joins the team. He also suffers from amnesia.</li><li style="margin-right:0px;"><a href="//www.giantbomb.com/eclair/3005-6765/" data-ref-id="3005-6765"><strong>Éclair</strong></a>: The Princess of Paprica.She is also a friend to Prier and Culotte She is next in line for the throne but the pressures put upon her make her rather unstable.</li><li style="margin-right:0px;"><strong>Dark Éclair</strong>: The seldom seen side of Princess Éclair.</li><li style="margin-right:0px;"><strong>Homard</strong>: The new leader of The Chocolat gang. He is out seeking revenge against a demon who injured his father.</li><li style="margin-right:0px;"><strong>Papillon</strong>: A petite fairy who follows Homrad around every where he goes. She has a very big crush on Homrad but he tends to flirt a lot with human girls. She harbors a deep resentment toward human females because of this.</li><li style="margin-right:0px;"><strong>Yattanya</strong>: The old leader of the Chocolat gang. He lost a duel to Homrad so he lost his position.</li><li style="margin-right:0px;"><strong>Chocolat Gang</strong>: A band of small, black cat people who consider themselves to be air Pirates.</li><li style="margin-right:0px;"><strong>Father Salade</strong>: He is the man who founded the Church of the Holy Maiden and the Demon Hunting squad.</li></ul>

The first RPG developed by Disgaea developer Nippon Ichi released in North America.  Rhapsody follows the musical adventures of Cornet Espoire and her puppet Kururu.  Originally released for the Playstation, the game was remade for the Nintendo DS with a significantly altered combat system.

