This article has multiple issues. Please helpimprove it or discuss these issues on thetalk page.(Learn how and when to remove these messages) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
|
| Power Instinct | |
|---|---|
Logo from the SNES version of the firstPower Instinct | |
| Genre | Fighting game |
| Developers | Atlus (1993-2012) Noise Factory (2003-2012) |
| Publisher | Atlus (1993-2012) |
| Platforms | Arcade,PlayStation,PlayStation 2,Super NES,Genesis,Sega Saturn,Neo Geo |
| First release | Power Instinct/Gouketsuji Ichizoku November 1993 |
| Latest release | Gōketsuji Ichizoku: Senzo Kuyō August 2009 |
Power Instinct, released in Japan asGōketsuji Ichizoku (豪血寺一族; "Gōketsuji Family"), is afighting video game series created byAtlus.
The series is known for itsabsurdist humor. Unique to the series was the introduction of the transformation feature: several of the characters can change their appearance and fighting style by simply executing certain moves (usually a throwing move), though this has not been featured in every entry in the series. Other features include the ability for every character to perform a double jump, run, and attack while running.
| Power Instinct | |
|---|---|
| Developer | Atlus |
| Publisher | Atlus |
| Platforms | Arcade,Super NES,Genesis |
| Release | November 1993 |
| Genre | Fighting game |
| Mode | Up to 2 players simultaneously |
Released in Japan asGōketsuji Ichizoku (豪血寺一族), the first game of the series was released in 1993. In it, players play as a member of the Gōketsuji clan, who are battling to determine who will replace 78-year-old Oume Gōketsuji as head of the clan. It has eight selectable characters and one unplayable boss character, Oume Gōketsuji, apalette-swap of her younger sister Otane. Originally, every character had a specific win quote for each defeated foe, but that was reduced to only one win quote for each character in the English version.
This game wasported to theSuper NES and theSega Mega Drive. The Super NES version includes some new play modes: Vs. Battle, Practice Mode, Time Attack and a "Life Attack" that consists of defeating as many opponents as possible with just one life bar (similar to the Survival Modes seen in other fighting games).
The Mega Drive version, which was never released outside of Japan, has a Battle Royal mode where 1 or 2 players can select a team, with an option to hide the characters being chosen so they are not revealed until the fight. Additionally, it features an option that allows the strength of each special attack of every playable character to be adjusted to the player's liking.
The English console version of this game, which was only released in North America, had several omitted features, such as Karaoke Mode with the lyrics for the songs "Tatanka no Uta" and "Otoko no Karatemichi", character biographies that pop up in between demos, the intro demo to the game and the scene of Oume where she speaks to the player before she fights them (which changes if she's fighting Otane). The North American Super NES version also replaces the endings that were in the Japanese Super Famicom version with a congratulations screen with the character portraits used in the pre-fight screen.[citation needed]
In Japan,Game Machine listedPower Instinct as the most successful table arcade unit of December 1993.[1] Reviewing the Super NES version,GamePro judged that "Power Instinct falls along the lines ofFatal Fury, but it falls short." They praised the double jumps and special moves, but criticized the "passable" graphics and sound and the fact that the boss is just a palette swap of a playable character.[2] A reviewer forNext Generation said the game has "average graphics, decent play control, and moves you've mostly seen before. ... Nothing wrong here, it's just typical." He gave the Super NES version two out of five stars.[3]
| Power Instinct 2 | |
|---|---|
| Developer | Atlus |
| Publisher | Atlus |
| Designers | Super-K! Markey Helen |
| Platforms | Arcade,PlayStation |
| Release | April 1994 |
| Genre | Fighting game |
| Mode | Up to 2 players simultaneously |
| Arcade system | Atlus 68000 |
Released in Japan asGōketsuji Ichizoku 2 (豪血寺一族2),Power Instinct 2 features five new characters, giving a total of 13 playable characters and one unplayableboss (Otane Gōketsuji). The game's story picks off from the last game, with Otane having defeated her sister Oume in the previous tournament. However, with the help of their mother Oshima Gōketsuji, Oume kidnapped her sister, threw her into the ocean, and forged a letter saying that Otane has quit as leader, resulting in a new tournament. Otane does escape and fights the winner of the tournament in a bid to defend her leadership of the Gōketsuji clan.
