r/BeatEmUps

Compared to the final system, it feels like it could have offered a more intense and engaging fighting experience

For context, Dennis Opel is a former Rockstar developer who worked on Bully

This might be one of the best beat em ups hidden gems ever made, it was released exclusively for nintendo DS and I reccomand playing in on the melon ds emulator with upscaled graphics because it looks gorgeous, anyway the game have lots of text and while I am not usually a fan of text heavy games, goin trough dialogues in this one gave me a good laugh since the game has well written humour, as the gameplay, the gameplay is very good, responsive controls, great combos and you play as different characters in different stages which gives you some variety, tho you cannot choose which character you can play as when you want but, but the game is great, I genuinely recomand it and again, use melon ds because the game just looks so good upscaled, and as I said, the humour is great, the story is great

I’d recommend listening to this music while reading. 

GAMEPLAY (9/10) 

• While the story was pretty basic, it did hint at an alternate ending. Unfortunately, it was another trap set by Taito to keep you engaged while using more coins. The gameplay though, didn’t need any hints at all, as it threw everything in your face straight up! 
• Starting with controls, which were awesome to begin with. You could jump, drop down, high kick as well as drop kick, duck, attack with your knife, rifles, pistols or even rocket launchers. Plus, if you didn’t want to waste any ammo, you could simply use the weapons as your melee extensions! 
• The game also had a lot of creative traps, platforming sections and overall destruction environments. I loved the barrels which ignited with a timer, giving you room to escape their blast. As well as the fuel cans which served as throwables. 
• By defeating enemies on vehicles, you could jump in afterwards and drive through schmucks while shooting with the railgun. 
• Speaking of enemy variety, glorious showcase! On each and every level, there were different types with cool attack patterns. Same for mini-bosses and bosses themselves, although quite simplistic beside the final encounter! 
• The game also had some flying sections with cool hoverboards and machines. I was pleasantly surprised at the changing sceneries and your ability to get in and out of the vehicles at will, or be thrown out of an air carrier altogether! 
• While platforming was reduced to some basic jumps and pole hangings, I did love the ability to fight while sliding on them. 
• Traversal was seamless and a lot of fun, with the total game taking no more than 30m to beat. 
• The difficulty wasn’t too hard, but it did require some careful dodging and enemy attack predictions!

AUDIO (8/10) 

• Sound design was reduced to its mono output, even though the machine was capable of stereo. It did combine the sound effects with the music quite well, in the end delivering awesome vibes!

VISUALS (10/10) 

• Fidelity was awesome for 1990, with most visual effects and character animations being quite pleasing and actually fun to run through! 
• I was also impressed by performance, as the game didn’t slowdown even in complete mayhem! 
• The art direction was simply magnificent, and I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves!

WORLD DESIGN (9/10) 

• Level design was another aspect that left me in awe. Starting with all the parallax scrolling effects, which were fantastic. You went through the Front Line, Air Fortress, Aircraft Carrier, a Mine and the final Headquarters with incredible landscapes and overall world destruction. Plus, I loved how the thunder effects not only pleased visually, but interacted with the gameplay itself. 
• The atmosphere was awesome too, although not as immersive considering the game’ pace!

TL;DR -> An awesome showcase though military bases and air carriers. It delivered on everything, including its outstanding visuals, cool level designs, awesome music and really fun gameplay. A (9.0) game, masterpiece in my book. Would absolutely replay the game with friends, as while Thunder struck alone, he clearly needed his Fox clone! 

Ghoul Fright is the project we are personally in love with and developing with passion.
We are testing the co-op mode right now, and soon a new Update will be available.

I’d highly recommend listening to this music while reading. 

STORY (5/10) 

• Storytelling followed the same idea as the previous 2 games. But here, the way it was presented didn’t even make sense, as I didn’t understand who I was fighting, why and most of all, when?! 
• The presentation although messy, did have its own charm with cool locations from China, Italy, USA, Brazil and even Kyoto. 
• The characters were very nice with awesome designs. Once I discovered Okuni though, I chose to play that way, the boobs way! 
• Pacing was pretty long with the game overstaying its welcome. It required at least one hour of continuous play, and by the end, it got so tedious that I simply wanted to quit on the spot. 
• The game also teased a sequel, guess 3 games with the same story was more than enough!

GAMEPLAY (4/10) 

• Starting with controls, which were quite extensive once you understood every combo and special attack. You could dash, run, punch, slash, jump, throw, grab, do specials with alternate abilities, super moves and more! 
• The tutorial helped on the initial screen, which I always love as most of the time the games don’t even show you what’s possible. 
• On top of all of the above, you could also pick up and throw shurikens, darts and even bombs. As well as collect health items hidden within boxes and destructibles. 
• The game also had a power meter, where the more damage you dealt, the more power ups you could use. I ended up using quite a lot of special attacks by the end, mainly because the enemies themselves were literal sponges! 
• Changing characters upon death was cool, although already outdated by 2001 standards. Plus, removing what the originals created with switching characters on the go was a bad move! 
• While platforming wasn’t extensive, the game did have some cool jumping sections with traps and nice scalable environments. 
• Now, while all of the above sounds good on paper, the game was a total snooze-fest. Starting with enemy variety, which didn’t change from the start of the game till the end. There were some new enemies on certain occasions, but essentially, you fought the same types with reskinned looks and increased health bars. 
• Speaking of health bars, who in their right mind develops such monotonous crap?! I swear to god, the last stage got so tedious I dropped the game and was ready to scrap the review, only pushing forward after a few days! 
• Your own combo moves got repetitive to hell, as once you got the best sequence, you didn’t need the other ones. You could juggle enemies sure, but doing the same attack patterns upon spongy enemies, over and over again, wasn’t fun! 
• Traversal was boring AF! So boring that I couldn’t understand the shift from the original and its sequel. What happened?! You went on a diet or something?! 
• Difficulty was brutal by the end. While it started gradually with increased spikes, by the end I ended up spending more than 10 greasy bucks!