<h2>Overview</h2><p>Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure was developed by Nippon Ichi Software and published by Atlus on July 30, 2000 for the Sony PlayStation and re-released on the Nintendo DS on September 23, 2008. It was originally marketed towards young, female gamers in order to get them interested in role-playing games. The game is designed for beginner RPG players and is notorious for its fully voiced musical numbers, where the characters would break out into song at certain points in the story. Rhapsody is the first game in the Māru Ōkoku no Ningyō Hime (Puppet Princess of Marl Kingdom) series and is the only entry from the series to be released in the U.S.</p><h2>Story</h2><p>Rhapsody revolves around a teenaged girl named <a data-ref-id="3005-7780" href="/cornet-espoire/3005-7780/" slug="cornet-espoire">Cornet Espoire</a>, who has the mysterious ability to communicate with puppets, and also has a magical horn that grants her wishes whenever she plays it. Cornet dreams of meeting her “prince charming” and falling in love with him. She’s joined by <a data-ref-id="3005-8010" href="/kururu/3005-8010/" slug="kururu">Kururu</a>, a fairy puppet who acts as a guardian angel for Cornet and often ridicules her for her behavior as per use of her large paper fan.</p><p>One day, Cornet is gathering inotium (a valuable resource and the currency of the game) in the nearby woods for her grandfather, Mustaki. She encounters a strange girl named Myao who tries to steal Cornet’s inotium. Myao leads an army of cat soldiers who attack Cornet, but she easily defeats. Myao then summons a fierce dragon to attack Cornet, but it’s quickly slain by a mysterious young man who resembles the same person in Cornet’s dream. The man introduces himself as Prince <a data-ref-id="3005-8011" href="/ferdinand/3005-8011/" slug="ferdinand">Ferdinand</a>. Cornet is so love struck that she is unable to mutter any words. Humiliated by this defeat, Myao escapes to report back to her family of this incident. Myao’s family includes the voluptuous witch and leader, <a data-ref-id="3005-8035" href="/marjoly/3005-8035/" slug="marjoly">Marjoly</a>, the dog-like Gao, the crow-like <a data-ref-id="3005-9430" href="/crowdia/3005-9430/" slug="crowdia">Crowdia</a>, and herself who resembles a cat. Enraged by this act, Marjoly plots to attack the kingdom.</p><p>Meanwhile, Cornet realizes the prince saved her and decides to meet the prince by entering the Miss Marl’s Kingdom Beauty Contest. Cornet encounters her rival Etoile Rosenqueen, who is more elegant than Cornet, but is also spoiled rich and enjoys mocking Cornet for her less fortunate upbringing. Learning that Etoile has bought out all of the clothing shops’ dresses, Cornet searches the nearby theater for a costume. As per Kururu’s suggestion, Cornet wears a giant stuffed bear as her costume. The beauty contest consists of: physical challenge round where the participants will battle each other, a costume round where the participants display their costumes, and a talent round. The contest ends in a tie between Cornet and Etoile and as a reward, both are invited to the prince’s birthday ball where they will dance with the prince.</p><p>At the prince’s ball, it’s here that Cornet and Ferdinand realize they’re both meant for each other, but the intimate moment is ruined when Marjoly and her gang crash the party. Marjoly notices Ferdinand’s handsome looks and attempts to cast a love spell on him, but ends up turning him to stone by mistake. Marjoly then kidnaps Ferdinand and takes him back to her lair, a floating fortress called Beauty Castle.</p><p>A wise sage named Polansky tells Cornet that in order to rescue Ferdinand and break the curse, Cornet must collect the five Heart Stones: Fire Stone, Thunder Stone, Wind Stone, Water Stone and Earth Stone.</p><p>As Cornet travels around the world to collect the stones, she’ll visit the village of frog people called KeroKero, a sunken ship, a volcano, an ice tower, and even get swallowed whole by a giant earthworm and team up with Etoile in order to escape. Throughout these travels, Cornet will also encounter and fight the different Marjoly sisters who are after the stones as well.</p><p>Upon collecting all of the stones, Kururu passes out from what appears to be a fever and is taken to Polansky. Polansky uses his magic in order to let Cornet and Etoile enter Kururu’s dreams where she revisits a memory and learns the truth behind the accident that killed her mother several years ago. Cornet’s mother, Cherie, has special powers much like Cornet, but is much stronger. In the dream, Cornet and Etoile see their younger selves and Etoile refuses to recognize that the snot-nosed child version of herself is actually her. The two witness child Cornet and child Etoile playing with each other. The children decide to play near the church graveyard where child Cornet stumbles into the secret passageway below the graveyard. Child Etoile informs Cherie of what happened and together Cherie, Cornet, Etoile, and child Etoile go after child Cornet. When they find young Cornet, they see her crying near the remains of the Ancient Weapon that was used in the war several years ago. It’s then revealed that the royal minister Golonzo is attempting to reactivate the Ancient Weapon in order to take over the world. Child Cornet is trapped in the middle and in order to protect her and stop Golonzo, Cherie sacrifices herself to block the Ancient Weapon’s attack. Cherie’s true form is then revealed as a beautiful angel from ancient times that is said to be responsible for creating the puppets that Cornet uses. Weakened by her sacrifice, Cherie transfers her soul to the inanimate puppet Kururu that Cornet always brings with her and uses this form to watch over and protect Cornet. After Cornet returns from the dream, Polansky admits to Cornet that the Heart Stones are actually needed to teleport Marjoly’s lair, Beauty Castle, and that only the kiss of Ferdinand’s true love can restore him to his former self. Cornet leaves Kururu in Polansky’s care and heads off to Cape Hope to activate the portal to Beauty Castle.