Red Earth (video game)
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| Red Earth | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Capcom |
| Publisher(s) | Capcom |
| Platform(s) | Arcade |
| Release date | November 21, 1996 |
| Genre(s) | Fighting |
| Mode(s) | Up to 2 players simultaneously |
| Cabinet | Upright |
| Arcade system | CPS-3 |
| Display | Raster (Horizontal) |
Red Earth, known as Warzard (ウォーザード Wōzādo?) in Japan, is a fighting game by Capcom released in 1996 for arcades. It was the first game to run on Capcom's CPS-3 arcade hardware. Despite being quite common in Japan, it was only minimally distributed overseas.
Despite the game's obscurity, some of its characters have appeared in other games outside the series as playable characters. This includes Capcom Fighting Evolution (Leo, Kenji, Hauzer and Hydron), SVC Chaos: SNK vs. Capcom and Pocket Fighter (Tessa in both plus cameo appearances, notably Hauzer in Ryu's ending).
Red Earth and other games that used the CPS-3 hardware were very advanced both graphically and from a gameplay standpoint, but were not accepted very well by arcade operators due to the high price and fragility of the hardware. As of 2007, there has been no console port of the title, making it the only CPS-3 game that never made it out of arcades.
Contents |
[edit] Story
Warzard takes place on earth in 1999. It is an altered earth that is stuck in a medieval/mythological state. A new country has risen led by the evil Blade, who sends out various monsters to take over the world. Four heroes emerge to defend earth.
The western translation, Red Earth, has the same premise, but takes place in 13XX.
[edit] Gameplay
There are four heroes and eight bosses; and two game modes, Quest and Versus. In Quest Mode, the player chooses one of the four hero characters, and progresses through a story while battling the various boss characters and gaining experience. In Versus Mode, two players fight against each other, but they can only choose from the four main characters. Red Earth also uses a special password system that allows the player to play the game later on the same skill level he reached when it ended the last time. The character is able to "learn" special attacks and gain new equipment depending on the skill level that has been reached.
The fighting engine itself is similar to games such as Street Fighter, however with a few differences. First of all, the health bar of the enemy 'bosses' the player battles in Quest mode is displayed across the bottom of the screen, and is much larger than that of the players. Also, as the player lands hits on the bosses, various coins and treasure chests come out. Collecting coins provides experience, while various things can be found in treasure chests such as orbs (used for super attacks) and food (that restores health). These elements make the game very similar to an action/beat-em-up style game rather than a traditional 1vs1 fighter.
In addition, Red Earth is one of few Capcom games with "Fatality" attacks; fatalities include, splitting the opponent in half both horizonally or vertically, decapitation, artery rupture, organ removal, limb slicing; the Darkstalkers series is another holding this distinction.
[edit] Playable Characters
[edit] Leo
Voice by: Daisuke Gōri
Leo is the king of Savalia (Greedia in Warzard). In 1999, unknown invaders attacked Savalia and drove Leo out as well as cursing him, transforming him into his current state. The 3 Wise Men tried to remove the curse but couldn't. Now Leo uses the curse as his strength to "repay his debt to his countrymen" only to return to Savalia and find a large number of people (civilians and soldiers) have been kidnapped, and the monster Hauzer awaiting him.
[edit] Kenji
Voiced by: Yukimasa Kishino
Kenji (Mukuro in Warzard) When the blackships of unknown invaders appeared in the skies of Zipang and began attacking the country the shogun ordered his best ninja squad to find out who the invaders are and to wipe them out. Kenji is the leader of that squadron, and comes across Kongou, who mutates into a monstrous beast. Although Kenji secretly distrusts his shogun and believes that he may be betraying the country, he goes along with everything while searching for more clues.
[edit] Tessa
Main article: Tessa (Capcom).
[edit] Mai-Ling
Voiced by: Megumi Urawa
Mai-Ling (Tao in Warzard) Mai-Ling is the only one of the 4 heroes who hasn't appeared in another game as a playable character, though she has made many cameo appearances. She is a young but extremely talented martial artist from Gora. She was returning from another martial artist tournament that she won with ease, only to find her hometown in flames. Moments later the one responsible for the attack, Lavia, in turn attacks her. After her fight with a transformed harpy she decides to search the world for those who attack her home and to find the missing children of her village.
[edit] Boss Characters
[edit] Hauzer
Hauzer - Originally a fossil from Savalia, but an earth dragon resurrected by Scion, that largely resembles a Tyrannosaurus. Inhabits the Savalia stage. (Greedia in Japan)
[edit] Kongou
Voiced by: Daisuke Gōri
Kongou - An Oni that disguised himself as a man named Tanuma. Mainly aims to destroy Kenji, if not wreaking havoc in general. Inhabits the Zipang stage.
