Sunsoft steals some of Capcom's light with this hilarious but deep beat 'm up
Alongside with the Neo Geo, the Saturn is one of those systems that is loaded with 2D fighters, so for a fighting game to make an impression, it really has to be worth your while. In that aspect, I am pleased to say that Sunsoft's Waku Waku 7 meets all of the expectations.
On a technical note, this is one of those Saturn fighting games that makes use of the extra ram mode in order to reduce loading times and keep up with the high level of animation. You will need a ram cartridge with at least 1MB of memory for this game to run on your Saturn.
This is the review for the Japanese version of Waku Waku 7. Gamefaqs mentions that there also is a US version, but I have yet to run into that one.
Gameplay
The game takes roughly 15 seconds to load before you reach the title screen. At that point you can choose between the arcade mode, versus mode, or option. It's nice to see that Sunsoft really respects the Neo Geo original, as they even give you the choice to turn on the "show how to play" display, so you can see a quick rundown of the most important moves before diving into a fight.
The arcade mode gives you seven characters to choose from: Rai, Slash, Tesse, Dandy J, Politank Z, Marurun and Arina. At that point it should already become clear to you that Waku Waku 7 isn't to be taken all too serious, as some of those characters are wacky indeed. :D Take Marurun for instance, who basically is a big seal-like furry with a kid on his back. Or what about Politank Z, a police droid, controlled by a character that looks a bit like an evil version of Nintendo fame Mario. Sunsoft apparently had a good time looking at the Capcom fighters too, as some of the characters really borrow elements from their Street Fighter counterparts, both when it comes to looks and (special) moves. It's all done in a very funny way. Arina for instance looks a lot like Chun-Li physically, especially in the buttocks, hips and thighs department. Chun-Li never had furry ears though. :P
Gameplay remains faithful to the original, in that you have four buttons reserved for a weak and strong punch (X and Y), and kick (A and B). The game also uses a special power bar, that fills up as you score hits, and that can then be used for some really damaging attacks.
The Z and C buttons on the Saturn pad don't remain idle, as they serve as a combined press on the corresponding weak and strong punch and kick buttons. This makes it very easy to pull off some of the moves that require one stock of your special power bar. The left shoulder button can be used to power up temorarily, taking up one stock too. Not only can you dish out more pain while powered up, but if your opponent touches you while you're powering up, you'll score a hit, so this technique can be used as part of a combo too. Speaking of combos, Waku Waku 7 gives you plenty of opportunities to score them. Some of your stronger punches and kicks can even send the opponents flying towards the screen's edge, making them bounce back to you, enabling you to pummel them some more.
This game makes good use of the Saturn's scaling capabilities, as it zooms in on the action to a high degree when characters are battling it out close. I am not sure about this, but it appeared to me as if the zooming was even more frantic than on the Neo Geo. It's not just a gimmick either, as it can really aid you in pulling off some of the special moves. The unblockable ones for instance not only take a long time to load, but they also lead to the screen flashing and displaying a warning message. Enough time for your opponent to run up to you and trash you if you're too close. I thought it added a great element of timing to the game.
The loading times between fights take about 6-10 seconds, depending on circumstances. There are a couple of seconds inbetween each round too. All in all I found the loading times to be decent, and never disturbing.
As a final note when it comes to gameplay, most of the game is displayed in English, making it perfectly playable for an import game. The only bits of text that are in Japanese, are the dialogues between characters before a bout.
Graphics and sound
As mentioned in the introduction, Waku Waku 7 uses one meg of extra ram memory, and it really shows. Just about every bit of detail and animation from the original made it into the Saturn port. Backgrounds are bright and colorful. When zoomed in fully, they can appear a bit blocky, but I guess that was unavoidable, as you really have to see how big some of these backgrounds are when zoomed out completely. In fact, my only gripe with the graphics is that some of the color schemes are a bit garish.
A special mention must go to the sound. This game has some of the most memorable and diverse background music. Dandy J's theme for instance is a great, funky harmonica tune. Other tunes reminded me of some legendary anime music. They all complement the action very well.
Also worth of note are the clear sound effects and speech. The Saturn has a limited amount of memory allocated for sound, which often leads to games with muffled speech. The speech in Waku Waku 7 is very clear and crisp though.
Replay value
You only get seven characters to play with in the arcade mode, but Waku Waku 7 does give you a couple of extras in the shape of Bonus Kun (who is, as his name suggests, a bonus character you can face), and the game boss Fernandeath. Bonus Kun is a total rip-off from Street Fighter's Ryu, but done in a very cheeky way. The battles against him really are hilarious, but also intense since you start off with seven levels stocked inside of the special power bar. Then there is the boss character Fernandeath: insanely huge, and also ultimately punishing. Both Bonus Kun and Fernandeath can be picked in the vs mode.
All in all I found that there was enough to discover and master in Waku Waku 7 to last you a fair while. The game incorporates just about every gameplay element of the fighting games of that era (special power bar, being hit while you're down, unblockable attacks...) and the fact of the matter is that this is the kind of game that you'll return to, even after a long period of inactivity, just to experience that good time again.
Overall, don't let the hilarious aspect of this fighter fool you, as this is one of the most original and best balanced fighters you can find on the Saturn. Highly accessible, and plenty of fun.