Ragnagard

In 1994 Rare and Nintendo released two games that would change the course of 2D game development moving forward. I'm of course referring to Donkey Kong Country on the Super Nintendo/Famicom and Killer Instinct in the arcades. Both games used assets created on Silicon Graphics CGI (Computer Generated Images) high-powered workstations, then those assets were retooled to work as sprite data within the confines of each piece of hardware. While CGI was being used in movies and even some games prior to the release of Rare's classic hits, both Donkey Kong Country and Killer Instinct changed the paradigm of what people could expect out of this art-style. 

While there were surprisingly few fighting games that used this technique after the wave of success Killer Instinct enjoyed in the arcade, and its surprisingly good home port on the Super Nintendo, Saurus and System Vision decided to try their hand using the CGI art style to create a new fighting game IP on the Neo-Geo. Saurus was a long-time development partner with SNK so using the Neo as the target hardware was most likely an easy choice. For better or worse, depending on who you ask, Ragnagard (AKA Shinohken) was born. 

Released in the summer of 1996 with little fan fare and mixed critical and gamer reception, Ragnagard was quickly lost in the deluge of fighting games released that year. Critics and gamers were off-put by the slower pace of the animation, the somewhat pixelated visuals, and the misunderstood mechanics. It also didn't help that Killer Instinct 2 released the same year in US arcades, which upped the ante on what gamers could expect from CGI based 2D sprite work. Still, Ragnagard was just popular enough that it did indeed see release on the AES, Neo CD, and even a Saturn port the following year based on the Neo CD version. Like many games from this era, accurate sales data is non-existent. 

To be blunt, Ragnagard isn't great. It's entirely playable, though, once you get the hang of it. That said, there are some truly forward thinking mechanics that we wouldn't see revisited in fighting games for another few years. So, what's the full deal? 

Ragnagard's story is some gibberish loosely based on Japanese Shinto gods and goddesses as well as the classic literary work Journey to the West. The eight main characters and three bosses are designed well enough, yet look pretty generic all things considered. Still, they look great in the promotional art made for the game and have a striking, somewhat angular design due to the lower polygon models used as the base - well, high polygon for the day I suppose. Despite being immediately written off as "another Street Fighter 2 clone" by critics, that could not be further from the truth. Only Susano could be compared to Ryu, but the rest of the cast is wild and quite different from anything coming from Capcom or SNK at the time. This includes what is, to my knowledge, the first dual-character in fighting games, Chi-Chi and Nene, where you essentially fight as two characters at the same time. Actually, Ragnagard is full of firsts for fighting games and has some unique mechanics that wouldn't fully be explored until a few years later - most notably with Arc System's Guilty Gear on the Playstation in 1998. 

In Ragnagard's marketing material it was dubbed an "Aerial Action Game," and I think that's entirely accurate. All the mechanics in the game are based around juggles and launching your opponent in the air for your combo strings. Using a generous chain combo system, you can chain together most ground based attacks and end with a special attack so long as you go from light to strong along your chain. The "aerial battle" comes in with the game's core mechanic, the aerial launch. 

Pressing up on the control stick plus both light attack buttons will produce a universal launcher that forces the opponent into the air. From here you can continue your chain combo in the air and even end with an aerial finishing attack as many special moves work in the air as well as on the ground. You can use the launcher during a ground based combo or even by itself as an anti-air maneuver. If you connect with an attack while jumping you can also use it to extend your combos while airborne. It wouldn't be until much, much later that fighting games would adopt similar mechanics that allow you to reset and continue your aerial combos. That's not all though. If you press down plus both light buttons you will preform a dive attack that can cross-up in certain situations or end an aerial combo with a knock-down which sets you up for some okizemi (on the ground) techniques when you land. 

To compliment the aerial combo antics, you have a bevy of mobility options at your disposal. Along with a grounded forward dash you can also back dash and perform an aerial dash. Your grounded forward dash puts your character in a jumping state, so you can attack directly out of your dash without losing momentum and then continue your combo either on the ground after you land OR perform your launcher to hike your opponent in the air for an arial juggle. This also means that all attacks out of a dash have overhead properties. Additionally, your air dash travels fast and far but gradually loses altitude toward the end as you hover a bit back toward the ground. While the Marvel games had some character specific air dashes, these types of overall mobility options wouldn't begin to become more common place until Guilty Gear's release in 1998. Defense is typical fighting game faire, though. You have your standard standing block, and you can also air-block. 

