Big Bang Beat - 1st Impression (Review)

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For those who don't know the system, look here.


     Big Bang Beat - 1st Impression is a fighting game made by NRF, a small independent developer in Japan. As a result, the game's in Japanese. I don't know Japanese, and I haven't found an English patch, so I can't say anything as to the story. However, what research I could do told me that it was essentially an attempt to do what Melty Blood had done, in making a fighting game based on the universe of an eroge game. (Don't click on that link, you prolly don't want to know. Tsukihime was bad enough, and that was one with a definite plot.)

Gameplay: +4
+2 Pacing
+2 Challenging
     BBB is a fighting game with a six button control set. Instead of the usual CAPCOM styled 3 punches, 3 kicks system, BBB uses a 3 attacks + 3 others setup. To explain, there are light, medium, and strong attack buttons, above which there is a Super button, a Charge button, and a taunt button.

     The Super button is used for emergency dodges and supers, both of which cost B power, at the bottom of the screen. B power is gained by attacking the opponent, and collecting the resulting crystals. It makes sense in context. I hope.

     The Charge button charges the power bar. Basically, any attack in game costs power. While the bar slowly restores itself, it may be worth stepping back and charging it back to full after a long combo, as it doesn't do so during an attack. Said power bar also will continue filling in any empty space in the health bar, meaning that when critically wounded, a player can keep attacking for longer.

     The Taunt button does a bit more than just piss off the opponent, though. It's unique for each character, doing stuff from allowing one attack to turn into a throw the next time it's used, to giving an overall damage boost, to changing up the moveset completely, allowing for some very strange combos. It's a nice mechanic.

Now with screenshots from the actual game!

     The game really shines in the character design, and I'm not sure how much to credit NRF for that. The basic character types are there, there's the generic, well rounded character, the huge guy (and he is HUGE, it's the guy on the left, there), a speedy dude, the usual. The other four get some decent designs, though, such as Burai's boxing, with weaving included, and Kunagi's teleportation.

     The system's pretty solid, actually. Not all that hard to pick up, challenging to master, and hard to mess with the AI, not that messing with the AI would be necessary, as it's pretty easy. For all that, though, it seems to be missing a soul. Where did it go?

     It went to one of the secret characters. All of the fun in the entire game now rests in one secret character. Look back at that picture, even if it's not from BBB. See the little guy on the right? That's Henna, a character made from pottery, and he is awesome. He has a weapon mechanic as his little gimmick, and it's very fun to use. Bit of a glass cannon, though, as he's got jack for defense. The other secret characters are just meh though. There's a fish, a demon, and... one of the standard characters with a slightly different moveset, now in red.

Seen worse, though.

Graphics: 0

Select Screen

     No complaints, nothing super special, nothing done wrong. Just meh.

Music: +1
+1 Good on its own
+1 Sounds mesh
-1 Music misapplied.
     This one will take some explanation. See, the game's music was written by a professional band, and it is damn good music. It's just a little off, almost the inverse of the amount of action in the stage. The school courtyard has students crowding around the fight, some cheering the fighters on, some looking on in horror, some just chilling by the statue in the background, and the occasional student rushing to class, his stuff nearly falling out of his bag. The music is calm and relaxing, good for resting on the beach. There's a stage with the world being blown apart, with rocks being flung into the air, for the final boss fight. This is accompanied by the gentle and sophisticated chorus, good for falling asleep in church. There's an empty back alley at sunset, absolutely nothing but the fight is going on. The music is a pounding techno beat worthy of any rave. There's an empty boxing ring, with dust gently wafting from the rafters, and light passing through the dirty windows above shining into the foreground. The Orchestra is ready to play the badass battle music, sir!

Story: 0
Storytelling: 0
     I can't read Japanese, ignore this.

Overall: 5, out of a possible 13, which, considering the negative possiblities, amounts to 69%, objective. Rent or pirate it. If it strikes your fancy, feel free to buy it, but the game's not good. Not bad, either.

I have seen so much worse than BBB. Also, seriously. DON'T LOOK UP Tsukihime. I get flashbacks to poorly written sex scenes since then. You'd think that they'd put their best writing for the main selling point, but they put it everywhere else. eehh.