KINNIKUMAN VIDEO GAMES
As with basically any TV show, Movie, Comic book, or what-have you (Even home Improvement), Kinnikuman has spawned many video games on many different platforms. I'm not sure if I've found them all, but of the ones that I have, I have put up reviews, ratings, screenshots, and downloadable ROMs for your pleasure. You'll need a program like Winzip to unzip the files and play them, and as for the individual emulators, use programs found Here. Now, enjoy! And first, please refer to this handy-dandy Game Ratings Chart!
Kinnikuman: Very Good
Kinnikuman Super Phoenix: Good
Kinnikuman Soldier: Average
Kinnikuman Zebra: Bad
Mantaro(Kinnikuman Second Generation): Very Bad
Kinnikuman Mariposa: Must Die.
KINNIKUMAN/MUSCLE
1985- NES
Characters- Kinnikuman, Ramenman, Terry man, Ashura man, Buffalo man, Wars Man, Robin mask, Blocken Jr (Geronimo in the US)
Rating:
The only Kinnikuman game ever to make it across the shores, MUSCLE was one of the first games for the NES. For its time, it was fun... maybe, but that's not the point. Gameplay-wise, you ran around, beating on each other with wussy punches and kicks until Meat threw in a little glowing ball that allowed you to use your character's patented SUPER MOVE. You fought until your opponent was out of energy, tagging out when you had to. You fought in three rings- regular, ice (which was slippery and had bad traction), and electric (WHich had an electrified border). The main point of interest with this game would have to be the differences between the American and Japanese versions. in the Japanese version, you could choose from Kinnikuman, Ramenman, Buffalo man, Wars Man, Robin mask, Ashura man, Terry man, and Blocken Jr. In the American version, Blocken was replaced by geronimo, and Blocken's Super Move where he throws what appears to be a bomb was replaced by a flying axe. This was most likely done in the name of decency- trying not to offend poor, elderly mothers, and trying not to injure young children's minds. Of course, the fact that they renamed Ramenman Larmen Man was enough to scar me... But that's beside the point.
IMAGES
The American Title Screen The Japanese Title Screen The American Character Select Screen The Japanese Character Select Screen Geronimo hitting Kinnikuman with his axe Blocken Jr. hitting Kinnikuman with whatever it is that he throws
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KINNIKUMAN
1987- Famicon Disk System
Characters- ?
Rating- ?
Apparently, this was a version of the original Kinnikuman game that came out for the rare and crappy Famicom Disk System. Finding emulators for it are next to impossible, and getting them to work is even harder. For this reason, I have not yet had the opportunity to actually play this game.
IMAGES
Title Screen
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RAMENMAN
198?- NES
Characters: Ramenman
Rating:
Ramenman was so popular that he had his own spinoff series in japan. he also had his own video game, set in Feudal China. It might just be me, but a game that consists of walking and talking with townspeople, while occasionally pointing a mouse-like cursor and clicking does not hold much appeal. There had to be at least something in it to hold my attention- and it took me a long, long time to figure out how to make that little arrow cursor disappear so I could walk again.
IMAGES
Title Screen Ramenman Receives Instruction from his elders Ramenman Exits the temple to begin his journey Ramenman is off in the distance, with some townspeople looking on Ramenman enters a town, and one fo the townspeople following him Ramenman sees his first obstacle: A dried-up riverbed that he cannot cross Ramenman walks off into the distance to solve the puzzle of the riverbed
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KINNIKUMAN: THE DREAM MATCH
1992- Gameboy
Characters- Kinnikuman, Ramenman, Robin mask
Wars Man, Terry Man, Blocken Jr.
Rating:
Kinnikuman: The Dream Match was the only Gameboy Kinnikuman game ever made. In this game, you would choose from the six challengers,a nd fight all of the others one on one. In the fight, your regular moves consisted of weak punches and flying kicks, and a throw which you could do when you grappled with your opponent. you also had a Super Move which was a special kind of throw done when the Power bar at the bottom of the screen filled up. The graphics were exceptionally good for a Gameboy game- especially the detailed backgrounds. You have to see England to believe it! There were also some great character shots whenever you did your Super Move. And now for the drawbacks to Kinnikuman: The Dream match. Drawback number one: The music was annoying, and made you want to turn off the sound. The difficulty was also insane- the onyl way for you to win a fight against a computer-controlled opponent was to wear his energy down totally, and then do a super on him. This would be easy, if not for the fact that your and your opponent's energy meter constantly refills, and the fact that the throwing operates on an annoying "My turn, your turn" basis where every other throw the computer WILL get you, no matter what you do. Mind you, you don't automatically throw HIM every other grapple. And to add to the difficulty, if the comptuer does a super on you that leaves your energy meter empty, you die, whereas his already has to be totally empty for him to lose. The result of this is that I have won maybe two matches in all of my experience playing this game- and this includes that matches where I've gotten pretty much all of the hits. It's worth playing just for the graphics, though, which really are fun.
