Ranma ½ is an Action game for PC Engine CD, developed and published by NCS, which was released in Japan in 1990.
Overview[]
This is a side-scrolling beat em up similar to Final Fight, with some platformer elements. In it, you guide Ranma through various stages starting at Jusenkyo and ending with a final battle against Shampoo's father at the Cat Café. A major feature of the game was animated cutscenes featuring the anime voice actors.
Ranma's moves consist of punches/kicks using button II and jumping with button I, using both buttons results in a jump kick and double tapping button I results in a double jump. Ranma can also stomp enemies by holding down and pressing the attack button during a jump.
Touching cold water results in Ranma turning into a girl, while touching cold war turns Ranma back into a boy. As a girl, Ranma is faster and jumps higher, but deals less damage.
Certain levels have Panda Genma icons, when gathered, the player can press select to summon Genma who will grab Ranma and switch his forms, similar to an event in chapter 4. In addition to changing Ranma's gender, Genma will also damage enemies when performing this action. Genma icons do not carry over to the next level and are not in every level, presumably for plot reasons.
Other items include bandages that slightly recover health, first aid kits that restore all health, extra lives and meat buns which expand Ranma's health meter.
Campaign[]
Note unless otherwise stated, names for game original characters are all original.
Jusenkyo[]
Ranma travels through the wilderness of China, fighting off various wild animals and avoiding pits.
Enemies:
- Bee: Almost always found in groups, these small angry insects chase Ranma.
- Small boar: Charges forward and damages by collision.
- Snake: Slowly slithers forward.
- Tiger: Pounces after Ranma and has high health.
- Monkey: Hops after Ranma and tosses pineapples.
- Bear: A bear that slowly moves forward, gets angry when first hit and starts moving faster until its defeated.
- Genma: The Level boss, hops around on Jusenkyo's poles and jump kicks.
Furinkan[]
Ranma and Akane rush to the entrance of school as a mob of Akane's suitors bar their path.
This level is unique as Akane will fight alongside the player, attacking whenever Ranma does. Ranma and Akane constantly move forward throughout the level.
Enemies:
- Baseball Player: Swings a a bat at the player
- Acrobat: Always encountered in groups of 6, they stack on top of each other to create pyramids to block the player.
- Sumo: Slaps the player when close.
- Softball player: Jump into the air and throw a ball down.
- Archer: Shoot arrows in the player's direction.
- Kuno: For the boss, Ranma faces Kuno alone, while avoiding the lightning strikes from the sky. Kuno stabs with his bokken, while occasionally using his Air-Pressure Strikes.
Furinkan II[]
A one on one battle with Ryoga.
Enemies:
- Ryoga: Battles Ranma by throwing bandanas, rushing with his umbrella, and whipping with his belt.
Amazon Village[]
Enemies:
- Spear Amazon: Amazons with a bun hairstyle that stab with spears.
- Firecracker Amazon: Ponytailed Amazons that throw firecrackers.
- Sword Amazon: Amazons with odango hairstyles that stab with swords.
- Giant Amazon: A pair of Giant Amazons with high health that attack by tossing pots. They loosely resemble Shampoo's opponent, who also appears in the level's intro.
- Shampoo: The level boss, Shampoo is battled on a log with falling off meaning losing. Shampoo is an agile opponent armed with two chui maces.
Kuno Estate[]
A race to the Kuno Estate for the Take Out Race.
Enemies:
- Shampoo: Will Attack Ranma through out the level. On her first encounter at the beginning, Shampoo will flee when low on health. In the second encounter, Shampoo will pop out of a wall and is beatable, giving a Genma icon when bested.
- Robot Servants: Wind-up robots carrying hot tea in a tray. They will trip and fall, sending their tea and tray flying, the former turns girl Ranma will change her into a boy whilst the latter damages Ranma. When Ranma gets close to them, they will explode and deal damage.
- Samurai Guardian: A suit of samurai armor at the estate reveals itself as a robot guardian. The robot has high hp and blindly rushes at Ranma.
- Kodachi: Kodachi will attack girl Ranma by rolling her hoop and tossing roses. If Ranma is male, Kodachi will instead throw him three bandaids.
- Tatewaki Kuno: If Male Ranma enters the Kuno household, Kuno will engage him in combat rather then eat his ramen. If Female Ranma enters, the fight is skipped as Kuno gleefully eats the ramen of his crush.
The ending cutscene drastically depending on Ranma's forms. In female form, the scene is similar to the I Won't Eat It! chapter of the manga, Kuno eating the ramen in his house and girl Ranma sarcastically telling the organizer that love won the battle. If male Ranma fought Kuno in the boss battle, the ending cutscene instead features Ranma pouring the Ramen into an unconscious Kuno's mouth only for the organizer to say Ranma lost the competition. Despite losing the competition, the game continues onto the next level.
Nerima[]
Ranma rushes to the Tendo Dojo to save it from the Dojo destroyer, while avoiding Cat Shampoo and the Destroyer's lookalike minions.