</p><p>Once Cornet enters Beauty Castle, she makes her way to the throne room where Marjoly, Crowdia, Gao, and Myao are waiting for her. Cornet fights and defeats Marjoly and just as Marjoly bluffs that she wasn’t using her full power and prepares to power up, Golonzo breaks in through the back wall with the completely restored Ancient Weapon. It’s revealed that Golonzo was working for Marjoly, but in reality he was just using her resources to rebuild the Ancient Weapon and plots to take over the world. Marjoly quickly defeats the Ancient Weapon, and just as she’s about to finish it off, her spell fails. Kururu appears and gives Cornet the extra encouragement that allows her to finish off the Ancient Weapon. After defeating the Ancient Weapon, Cornet approaches the petrified prince and kisses him, thus, breaking the curse. Marjoly acknowledges this act of love and lets them go.</p><p>The story concludes with Cornet and Ferdinand getting married and the entire cast celebrates the wedding, including the Marjoly family. During the celebration, Cornet heads outside to the castle balcony where Kururu/Cherie bids her farewell to Cornet. Cherie announces her job was to ensure Cornet’s happiness and now that’s been completed she leaves Kururu’s body and ascends to heaven. Cornet picks up the inanimate Kururu puppet and is joined by the prince as the credits roll.</p><p>After the credits roll, a bit of dialogue between what is assumed to be Cornet and Ferdinand reveals Cornet is pregnant with their first child. Cornet believes it will be a girl that will be named Kururu. The name isn’t mentioned in the game, but is evidenced because the game’s sequel, Little Princess: Marl Oukoku no Ningyou Hime 2, stars Cornet’s daughter, Kururu.</p><h3>Musical Segments</h3><p>At certain points in the story, the characters will break out into song that is related to the current situation. These instances are scripted and the topics for these songs range from Cornet daydreaming about the prince, to frogs singing about their homeland, to pirates singing about lotion. In the U.S. PlayStation version, players have the option to hear the vocals in either English or Japanese. The DS version, however, only featured the Japanese version because there were localization issues with the English version. After viewing these scenes in the story, they can be replayed from the gallery on the main menu.</p><h2>Characters</h2><p>Cornet Espoire – A girl who has the magical ability to communicate with puppets and bring them to life with her horn. She dreams of meeting the prince of her dreams.</p><p>Kururu – A fairy puppet who is Cornet’s best friend and acts as her guardian angel. She is mischievous and often ridicules Cornet for her absent-mindedness. The story reveals that she hosts the soul of Cherie, Cornet’s mother.</p><p>Mustaki – Cornet’s grandfather and only living relative. He is a master craftsman of puppets and repairs any broken puppets that Cornet brings to him. He has a history with Polansky in developing the Ancient Weapon back in the Great War. They both saw this weapon as something that could be dangerous if used with the wrong hands and decided to destroy it.</p><p>Prince Ferdinand E. Marl – Prince of Marl’s Kingdom, enjoys hunting and practicing his swordplay. Many women dream of marrying him, and he appears to rescue Cornet when she was in danger. He is turned to stone and kidnapped by Marjoly.</p><p>Etoile Rosenqueen – Cornet’s rival and spoiled rich. She and Cornet were childhood fans, but she got older, she became obsessed with her wealth. Despite her regal appearance, she also packs heavy artillery and is always accompanied by her two bodyguards.</p><p>Marjoly – An evil, dim-witted witch who is said to be more than 1,000 years old, but retains her youthful appearance with the aid of magic spells and copious amounts of make-up. She leads her family of sisters who often mock her for her age. She falls in love with Ferdinand and tries cast a love spell on him, but turns him to stone by accident and is kidnapped by her.</p><p>Crowdia – A beautiful warrior who sports large black wings and is part of the Marjoly family. She fights with swords.</p><p>Gao – A boyish-looking female that has a dog tail and is part of the Marjoly family. She fights with her fists.</p><p>Myao – A child-like witch who has cat ears and is part of the Marjoly family. She is able to summon monsters.</p><p>Golonzo – The royal minister and well-known pervert. He attempted to take control of the Ancient Weapon after the Great War but was stopped by Cherie. Years later he secret works for Marjoly as he attempts to rebuild the Ancient Weapon in order to take over the world.</p><p>Polansky – A wise sage who worked with Mustaki on the Ancient Weapon during the Great War. He tells Cornet to collect the five Heart Stones in order to activate the portal to Marjoly’s lair and to save the prince.</p><p>Cherie – Cornet’s mother who died in an accident several years ago. She had magical powers like Cornet. A dream sequence reveals the circumstances that led to her death and revealed her to be a powerful angel from ancient times. She transferred her soul to the puppet Kururu in order to watch over Cornet.</p><h2>Gameplay</h2><p>The gameplay between the two versions is identical, with the major difference being in the combat. Outside of combat, the game plays like a very simple RPG. Traveling to different areas is done through a map select screen. The towns are filled with NPC villagers and puppets that talk to Cornet, as well as shops. There are no weapon or armor shops as the only equipment you can change are accessories. Cornet and her puppet team can each equip up to three accessories at a time. The accessories grant bonuses to attack, defense, speed, magic and so on. In addition to accessories, shops also carry recovery items.The dungeon areas of the game consist of simple maze environments that are filled with treasure chests and random encounters.</p><h3>Battle System and Differences Between the Two Versions</h3><p>The battle system in the PlayStation version of Rhapsody is a SRPG like what is found in <a data-ref-id="3025-615" href="/final-fantasy-tactics/3025-615/" slug="final-fantasy-tactics">Final Fantasy Tactics</a> and would be the basis for Nippon Ichi’s later work, <a data-ref-id="3025-152" href="/disgaea/3025-152/" slug="disgaea">Disgaea</a>. The DS version of Rhapsody uses a more traditional turn-based system like what is <a data-ref-id="3025-160" href="/dragon-quest/3025-160/" slug="dragon-quest">Dragon Quest</a> and <a data-ref-id="3025-194" href="/final-fantasy/3025-194/" slug="final-fantasy">Final Fantasy</a>.