Kabuki Klash

The Tengai Makyo: Far East of Eden series, of which Kabuki Kalsh is a part, is little known outside of its native Japan. Developed in the late 80's by Bomberman developer Hudson, the Far East of Eden series has seen widespread release across many gaming and computer platforms. Through the lens of a fictional western archeologist, players are presented with a satirical depiction of Japan (or Jipang in the game) that leans into the fantastical view Western travelers have of the nation.

Released in mid-1995 to rave critical reviews and positive reception from gamers, Kabuki Klash became an instant hit in the arcade and garnered a surprising number of sales in the home market on both AES and CD. I've lovingly referred to this game as "Popcorn Samurai Shodown" as Hudson distilled the core mechanics of that series to its bare minimum to make Kabuki Klash more approachable and accessible to those less adept at fighting games by 1995. Despite the popularity of the game with consumers at the time, Kabuki Klash was never ported to any of the primary home consoles of the day. That's a bit of a shame as it would have fit well on the Sega Saturn's library of quality arcade ports.

Unfortunately, like many 2D fighters from the mid-90's, this "hidden-gem" on the Neo-Geo has been mostly lost to time due to a few factors. Kabuki Klash made little waves in arcades outside of Japan due to general unfamiliarity with the characters and setting. The lush, anime inspired graphical style also wasn't popular with mainstream Western audiences at the time, so many gamers saw Kabuki Klash as being not edgy enough to earn their quarter at the arcade. 

When Konami purchased Hudson in the early aughts, all the rights for this series (as well as others like Bonk and Bomberman) transferred to them. Despite many Neo-Geo games being released over the years on various digital storefronts, Konami has never re-released this game in any form. The only way to play this fun fighter is on real Neo-Geo hardware (well, and emulation, but we're not here to talk about that).

Having only tertiary familiarity with the Tengai Makyo series myself, I'm not sure where or if this game falls into any cannon storyline or if it's a dream-match of sorts. I do know all of the characters are taken directly from the series, with Manjimaru being the protagonist of both this game and and a prior RPG. The cast is small with 8 main fighters and four bosses. Each character fights with some type of "weapon," whether that be a sword, a knife, a fan, a club, a huge battle axe (wielded by a child), or even a fluffy dog. Each cast member is fun to play, and because the mechanics aren't super deep, everyone is pretty easy to pick up and play. So long as you have a general understanding of how fighting games work, you won't have any trouble jumping in and picking the character that looks most interesting to you.

Mechanically, Kabuki Klash is somewhat shallow but that doesn't mean it's not unique. Much like Samurai Shodown, players have access to what is essentially a six-button game in a four-button setup: A is weak slash, B is medium slash, and A+B is hard slash. Similarly, the C and D buttons work the same but for your kick actions. Unlike Samurai Shodown all characters have access to one powerful attack by pressing B+C. These powerful attacks have more start-up than your other normals, but deal a considerable amount of damage. Each character has a few special moves, but not nearly as many as other fighters. There is also no super meter or super combos to fuss with either. Rather, these mechanics are largely replaced with the magic system.

The magic system is the crux of the gameplay in Kabuki Klash. Each character has at least two, but usually three different magic attacks they can use during a match. Each one of these magic attacks is similar to what you'd refer to as a super move in other fighting games, but these are less a comeback mechanic and more of a core part of the experience. The number of magic attacks you have is dictated by the magic meter that sits at the bottom of the screen. These meters fill automatically after you use a magic attack, and depending on the strength of the attack the meter will refill at a different rate. For example: a "light" magic attack will refill the meter faster than a "heavy" magic attack. Each magic attack is done by pressing down, down + A, B, or C. Some of these moves do big, big damage if they connect, and all of them do a considerable amount of chip-damage on block. 

While fighting, a bird will occasionally drop defense and attack buff items, as well as items that boost your score (for whatever that's worth in a Vs fighting game). As you pummel your opponent there will occasionally be food, poison, or a banana peel that will fall to the stage when you score a hard knockdown. Food refills a bit of your life bar, poison stuns you, and the banana peel makes you trip. Bascially, it's a more comical take on the Edo Delivery Guy from Samurai Shodown one and two. 

Visually, Kabuki Klash is a real looker. The lush, anime inspired graphics have an almost garish pastel pallet that makes everything look like you're in some sort of Japanese Wonderland. Animation is also on point, with strong key frames and intermediate frames of animation that make every move fluid and satisfying. Backgrounds are full of life and animation, and every one of them is interesting to watch - especially when you're underwater but not actually underwater. Actually, despite being the only fighting game Hudson ever developed, they did a bang-up job on the visuals and hit detection. It's a very satisfying game both to look at and feel.

Like the visual design, the audio design is also top notch. Music is a high point with traditional Japanese styled arrangements mixed with an upbeat tempo that makes you want to shake your booty. The character select music and Kabuki's stage theme are my two favorites. Voices and sound effects are also on point and really bring to life the characters' personalities. 

Kabuki Klash isn't a technical fighter, so there are no long combo strings or other complicated mechanics that can deter those less experienced with fighting games. That said, seasoned fighting game fans will have a hard time coming back to this game due to so little moving parts under the hood. Despite it being a little on the shallow side, Kabuki Klash is overall a super fun game and is a perfect introduction to 2D fighters for gamers who typically find fighting games a little daunting.

Due to being a Japanese only release in the home market, Kabuki Klash is more expensive than most AES games from 1995, but I wouldn't consider this game a heavy-hitter in the modern retro game market. A good condition AES copy will cost you as little as $420 and as much as $650 depending on where you purchase the game. If you're patient, you can score a copy for as little as $250, but that's buying direct from Japan. A Neo CD version can be had for a little under $100, and the MVS version sits somewhere in between those two. Unless you emulate the game, there is no other way to play. 

If you're just beginning your AES collection, I'd give this game a hard pass; that is unless you have some crazy nostalgia for it (I know somebody is out there...). It's a super fun fighting game, especially if you have friends that are usually scared away by the depth of the genre. But for single play, especially for seasoned fighting game aficionados, Kabuki Klash is just a bit too shallow to be a main game in your play rotation.