The crux of the gameplan not only involves the aerial acrobatics but also the super meter system. Every character has two elements they can control and you can power up either elements by holding down ABC or BCD. You can store up to three stocks for each element, but only one element can be active at once. Every character has one special move that is tied to each element and at least one other special that has no elemental properties. After powering up your element, using the special attack that with that element's properties gains additional buffs - kind of like an ex-special in other fighting games. You can also use one elemental stock for one of your super moves associated with your equipped element or use super moves indefinitely when you are close to being KO'ed (like in the Fatal Fury games). 

While Ragnagard has some truly unique mechanics for the day, the characters are supremely unbalanced. For example, Seena (the water godess character) has a reflect move that she can throw out at any time that reflects all attacks from anywhere on the screen. If you press even one button while her mirror is active you will be hit by your own move - this includes jumping attacks. It's honestly maddening to play against the AI at normal or higher difficulties. 

Character movement is a bit slow, but I wouldn't call it "laggy" as others have called it. That's not correct. That is to say, all of your actions come out when you need them to, but there is an abundance of start up and recovery frames on every move that make the game not feel as snappy as other fighters. Still, after a few matches this isn't much of a problem. If you have a friend who is also adept at fighting games, after 5 or so matches the game becomes quite fun once you each wrap your head around the mobility and offensive options. You quickly discover that just about anything you try becomes viable due to the flexible combo system and generally bonkers special moves that bounce and juggle your opponent all over the place. 

Where Ragnagard typically loses new fans is in its graphics and presentation. When played on a modern display or even a very sharp PVM (high-end CRTs used in broadcasting that are popular in the retro game scene) the characters and backgrounds really show their sharp edges and details become hard to make out. This game looks best, honestly, using lower end display technology as it smudges the sharp lines a bit making everything look softer and more appealing. Still, there is plenty of detail to be found and loads of bright, primary color that make the characters and backgrounds pop. Animation is a high point here, and while not all frames flow seamlessly into each other, there is a fluidity to the character movement that is a step above many other fighters of the day. The backgrounds are fine, but could have used better lighting models (yes, even in 1996) because they all are just a little too bright and flat looking without more subtle shading techniques being employed. Still, they fit the overall art direction and get the job done.

Sound design is spectacular here despite other reports you may have read - at least to me anyway. The soundtrack is excellent with smooth jazzy sounds and great instrumentation on both the OST on the MVS/AES and the AST on the Neo CD. It's great fighting game music and is also pretty good to listen to while working as background music. It's quite good, and is complimented by very competent sound effects. 

Listen, Ragnagard isn't a great game if you're comparing it to the most recent King of Fighters or Marvel Vs. game of the day. It is highly unique, though, and entirely playable if you go in expecting to have a good time with slightly sloppy mechanics that were admittedly ahead of their time. Ragnagard is a great curio in the Neo library and well worth a look if you're interested in the beginnings of some fighting game mechanics that have become common place in our modern age. But it's not, I repeat NOT a "hidden gem" by any stretch of the imagination.

So, how can you play Ragngard? Despite being quite obscure, even in its day, it has been released on the Arcade Archives series for $8 on all modern platforms, and that is my recommendation if you don't have access to a PC and Fightcade or Mame. If you must have a physical copy, though, you have some options. The Japanese AES release is quite rare (always has been), and the $1500 or so price point in the 2022 retro game market reflects this. There was no English AES release. An MVS copy can be had for $150 or so.  

Ragnagard was also ported to the Neo CD and saw a number of improvements including a more robust intro sequence which is quite cool. There were some additional gameplay tweaks and even a combo counter added! Like many Neo CD games around this time, though, there is some animation missing here and there along with many background animations being removed entirely or seriously reduced. The Neo CD version is quite affordable at around $50 or so in the 2022 retro market. Additionally, the Sega Saturn release saw a few further refinements and a training mode added. Despite being based on the Neo CD version, this is actually the definitive version of the game mechanics wise despite missing even more animation than the Neo CD. It was rare that a developer continued to refine a product for each port, but that is exactly the case here. Ragnagard did not sell all that well, and also didn't see an official release in Western markets until the modern Arcade Archives version. It's been stuck in relative obscurity for the majority of its life.

So, budding AES collector - should you get this game in your library? No. I mean really - NO!

Other than your shelf-collectors who want expensive things just to display on a shelf, though, this game is a hard pass for anyone else. There some neat stuff going on, but for the general SNK and arcade fighting game fan your money and time is better spent elsewhere.