</p><p>In both versions, however, each party member has the same set of commands: attack, magic, defend, and item. The PlayStation version has the additional move command for moving your units. In both versions, Cornet has the unique command where she can play her horn in battle to buff her party members. Each time Cornet plays her horn, a music note appears at the top of the screen. When enough music notes have been acquired, Cornet can use her “present” command where she unleashes several food-themed attacks; the more music notes you have, the more powerful attacks you can use. These attacks range from the weak candy attack to the powerful gigantic stack of pancakes attack. Each combatant also has an element attached to them in battle. The elements are: fire, water, earth, wind, dark, and holy. Each pair of elements counter each other (i.e. fire and water, earth and wind, dark and holy).</p><p>In the PlayStation version, Kururu appears in battle as an aesthetic element and has no impact in battle. In the DS version, however, Kururu is fully playable as one of Cornet’s puppets and is in fact, very powerful. When Kururu is out of commission as a result of the plot, she is unable to participate in battle.</p><h3>Puppet Recruitment</h3><p>Over the course of the story, Cornet will encounter several puppets. Some of which will join her party fight for her. Cornet can have up to three puppets actively participate in battle, while the others are put into reserve. Some puppets will join Cornet as part of the story, while others must be found in dungeons and may even test Cornet’s combat abilities before agreeing to join her. In the PlayStation version, certain monsters could also join Cornet's party as puppets.</p><p>When a puppet joins Cornet’s party, they also have a related sidequest for you to complete. These quests vary from recruiting all of the puppets from a certain set such as the three egg brothers, or witnessing a specific event that is related to a puppet.</p><h2>Puppets</h2><p><a data-ref-id="3005-9454" href="/sharte/3005-9454/" slug="sharte">Sharte</a> – the first puppet you meet (besides Kururu) is searching for her lost sister.</p><p><a data-ref-id="3005-9464" href="/terra/3005-9464/" slug="terra">Terra</a>- Sharte’s sister.</p><p>Kid – The youngest egg brother</p><p><a data-ref-id="3005-9428" href="/tell/3005-9428/" slug="tell">Tell</a> – The middle egg brother</p><p>Billy – The oldest egg brother</p><p>Flare – A newborn dragon</p><p>L-Kun – A large stuffed bear that Cornet uses as her costume for the Miss Marl’s Kingdom Beauty Contest</p><p>Ledgem – A mysterious creature that has a connection to Polansky</p><p>Koro – Cornet’s neighbor’s dog that recently died, but is resurrected by Cornet as a puppet.</p><p>Chiba – A samurai puppet, one of the Mustaki warriors who have a history with Cornet’s grandfather.</p><p>Duke – A knight puppet, one of the Mustaki warriors who have a history with Cornet’s grandfather.</p><p>Albatross – A commando puppet that wields a large rocket launcher, one of the Mustaki warriors who have a history with Cornet’s grandfather.</p><p>Knightspawn – A corrupted knight.</p><p>Michael – A frog from Frogburg, is killed for breaking into the castle in order to meet his lover Caroline. Is resurrected by Cornet and joins her party along with Caroline.</p><p>Caroline – The princess of Frogburg, loves Michael and joins the party when he is resurrected by Cornet.</p><p>Kururu (only in the DS version) – Cornet’s guardian, is with Cornet from the beginning of the game.</p><h2>Soundtrack</h2><p>Included with the U.S. release of Rhapsody for the PlayStation was a bonus soundtrack CD. The CD includes the voiced musical tracks as well as the background music from the rest of the game.</p><ol><li>"Someday" (vocal by Sara Thomas as Cornet and Jody Fleischer as Kururu)</li><li>"Let's Go On (Contest Version)" (vocal by Sara Thomas as Coronet and Jody Fleischer as Etoile)</li><li>"Let's Go On (Cherie Version)" (vocal by Jody Fleischer as Cherie)</li><li>"Our World" (vocal by Sara Thomas as Coronet and Josh Synard as Ferdinand)</li><li>"Amphibian Paradise" (vocal by Josh Synard as Michael with Rachel Quaintanes, Glenn Wissner, and Keith Arem as the Frog Dancers)</li><li>"Evil Queen" (vocal by Marjoly (Camie Gordon Lowrey), Myao (Sara Thomas), Gao (Rachel Quaintanes) and Crowdia (Jody Fleischer))</li><li>"True Courage" (vocal by Sara Thomas as Coronet and Jody Fleischer as Kururu)</li><li>"Thank You" (vocal by Sara Thomas as Cornet)</li><li>"Mountainmen's Song" (vocal by Josh Synard as Gilbert with Glen Wissner and Keith Arem as the Chorus)</li><li>"Amazing Pirates" (vocal by Josh Synard, Glen Wissner, and Keith Arem as the Pirates)</li><li>"Puppet Princess Theme"</li><li>"Little Love"</li><li>"Adventurer"</li><li>"Welcome to the Dungeon"</li><li>"Spirit Wind"</li><li>"Marjoly Family Anthem"</li><li>"Mothergreen"</li><li>"Castle Evening"</li><li>"Lady's Barrette"</li><li>"Fear"</li><li>"Shooting Star"</li><li>"Rhapsody Afar"</li><li>"Dream Hunter"</li><li>"The Wanderer"</li><li>"Last Waltz"</li><li>"Mother's Lullaby"</li></ol><h2>Reception</h2><p>Rhapsody was considered a cult favorite among its fans, but was not very popular in both Japan and the U.S. It was criticized for its simplistic RPG elements as well as its cheesy musical segments.</p><h2>Sequels and Connections to Other Franchises</h2><p>Despite its low popularity the game spawned two sequels that were released in Japan. <a data-ref-id="3030-24163" href="/little-princess-marl-oukoku-no-ningyou-hime-2/3030-24163/" slug="little-princess-marl-oukoku-no-ningyou-hime-2">Little Princess: Marl Ōkoku no Ningyō Hime 2</a> (Little Princess: Puppet Princess of Marl Kingdom 2) for PlayStation and <a data-ref-id="3030-24164" href="/tenshi-no-present-marl-oukoku-monogatari/3030-24164/" slug="tenshi-no-present-marl-oukoku-monogatari">Tenshi no Purezento Māru-ōkoku Monogatari</a> (Angel Present: A Marl Kingdom Story) for PlayStation 2. Both sequels dropped the SRPG combat system of the original in favor of the traditional turn-based system that is found in the DS version of Rhapsody.</p><p>La Pucelle: Tactics is considered to be a spiritual successor to the Marl’s Kingdom games as it features many similar minor characters and takes place within the same universe but at a different time period.</p><p>Hymn Princess of Antiphona is a spinoff prequel to the Marl’s Kingdom series and was released for PlayStation Portable in 2009.</p><p>The Disgaea series has its share of Marl’s Kingdom references. The stores are owned by Etoile’s family’s business, the Rosenqueen Company.</p><p>Marjoly appears as an optional boss fight in the Disgaea series.</p>