Enemies:
- Dojo Pest: Miniature versions of the Dojo destroyer that cartwheel into Ranma.
- Dojo Vandalizer: Ranma sized Dojo Destroyers that punch and kick Ranma.
- Dojo Wrecker: Small only compared to their master, the giant Wreckers toss Dojo Pests at Ranma.
- Cat Shampoo: Cat Shampoo lunges and chases after Ranma. Can not be attacked.
- Cats: Three cats that follow Shampoo and copy her movements, can not be attacked.
- Dojo Destroyer: The behemoth threat to the Tendo Dojo, Destroyer throws signs in various directions and stomps, shaking the ceiling. His signs can get stuck in walls, allowing Ranma to jump on them.
Wilderness[]
Ranma goes into the wilderness to meet with Ryoga, who is training with Cologne to learn the Bakusai Tenketsu.
There are no Genma icons in this level.
Enemies:
- Mole: Burrows through the ground, dealing collision damage.
- Rhino Beetle: Flies in a straight-line, dealing collision damage.
- Eagle: Flies close to the ground, dealing collision damage. Sometimes come in groups.
- Monkey: Attacks just like in Jusenkyo.
- Bee: Attacks just like in Jusenkyo.
- Wild Boar: Charges forward and has high health.
- P-Chan- Attempts a single attack on Ranma, cannot be attacked.
- Panda Genma: Fought in the river, Genma has high health, attacking by charging at Ranma and tossing beehives.
- Ryoga: Ryoga uses his new Bakusai Tenketsu technique to send shockwaves across the ground. When his health is low, Ryoga can use the smoke from the debris created by the technique to hide.
Cat Cafe[]
A game original storyline. Ranma reads a letter claiming Akane is being held at the Cat Cafe and that he must head there to retrieve her.
Enemies:
- Ryoga: Wanting to rescue Akane himself, Ryoga challenges Ranma to a battle. Attacking with punches and kicks.
Entering the cafe, Cologne introduces three men wearing costumes based off Journey to the West as his opponents.
- PigMan: A man wearing a Pig mask and carrying a rake, he performs a charging headbutt against Ranma.
- BullMan: A man wearing a bull mask, he attacks by breathing fire.
- MonkeyMan: A man wearing a monkey man and wielding a staff. He attacks by extending his magic staff.
- Shampoo: Ranma reaches a suspended Akane, only for it to be revealed as Shampoo. With far more health then prior encounters, Shampoo faces Ranma in hand to hand combat.
- Cologne: Swiftly flies around on her staff whilst creating after images. Occasionally coming to swat Ranma.
Cologne gets up and compliments Ranma on his skill, but says this isn't over. Following this, Shampoo's father enters and accuses Ranma of stringing Shampoo along, challenging him to a final battle.
- Shampoo's Father: With max health, he starts by shooting balls of electricity that fly around the area in a zigzag fashion. When his health reaches three quarters, he creates a clone of himself. This clone can attack Ranma and be attacked until it fades, but this will not effect the original, the battle not ending until the original is defeated. He creates a third clone when his health reaches the halfway point. When his health reaches the last quarter, he will create an explosion, destroying the walls of the cafe's basement.
Versus[]
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Player 1(Girl Ranma) battling Player 2(Ryoga) in the versus mode.
The game includes a VS mode as an extra feature. The first way to use this is for a single player to choose Ranma's starting gender and refight the Genma, Kuno, Ryoga and Shampoo boss battles. These boss battles take place in the same location as in the main campaign, such as Genma being fought in the Jusenkyo springs. Only the first boss battle against Ryoga is available in this mode and none of the mini bosses versions are available.
The second use of it is for two players to have a one on one battle, always set in the Tendo Dojo. Player 1 is still always Ranma of either gender, but player 2 can be either form of Ranma(a mirror match results in the second Ranma wearing a casual outfit as opposed to a GI) as well as the normally unplayable, Genma, Kuno, Ryoga and Shampoo.
The playable version of these opponents control similarly to Ranma, rather then their AI counterparts. The rivals lack their special moves and instead have their own version of Ranma's stomp attack. The playable rivals also have different stats such as Shampoo being fast and Kuno dealing slow but damaging strikes.
Cast[]
| Character | Japanese Voice |
|---|---|
| Ranma Saotome (male) | Kappei Yamaguchi |
| Ranma Saotome (female) | Megumi Hayashibara |
| Akane Tendo | Noriko Nagai |
| Genma Saotome | Kenichi Ogata |
| Soun Tendo | Ryunosuke Ohbayashi |
| Kasumi Tendo | Kikuko Inoue |
| Nabiki Tendo | Minami Takayama |
| Tatewaki Kuno | Hirotaka Suzuoki |
| Shampoo | Rei Sakuma |
| Cologne | Miyoko Asou |
| Ryoga Hibiki | Koichi Yamadera |
| Tofu Ono | Yuji Mitsuya |
| Shampoo's father | Banjō Ginga |