The game introduces the "Stress" meter into the series, which increases when one's attacks are blocked or when attacked. A super attack can be executed when it is full. In addition, when the Stress meter fills up, a character becomes engulfed in a flame of their own energy for a brief moment, which protects from any incoming attacks from the opponent and knocks them away if they are too close.
ThePlayStation version, retitledGouketsuji Ichizoku 2: Chottodake Saikyou Densetsu (豪血寺一族2 ちょっとだけ最強伝説), was only released in Japan. As the subtitle might indicate, it shares some characteristics fromGogetsuji Legends (described below), like the team battle and the possibility to play as Chuck and Kuroko, but these features are only available for Versus (player vs. player) mode. Unlike the arcade game, anytime a transformable character changed into his or her alternate version in the PlayStation port, there was considerable loading time that interrupted the match.
In Japan,Game Machine listedPower Instinct 2 as the third most successful table arcade unit of October 1994.[4] On release,Famicom Tsūshin scored the PlayStation version of the game a 23 out of 40.[5]
| Gogetsuji Legends | |
|---|---|
| Developer | Atlus |
| Publisher | Atlus |
| Platform | Arcade |
| Release | June 20, 1995 |
| Genre | Fighting game |
| Mode | Up to 2 players simultaneously |
| Arcade system | Atlus 68000 |
Known asGogetsuji Gaiden: Saikyou Densetsu (豪血寺外伝: 最強伝説) in Japan. This installment lacks thePower Instinct title in its localization; this would be a trend for the series in its subsequent western releases, officially phasing out thePower Instinct branding. However, the game was incorrectly listed inMAME asPower Instinct Legends, although the naming error has since been fixed. The game's story picks up from the last game, with Otane being defeated by Kanji Kokuin, who became the new leader of the Gouketsuji clan.
This game is a sort of "update" toPower Instinct 2. All previous characters reappear, plus a few new characters. Super Kurara and Pochi are individual characters; because of this, Kurara and Kinta lost their transformations but gained new moves to replace them. Otane is also made playable. There is one new playable character, Kuroko, and a new playable boss, Chuck, bringing the cast to 16 fighters.
The battles are in teams of two characters, a leader and a partner. This plays out similarly toThe King of Fighters, where you fight with each character one after the other. A Super Block and a Charge Attack were brought into the gameplay. A Super Block can nullify the opponent's blow and allow for a counterattack, and a Charge Attack can immediately knock down the opponent or launch them into the air for another attack. All of the fighters were given new special attacks, though the majority of them were exclusive to this game.
In Japan,Game Machine listedGogetsuji Legends as the fourteenth most successful arcade game of October 1995.[6]
| Groove on Fight | |
|---|---|
| Developer | Atlus |
| Publisher | Atlus |
| Platforms | Arcade,Sega Saturn |
| Release | April 1997 |
| Genre | Fighting game |
| Mode | Up to 2 players simultaneously |
| Arcade system | Sega Titan Video |
Fully titledGroove on Fight: Gōketsuji Ichizoku 3 (グルーヴ オン ファイト 豪血寺一族3), this was a Japan exclusive. The story takes place 20 years after the last Gōketsuji tournament. It has a darker and more serious tone than its predecessors, similar to that ofGarou: Mark of the Wolves, but still maintains some of the same humor that is particular to the series. Otane and Oume are the only returning characters, fighting as a single entry as they tied themselves back-to-back to each other.
The players can choose from eleven characters; all of them, save Otane/Oume, are new. The graphic style ofGroove on Fight is very different from its predecessors, as the sprites are smaller, but are more fluid and have an animated look to them.
TheSega Saturn port of the game included some features like being able to play as Damian, Bristol Weller, and Bristol-D once the player beats the game with certain characters, the possibility of four players to play at the same time by way of the Saturn's multi-tap and an "Omake Mode" where the players can view artwork of the characters for the game. The Saturn version also features an arranged version of the soundtrack that has some new music themes that were not present in the original, like the theme "Mystic" and the vocal version of the title song.
Gameplay is in a 2-on-2 format much likeLegends, but with the ability to tag in and out at any time between players, similar toX-Men vs. Street Fighter. Whenever the player tags successfully between characters, the character who is on the sidelines slowly begins to get his or her energy back.