Screenshots, PS1 Screenshots, Artwork, All Images, Random game pics

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection-2022-08-30

<h2>Overview</h2><p>Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection is a collection of 13 classic <a href="/teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles/3025-332/" data-ref-id="3025-332">Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles</a> games published by <a href="/konami/3010-87/" data-ref-id="3010-87">Konami</a>.</p><h3>Games Included</h3><ul><li><a href="/teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-fall-of-the-foot-clan/3030-15797/" data-ref-id="3030-15797">Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Fall of the Foot Clan</a></li><li><a href="/teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-ii-back-from-the-sewe/3030-15414/" data-ref-id="3030-15414">Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: Back From the Sewers</a></li><li><a href="/teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-iii-radical-rescue/3030-17952/" data-ref-id="3030-17952">Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: Radical Rescue</a></li><li><a href="/teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-tournament-fighters/3030-4896/" data-ref-id="3030-4896">Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters</a> (NES)</li><li>Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters (SNES)</li><li>Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters (Genesis)</li><li><a href="/teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-the-hyperstone-heist/3030-11404/" data-ref-id="3030-11404">Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The HyperStone Heist</a></li><li><a href="/teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-turtles-in-time/3030-18034/" data-ref-id="3030-18034">Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time</a></li><li>Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time</li><li><a href="/teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles/3030-20790/" data-ref-id="3030-20790">Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles</a></li><li><a href="/teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles/3030-23408/" data-ref-id="3030-23408">Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles</a> (arcade)</li><li>Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game</li><li><a href="/teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-iii-the-manhattan-pro/3030-1831/" data-ref-id="3030-1831">Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: The Manhattan Project</a></li></ul>

A FPS bullet hell game where the player works their way through the labyrinths of Hell.

An adventure RPG following Danish Nurse Gerda after her village is occupied during the Second World War.

A Pac-Man game where you uncover cards to unlock doors to get the fruit and other items locked away. But watch out! Your "pal" will steal your hard earned items if you let her!