[edit] Ravange
Ravange (Secmeto in Warzard) - A cross between an Egyptian sphinx and a Greek chimera. It was created by an Egyptian Priestess, Clara Tantra (Arumana IV in Japan), and fuses the power of the lion, goat, eagle, dragon, and cobra together along with hers. Inhabits the Sangypt stage.(Alanbird in Japan)
Note: "Secmeto" is a possibly a mis-Romanization of the Egyptian name "Sekhmet".
[edit] Hydron
Voiced by: Osamu Hosoi
Hydron (Nool in Warzard) - A mischievous half ammonite, half kraken monster who was given power by Scion, but the only one standing in his way is Tessa. Inhabits the Icelarn stage.
[edit] Lavia
Voiced by: Tomoko Naka
Lavia (Luan in Warzard) - A harpy who attacked Mai Ling's village. Inhabits the Gora stage.
[edit] Gi Gi
Voiced by: Osamu Hosoi
Gi Gi - A robotic Chavín statue. Inhabits the Crypt stage.
Note: The detail of Gigi's sprite is an example of asymmetrical color schemes. This was possible, because of the advanced power of the CPS-3 hardware. When facing left, the main parts and trimmings of Gigi's body will be red, but when he is facing right, they will be blue. Capcom would later use this advance technique for Gill from the Street Fighter III series, but to a much more detailed degree.
[edit] Blade
Voiced by: Yukimasa Kishino
Blade - A suit of armor brought to life by an emerald, which was created by Scion. It is Scion's most powerful creation and acts as his enforcer. Also, he has two forms and each one corresponds a round. In the 1st round he's with his normal clothes (a red cloak) and in the 2nd round he shows his body taking his cloak off. Inhabits the Darminor stage.
Note: When the game first came out in Japan, Blade's name was "Jihad". His name is also presented as "Jihad" in the book "All About Warzard", which was released around the same time as the arcade game. Fearing that this may possibly cause religious conflict, Capcom officially changed his name to "Blade".
[edit] Scion
Voiced by: Daisuke Gōri
Scion (Valdoll in Warzard) - An "evil" wizard and final boss of the game. Claims to be the messiah of the world, and intends to destroy the current generation of humans in order to build a new one from its ruins. Inhabits the castle in Darminor stage.
Note: Scion has two dragon guardians who aid him in battle and has an attack similar to Ouke no Sabaki, a move used by Anakaris from the Darkstalker series, in which it changes a character into a weaker, miniature version of his/herself. Leo becomes a lion cub doll (or perhaps a meerkat), Kenji becomes a Japanese rhinoceros beetle, Tessa becomes a penguin, and Tao becomes a monkey. Tessa's penguin form is later used in Pocket Fighter during her ending and is her transformed state after being defeated by Athena in SVC Chaos: SNK vs. Capcom. Leo and Kenji's transformations were reused in Capcom Fighting Evolution when Anakaris used Ouke no Sabaki on them. After he is defeated the first time, he and his dragons mutate into more powerful forms.
[edit] Reception
Contrary to popular belief, Red Earth (or rather, Warzard) actually had a fairly strong fan-following in Japan. However, it was due to the single-player oriented gameplay of the title that made it unable to obtain the constant large crowds and long arcade life that the strictly competition-based fighters such as the Street Fighter Alpha series were achieving at the time.
Outside of Japan, the release of the game as Red Earth had such a limited distribution that there was never any chance for it to really make any kind of impact.
[edit] Soundtrack
An official soundtrack of the game was released on December 18, 1996, for ¥3200. It was composed by Takayuki Iwai with additional help by Ryoji Yamamoto and Wataru Hachisako. It contains 72 tracks over 2 CDs. Certain tracks were later featured in the 2004 game Capcom Fighting Evolution, although they are downgraded versions and slightly offtune.
[edit] Other Merchandise
Two books about the game were released only in Japan. The first one, titled 'All About Warzard', is an in depth look at the creation of the game. It contains many pages of concept art and screenshots, details on technical and musical aspects of the game as well as gameplay strategies. The other book, titled 'Gamest Mook #65: Warzard', was a similar, although unofficial book. This book also contained a fan art section.
Capcom also released several figurines of the various characters and bosses from the game.
[edit] Recycled ROMs
Capcom had a massive overstock of Warzard CPS-3 ROMs that it had not sold, these were converted to limited edition Street Fighter III clocks that were sold for a limited time. Some enterprising collectors however discovered that the ROM itself could still be plugged into a CPS-3 machine and would allow them to play Warzard.[1]
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Gameplay footage from Warzard (Original source of footage from www.snk-capcom.com)
- Red Earth at the Killer List of Videogames