AUDIO (9/10) 

• Sound design was very good with a cool stereo output. Yet again, the first game remains unbeatable in this department. 
• The music though, pure perfection. Each level had its own unique soundtrack and I’m telling you, push the volume to the max! 
• While voice acting was reduced to some character shouts and minimal dialogues, it delivered in its own way. 
• The sound effects themselves were pretty awesome, with quite some variations between them!

VISUALS (7/10) 

• Now, I might be biased or extremely cracked in the head, but I swear, the previous 2 entries were so much better than what was shown here! 
• Fidelity wasn’t good, as most levels were reduced to huge sprites with little to look at besides landscapes. For 2001, I’d say that was a bust. 
• Character models were spectacular though, with each having awesome cloth animations, body movements, attack patterns and even bouncing melons! 
• The enemies though, were terrible and showed extensive monotony! 
• Performance kept a steady frame-rate even in demanding scenes. 
• The art style was cool and minimalistic on each location, with most backgrounds adding unique vibes! 
• The visual effects were quite nice for 2001. From reflections to smoke, fire, explosions, water, wind, dust and so on, quite unique.

WORLD DESIGN (10/10) 

• Level design while divided into multiple sections within each location, delivered outstanding vibes with cool backgrounds and landscapes. You went from Italy to Japan, China, Brazil, USA and even the Underworld Dungeon in Kyoto! 
• The atmosphere was off the charts thanks to the music and awesome art direction. If you closed your eyes and simply mashed buttons, it gave you even better vibes! 
• World destruction was great, with smashing doors, pots, barrels and more!

TL;DR -> Quite a step backwards from Sengoku & Sengoku 2, although with some unique perks. While the overall progression coupled with enemy variety butchered the gameplay, the story didn’t fall far from the mark. Visually not impressive, not even for 1993, let alone 2001, with only the sound and world design redeeming themselves. A (7.0) game, good in my book. Unfortunately a good game doesn’t quite make the cut for a replay, as I’d rather meditate for an entire day than replay this monotonous clay! 

I’d recommend listening to this music while reading. 

GAMEPLAY (8/10) 

• While storytelling was pretty basic in comparison with the original Sengoku, it also followed the same plot and characters. Same presentation, same vibes, same everything really, with only the Tengu replacing the Samurai from the original. 
• The gameplay on the other hand, was altered in a new direction. Starting with controls, which added new and cool attacks in between. You could attack from a normal or low stance, jump, change characters and even do charged attacks or specials with magic abilities. 
• The game also had a tutorial, which helped with basic knowledge as to what buttons to press. 
• It had the same orbs with power ups, but here you didn’t change swords, you simply gained magic abilities and attacks. The main character had swords by default, with the Tengu wielding a staff, the Wolf his bloody claws and the Ninja throwing shurikens around. Here though, I hardly used the Wolf, as he wasn’t as needed as the other ones. 
• The horse rides were nice too, although quite short and pretty basic for a change. Although I loved slicing horsemen heads off! 
• Enemy variety was heavily reused, with some unique entries on new stages, but mostly the same throughout the whole game. I did love boss encounters, as those were really awesome! 
• The enemies themselves had the same block patterns with unique animations, but mostly the same as the original. 
• Traversal was seamless within each teleportation, with every level transition feeling like a new journey. The levels themselves were short, with the whole game being no more than 30m to beat. 
• Difficulty was nice, but I did drop at least $5 here, maybe more!

AUDIO (7/10) 

• Sound design remained the same with an awesome stereo output, although not as good as the original.
• The music was nice, but not my cup of tea. 
• Voice acting was in Japanese, which was a nice addition for 1993. 
• The sound effects themselves were heavily reused and by the end, you got bored of the same slicing and punching effects.

VISUALS (10/10) 

• Fidelity had the same outstanding vibes as the original, but with improved immersion vibes all around. The combination of visual effects with the ancient and modern art styles was simply magnificent. 
• Character models were insanely well made with a lot of new animations. I was really impressed by the amount of enemies on screen as well, as the game kept a steady frame-rate even in intense scenes!

WORLD DESIGN (10/10) 

• Level design was truly spectacular, and I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves. On a side note, I did love the modern environments in combination with ancient enemies, really scared some kids around the block! 
• The atmosphere was off the charts, mostly because you fought Ninjas, Samurai warriors and even mythical creatures on top of an air bomber, during a World War and even on modern city streets! 
• The landscapes were breathtaking and the world destruction itself while not extensive, did have sharp cutting animations on poles and stones!

TL;DR -> An awesome continuation of the original Sengoku, although with some drawbacks on monotony and enemy variety. While Boss encounters shined in their unique ways, the overall progression towards them felt stretched and monotonous. Still, an (8.7) game, very good in my book. Wouldn’t replay it though, as it didn’t quite catch the same sound and gameplay aspect as the original. 

The new title has been decided!
First of all, thank you to everyone who shared suggestions and feedback on my previous post.
I went through all of your comments and seriously considered a lot of different name ideas.

There were several great candidates that were hard to let go of, but in the end I decided to choose the name that is the most straightforward while still preserving the identity of the Catgirl series.

The new title is:

Catgirl Rage: Claws of Fury

Thankfully, Steam has approved the name change, so we’ll be updating the store page soon.

Thanks again to everyone who took the time to help. Your feedback genuinely influenced this decision.