Each character has their own unique tune and therefore their own unique sequence, but they’re simple short beat sequences – don’t expect anything too complicated, although they’re quick enough that it can take a bit of practice to get them down. If this attack connects, it starts up a rhythm-based minigame where colored bars move towards the center of the screen, requiring that you press them in time with the music. The remaining shoulder button is used for a super attack called a Beat move, which is available once three super bars are stored. In truth, both of these are overblown, because the “rhythm” aspect, despite being plainly visible in the title, plays only a minor part, as a particular type of super move. Some reviews at the time remarked that it was a combination of a rhythm game and a fighter – much the way that Rez was a rhythm game and a shooter – while others have drawn Beatmania comparisons. This was all pretty standard stuff in 2D fighters by the time this came out, but Slap Happy Rhythm Busters‘ purported claim to fame is its integration of “rhythm” elements. Most characters have launchers too, allowing them to hit a character in the air and juggle them a bit, including bouncing them off walls. All characters have a variety of dashes, combos flow smoothly, and air recoveries are easy to pull off. The action is neither as fast nor as chaotic as a Guilty Gear or a Capcom Versus game, although the basic feel is still comparable. Super moves are executed with controller motions and two buttons pressed at the same time, a function that can also be mapped to the shoulder buttons. The fighting is set up like an SNK game – two punches, two kicks – with a separate button to throw. In that respect, Slap Happy Rhythm Busters was remarkably ahead of its time, because it’s fast and tight, largely devoid of the timing problems that tended afflict those earlier games. Earlier grapples with this style hadn’t proven effective – Street Fighter EX and Fatal Fury: Wild Ambition were clumsy at best, and while Rival Schools was fun, it just didn’t feel as snappy as a sprite-based game. The characters in Slap Happy Rhythm Busters are polygonal, but this is strictly a 2D fighter. The final boss bears a suspicious resemblance to the Predator, albeit one made mostly of metal. Most of the characters are also quite imaginative, although a couple are obvious homages to other fighters. The solid color designs make it easy to hit their low polygon count, one of the biggest problems with PS1-era 3D fighters. The visuals are fantastic and the cel-shaded characters look phenomenal. Slap Happy Rhythm Busters is largely about style. In that context, it’s surprising that Slap Happy Rhythm Busters manages to couple a pretty decent game along with its brightly attractive visuals. for the PSOne, and later went on to do Bleach: Shattered Blade for the Wii. Polygon Magic was most known (if one could say “known” at all) for the Galerians series, but they also made a few forgettable fighters – Fighters’ Impact for the arcades, Lord of Fist and Vs. It’s also a surprisingly decent game from a company not exactly synonymous with quality. (The only other notable one is the dreaded Simpsons Wrestling.) It is not a ripoff, because it was released in Japan at approximately the same time. It even uses a similar style of cel-shaded graphics, a true rarity for PSOne games. It draws from the same hip youth oriented Shibuya aesthetics. The easiest way to describe Slap Happy Rhythm Busters (or Srap Happy Rhythm Busters, based off the English spine label on the CD) is “ Jet Set Radio: The Fighting Game”.
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