A big difference from the previous games is thatGroove on Fight has a six buttons system. The two new buttons are for "Dodge" and for the "Powerful Blow", but are also used for stronger versions of special moves. the "Dodge" allows the characters to evade attacks and then counterattack the opponent. The "Powerful Blow" is an attack that inflicts more damage to the opponent than the normal strong attacks, but is also slower. The special guard and the shadow moves fromGogetsuji Legends are still present in the game and some other new characteristics were introduced to the gameplay:
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Body Toss | The character throws the body of a defeated character at the opponent. |
| Taunt | Pressing the start button will taunt the opponent. Introduced for the first time in the series. |
| Unblockable Attack | Each character has his/her own Unblockable Attack. This attack is very slow, but if hits cause a great amount of damage to the opponent. |
| Partner Attack | The character that is not fighting will perform a jump-in attack from the sidelines. |
| Dual Combo | Is a series of attacks performed by the two characters at the same time. This requires one level of the Stress meter. |
| Pounce | Pressing up + Light kick, Hard Kick, as soon as the character knocks an opponent down, will attack the downed foe. |
This new sequel, fully titledShin Gouketsuji Ichizoku: Toukon -Matrimelee- (新豪血寺一族 闘婚 -Matrimelee-) in Japan, brings back the roster fromPower Instinct 2 (except Angela, Oshima, Sahad and Kinta, the latter of whom was replaced by his alter-ego, Pochi), plus 4 totally new characters and one new boss (Princess Sissy). However, all the characters introduced inGroove of Fight were discarded. Jimmy, Elias, Lynn and Jones fromRage of the Dragons are guest stars, and are unlockable. A few of the game elements were borrowed from that same game as well. The western releases drop theShin Gouketsuji Ichizoku title and remains named simply asMatrimelee (though theToukon mark still appears). Released in 2003, it was one of the last games to be released on theNeo Geo.
It was followed by PlayStation 2 portShin Gōketsuji Ichizoku: Bonnō Kaihō (新・豪血寺一族 煩悩解放), released exclusively in Japan. It features enhanced graphics and sound, the return of two of the older characters (Angela Belti and Kinta Kokuin), a new boss (Bobby Strong), and the return of the transformation feature. Gameplay was also improved in some areas, and super attacks were made easier to execute. The game has the same backgrounds and all the characters fromMatrimelee (except the four secret characters fromRage of the Dragons), and because of that it is usually described as a port of the game, while in fact the game's story takes place after the events from the previous game, making it a sort of sequel or update. The game tells the story of the king from the previous game, who holds a "Bonnou Kaihou" ("Liberation of Lusts") tournament to cheer up his daughter Princess Sissy. This time the prize is anything that the winner could wish for (except the throne succession).
| Gōketsuji Ichizoku: Senzo Kuyō | |
|---|---|
| Developer | Noise Factory |
| Publisher | Atlus |
| Platform | Arcade |
| Release | August 2009 (Taito Type X) February 22, 2012 (Taito NESiCAxLive) |
| Genre | Fighting game |
| Mode | Up to 2 players simultaneously |
| Arcade system | Taito Type X,Taito NESiCAxLive |
Gōketsuji Ichizoku: Senzo Kuyō (豪血寺一族 先祖供養) is the sixth game in the series. It refocuses on the Gōketsuji clan, with Oume announcing a new tournament to honour the clan's common progenitor, Shinjūrō Gōketsuji. The combo system is now an aerial-based, akin toArc System Works’ previous fighting games, such asGuilty Gear. Several new characters were introduced:
Various merchandise based on the series has been released in Japan. The 253-page 1995 novelGouketsuji Ichizoku: The Novel (ISBN 978-4-8470-3158-8) was published by Wani Books in 1995. It relates the history of the Gōketsuji family and features some art made byRange Murata.Gōketsuji Ichizoku: THE CD-ROM was published in 1998 byToshiba EMI and contains information about the series including characters profiles, correlation diagrams, the family lineage, concept art, sounds and other artwork. It also hasdesktop wallpapers andscreen savers.
Soundtracks to the first five games in the series were also released. Pony Canyon/Scitron released the first four, while Noise Factory released theMatrimelee soundtrack. In 2005, Noise Factory released a box set of all soundtracks to the first five games in the series, along with a 2005 calendar featuring art from them. Unlike the original releases, the CDs in the box set do not include the sound effects collections and theGroove on Fight's CD has the arranged tracks from the Sega Saturn.