<h2><strong>Overview</strong></h2><p><strong>Pac &amp; Pal</strong> takes elements from <a href="//www.giantbomb.com/super-pac-man/3030-1559/" data-ref-id="3030-1559">Super Pac-Man</a>, such as gates and items that must be collected to open gates, as well as a dot-free maze. The goal of the game is to eat all of the items in the level, many of which are locked behind gates that are opened by eating cards that are placed around the level. The four classic <a href="//www.giantbomb.com/ghosts/3015-758/" data-ref-id="3015-758">ghosts</a> chase <a href="//www.giantbomb.com/pac-man/3005-149/" data-ref-id="3005-149">Pac-Man</a>, as usual, but they can't be eaten. Instead, some items give Pac-Man additional, ghost-breaking abilities. Grabbing a <a href="//www.giantbomb.com/galaxian-flagship/3055-333/" data-ref-id="3055-333">Galaxian</a>, for example, changes Pac-Man's color and allows the player to shoot <a href="//www.giantbomb.com/galaga/3030-15784/" data-ref-id="3030-15784">Galaga</a>-like beams out of Pac-Man's mouth, which turns them blue and makes them harmless for a brief period of time.</p><p>The goal of each level is to open gates with keys, then eat all fruits and items contained within the gated areas. Standing in your way is <a href="//www.giantbomb.com/miru/3005-17269/" data-ref-id="3005-17269">Miru</a>, a child-like green ghost that will grab fruit and attempt to drag it back to the ghost pen at the center of the level. Once the fruit is deposited into the pen, it is removed from the game and you will be unable to obtain the points within that level. A bonus amount of points may be had from eating all items in a maze without having them robbed by Miru.</p><h2>Release History</h2><p>Pac &amp; Pal was the second Pac-Man sequel developed in-house by Namco. It was optioned to Bally-Midway for distribution in North America. This release, retitled <strong>Pac-Man &amp; Chomp Chomp,</strong> replaced your "pal," Miru, with <a href="//www.giantbomb.com/chomp-chomp/3005-15543/" data-ref-id="3005-15543">Chomp Chomp</a>, the Pac-Family's dog from the Pac-Man cartoon series. Pac-Man &amp; Chomp Chomp received a test launch in Chicago in late 1983, but was not distributed as result of Namco and Midway's business relationships ending around this time as a result of Midway's unlicensed Pac-Man sequel work (<a href="/baby-pac-man/3030-23314/" data-ref-id="3030-23314">Baby Pac-Man</a>, <a href="/professor-pac-man/3030-41191/" data-ref-id="3030-41191">Professor Pac-Man</a>, etc.)</p>

Shin Nekketsu Kouha Kunio-kun: Kunio-tachi no Banka
River City Girls 0

A gritty pseudo-sequel to the NES classics Renegade and River City Ransom, once again featuring Kunio-kun. Later saw localization in English as a prequel to River City Girls.