IMAGES
Title Screen Kinnikuman and Wars Man fighting in Japan Close-up shot of Wars Man right before he uses his Super Close-up of Kinnikuman right before he does his Super Blocken Jr. and Wars Man Facing off in Russia Blocken Jr. doing his Super- a ramming punch Close-up shot of Ramenman before he does his Super Close-up shot of Robin mask right before he does his super
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FAMICON JUMP
1988-NES
Characters- ?
Rating:
Famicom Jump was made for the 20th anniversary of the manga company, and is quite possibly the strangest RPG game that In have ever played. The plotline goes like this: One night, while you are reading your favourite manga, you get sucked into the book. And now... your adventures in getting out of Shonen Jumpland! The gameplay is very, very strange, with mixed-up crossovers from Kinnikuman, Dragonball, Arale, Dr. Slump, Hokuto no ken (Fist of the North Star), and others. many others. So far, I haven't found any that I recognize, except maybe for a Hokuto no ken punk who attacked me once. Concerning the battles, if you touch a bad guy, then you start fighting. You punch, he runs around and either punches orn shoots. As of right now, I have no idea what to do with this game, but with all of the crossovers, it must be fun- somehow.
IMAGES
The Packaging The storyline You before getting sucked into your comic book A random Screen Shot, with a tower on the map The Status Screen
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KINNIKUMAN: DIRTY CHALLENGER
1992- Super Famicom
Characters- Kinnikuman, Kinnikuman Super Phoenix, Kinnikuman Soldier, Kinnikuman Zebra, Kinnikuman Mariposa, Kinnikuman big Body, Kinnikuman great (Hidden Boss)
Rating:
The first, and probably only 16-bit Kinnikuman video game, Kinnikuman: Dirty Challenger is probably the most fun of them all- although it still isn't very good by most standards. It follows the Last Tournament of the Kinniku People in plotline, and you get to pick from one of the six challengers to the Crown. Gameplay-wise, you fight using really weak punches, really weak kicks, a really weak move that maks you fall down, and tons and tons of holds, throws, submissions, etc. You can aslo clotheline your opponents, as well. You DO have a Super Move that is VERY spectacular, and a Power Bar that filld up for it. Instead of an energy meter, the face shot of your character determines your status, and has three different states. Normal, slightly alarmed, and droopy, which emans that you're dead meat. In order to win, you must wear your opponent down to Droopy, and then either pin him untilt he count of three, or grab him in enough hold moves/submisions to make him give up. it's a best two out of three match. The gameplay itself is very stiff and difficult to master, and most of the hold moves/submissions look very... strange (okay, so it makes them look gay). If you can ebat everyone, then you fight Kinnikuman Great for the final victory- which makes no sense, because great wasn't in the final tournament, and in this game he's merely a clone of Kinnikuman, fighting-wise. The graphics are very good for a Kinnikuman game, especially in the openig sequence and the Super Moves. The music is laughably bad, though, and because the individual fights are so long, it will get you pounding your head into a wall in not time. Kinnikuman: Dirty Challenger might not be that good of a game, but it's really the best Kinnikuman game out there, and when you get into it you'll really enjoy slamming people around as your favourite characters from the series.
IMAGES
The Title Screen A shot of Kinnikuman from the opening A scene of Kinnikuman fighting his enemies from the opening Kinnikuman in front of the five Evil gods The fire at the hospital, and the five babies that were switched around Kinnikuman against the five contenders to the throne The Character Select Screen First Match against Kinnikuman Big Body Kinnikuman Super Phoenix and Kinnikuman Big Body square off in a prison Kinnikuman and Kinnikuman Super Phoenix begin to fight Kinnikuman about to do his Kinniku Spark The Kinniku Spark, Part One The Kinniku Spark, Part Two Kinnikuman finishing up his Kinniku Spark Kinnikuman vs. Kinnikuman Zebra The Standings for a group Battle
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Know of any others, or have anything to contribute? E-mail me!