<h2>Overview</h2><p>Shin Nekketsu Kouha Kunio-kun: Kunio-tachi no Banka (New Hotblooded Rowdy Kunio-Kun: The Eulogy of Kunio's Friends) is a brawler released in 1994 for the Super Famicom by <a href="/technos-japan-corp/3010-452/" data-ref-id="3010-452">Technos Japan</a>. The game was one of the last games in the long-running <a href="/kunio-kun/3025-858/" data-ref-id="3025-858">Kunio-kun</a> series to be developed and published by Technos Japan. Notable for being a dark, gritty reboot of the then incredibly popular (in Japan) Kunio-kun franchise, Kunio-tachi no Banka has players fighting their way through a murder mystery.</p><h2>Story</h2><figure data-align="right" data-img-src="https://static.giantbomb.com/uploads/original/10/103881/2267382-2120198_kunio.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2267382" data-size="small" data-ratio="0.58154506437768" data-width="466" data-embed-type="image" style="width: 466px"><a class="fluid-height" style="padding-bottom:58.2%" href="https://static.giantbomb.com/uploads/original/10/103881/2267382-2120198_kunio.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2267382"><img alt="No Caption Provided" src="https://www.giantbomb.com/a/uploads/scale_small/10/103881/2267382-2120198_kunio.jpg" srcset="https://www.giantbomb.com/a/uploads/original/10/103881/2267382-2120198_kunio.jpg 466w, https://www.giantbomb.com/a/uploads/scale_small/10/103881/2267382-2120198_kunio.jpg 320w" sizes="(max-width: 320px) 100vw, 320px" data-width="320"></a></figure><p>A young couple is murdered in a brutal hit-and-run accident and juvenile delinquents <a href="/kunio/3005-15431/" data-ref-id="3005-15431">Kunio</a> and <a href="/riki/3005-15449/" data-ref-id="3005-15449">Riki</a> are falsely accused of the couple's death. Thrown into a juvenile crime center for a crime they swear they did not commit, Kunio and Riki must escape incarceration and beat the crap out of everyone they can in order to find out who was really behind the hit and run accident.</p><figure data-align="right" data-img-src="https://static.giantbomb.com/uploads/original/10/103881/2267383-2120200_riki.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2267383" data-size="small" data-ratio="0.58980044345898" data-width="451" data-embed-type="image" style="width: 451px"><a class="fluid-height" style="padding-bottom:59.0%" href="https://static.giantbomb.com/uploads/original/10/103881/2267383-2120200_riki.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2267383"><img alt="No Caption Provided" src="https://www.giantbomb.com/a/uploads/scale_small/10/103881/2267383-2120200_riki.jpg" srcset="https://www.giantbomb.com/a/uploads/original/10/103881/2267383-2120200_riki.jpg 451w, https://www.giantbomb.com/a/uploads/scale_small/10/103881/2267383-2120200_riki.jpg 320w" sizes="(max-width: 320px) 100vw, 320px" data-width="320"></a></figure><p>The story and feel of the game is overwhelmingly dark, a stark contrast to the lighthearted whimsy found in other Kunio-kun titles. The main characters use swear words often, the violence is less cartoony and more gritty, and the characters seem a lot edgier than in past Kunio-kun titles.</p><h2>Gameplay</h2><p>Kunio-tachi no Banka is a standard beat-em-up. Players get the requisite punch, kick, jump, and block buttons, plus can access a special attack by pressing block and any attack button at the same time. In addition to this, players have a "back attack" button which allows them to attack enemies that get behind them, and by pressing select players can cycle between different playable characters. The game contains four playable characters: Series mascot Kunio and his girlfriend Misako for player 1, and sometime Series antagonist Riki and his girlfriend Kyouko.</p><p>Bike racing scenes are sprinkled throughout the game to give the player a break from beating stuff up on foot and play somewhat similar to the video game <a href="/road-rash/3025-394/" data-ref-id="3025-394">Road Rash</a>.</p><h2>Legacy</h2><p>Kunio-tachi no Banka would wind up being, for the longest time, the very last original non-sports game in the Kunio-kun series. The game was not released in non-Japanese territories and was followed by two more titles, the food-themed puzzle game <a href="/kunio-no-oden/3030-1824/" data-ref-id="3030-1824">Kunio no Oden</a> and a <a href="/the-king-of-fighters/3025-407/" data-ref-id="3025-407">King of Fighters</a>-esque remake of <a href="/super-dodge-ball/3030-36000/" data-ref-id="3030-36000">Super Dodge Ball</a> for the Neo Geo. Neo Geo Dodgeball would become the company's last game, and members of the Kunio-kun would later go on to form <a href="/million-co/3010-6264/" data-ref-id="3010-6264">Million</a>, who would eventually buy the rights to the games back and remake/re-release many classics from the series's heyday.</p><p>An English translation was released by fan translation group <a href="http://agtp.romhack.net/project.php?id=banka" rel="nofollow ">Aeon Genesis</a> in 2002.</p><p>Also, the action racing game <a href="../../super-mad-champ/61-37279/" rel="nofollow ">Super Mad Champ</a> was based on the motorcycle levels of Kunio-tachi no Banka.</p><p>The game was announced for a 2022 western release for <a href="/nintendo-switch/3045-157/" data-ref-id="3045-157">Nintendo Switch</a>, <a href="/playstation-4/3045-146/" data-ref-id="3045-146">PlayStation 4</a>, and <a href="/playstation-5/3045-176/" data-ref-id="3045-176">PlayStation 5</a> under the title <strong>River City Girls Zero</strong>, with a fully new English translation and tweaks to link it to <a href="/wayforward-technologies/3010-2294/" data-ref-id="3010-2294">WayForward</a>'s <a href="/river-city-girls/3025-5174/" data-ref-id="3025-5174">River City Girls</a> spinoff series, including new music from series composer <a href="/megan-mcduffee/3040-179209/" data-ref-id="3040-179209">Megan McDuffee</a>, voice acting from <a href="/kayli-mills/3040-178026/" data-ref-id="3040-178026">Kayli Mills</a> and <a href="/kira-buckland/3040-99744/" data-ref-id="3040-99744">Kira Buckland</a>, an anime-esque intro sequence, and comic-styled cutscenes.</p><h2>Soundtrack</h2><table><tbody><tr><td>Track:</td><td>Title:</td><td>Length:</td></tr><tr><td>01</td><td>Midnight Run</td><td>01:55</td></tr><tr><td>02</td><td>Mode Select</td><td>00:20</td></tr><tr><td>03</td><td>Going to Jail</td><td>00:28</td></tr><tr><td>04</td><td>Inside Prison</td><td>01:25</td></tr><tr><td>05</td><td>Jail Fight</td><td>01:40</td></tr><tr><td>06</td><td>Escape Plan</td><td>00:49</td></tr><tr><td>07</td><td>Kunio's Breakout</td><td>01:43</td></tr><tr><td>08</td><td>Great Escape</td><td>00:25</td></tr><tr><td>09</td><td>Misako's Theme</td><td>01:13</td></tr><tr><td>10</td><td>Nekketsu High School</td><td>01:56</td></tr><tr><td>11</td><td>Confrontation</td><td>00:33</td></tr><tr><td>12</td><td>School Fight</td><td>01:37</td></tr><tr><td>13</td><td>Enemy Territory</td><td>02:20</td></tr><tr><td>14</td><td>Amusement Park</td><td>01:38</td></tr><tr><td>15</td><td>Roller Coaster</td><td>02:23</td></tr><tr><td>16</td><td>Heated Battle</td><td>02:23</td></tr><tr><td>17</td><td>Bike Scene</td><td>01:47</td></tr><tr><td>18</td><td>Docks</td><td>02:28</td></tr><tr><td>19</td><td>Underground</td><td>02:29</td></tr><tr><td>20</td><td>Shinji's Hideout</td><td>02:29</td></tr><tr><td>21</td><td>Encounter</td><td>00:33</td></tr><tr><td>22</td><td>Beauty and the Beast</td><td>02:05</td></tr><tr><td>23</td><td>Disco Almanic</td><td>02:27</td></tr><tr><td>24</td><td>Yakuza Battle</td><td>01:59</td></tr><tr><td>25</td><td>Misuzu's Theme</td><td>01:45</td></tr><tr><td>26</td><td>Vanishing Tears</td><td>02:35</td></tr><tr><td>27</td><td>Kunio's Eulogy</td><td>04:05</td></tr><tr><td>28</td><td>Countryside</td><td>02:17</td></tr><tr><td>29</td><td>Sabu's Mansion</td><td>02:29</td></tr><tr><td>30</td><td>Battle Against Ken</td><td>02:08</td></tr><tr><td>31</td><td>Ending Theme</td><td>02:10</td></tr><tr><td>32</td><td>Game Over</td><td>00:04</td></tr><tr><td>b01</td><td>Unused Song 1</td><td>02:29</td></tr><tr><td>b02</td><td>Unused Song 2</td><td>00:43</td></tr></tbody></table>

An upgraded version of 2013's JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle

<h2>Overview</h2><p>LEGO Brawls is a fighting game developed by <a href="/red-games/3010-19657/" data-ref-id="3010-19657">RED Games</a> and published by <a href="/lego-group-the/3010-6028/" data-ref-id="3010-6028">The LEGO Group</a> for <a href="/iphone/3045-96/" data-ref-id="3045-96">iPhone</a>, <a href="/ipad/3045-121/" data-ref-id="3045-121">iPad</a>, <a href="/apple-tv/3045-159/" data-ref-id="3045-159">Apple TV</a>, <a href="/xbox-one/3045-145/" data-ref-id="3045-145">Xbox One</a>, <a href="/xbox-series-xs/3045-179/" data-ref-id="3045-179">Xbox Series X|S</a>, <a href="/playstation-4/3045-146/" data-ref-id="3045-146">PlayStation 4</a>, <a href="/playstation-5/3045-176/" data-ref-id="3045-176">PlayStation 5</a>, <a href="/pc/3045-94/" data-ref-id="3045-94">PC</a>, and <a href="/nintendo-switch/3045-157/" data-ref-id="3045-157">Nintendo Switch</a>.</p><h2>System Requirements</h2><h3>PC</h3><table data-max-width="true"><thead><tr><th scope="col">PC Minimum</th><th scope="col">PC Recommended</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><ul><li>Operating System: Windows 10</li><li>Processor: Intel Core i5-4430 / AMD FX-6300</li><li>Memory: 4 GB RAM</li><li>Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 2GB / AMD Radeon R7 370 2GB</li><li>DirectX: Version 11</li><li>Network: Broadband Internet connection</li><li>Storage: 5 GB available space</li></ul></td><td> </td></tr></tbody></table><h2>External Links</h2><ul><li><a href="https://www.legobrawlsgame.com/" data-target="true" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">Lego Brawls Official Site</a></li></ul>

An action RPG set in the Made in Abyss universe featuring an original story that extends the events of the anime.