Growing up I always assumed that video game developers Capcom and Konami were rivals. They both made titles in the same genres that shared themes with each other. Case in point; Castlevania and Ghouls ‘N Ghosts. Resident Evil vs. Silent Hill. You get my point. The big gap between them was in the fighting genre. Capcom had the trail blazing Street Fighter franchise, and Konami had a lot of brawlers but none that really caught on. This is why I have a soft spot for their fighting games. I’m always willing to give them a shot, and it seems like every other week I find a new one. This led me to the import only Lightning Legend: Daigo no Daibouken. This is an anime themed fighting game that never left Japan. Today I spent considerable time with it. Now let’s jump in and take a look. Here’s Lightning Legend!
I’m at a bit of a loss when it comes to story. I don’t speak Japanese, and there aren’t any translation guides online. That’s an issue because there’s a pretty big emphasis on scenario here. In between the fights you’re given a lot of story exposition via sprite based chibi character sequences. You’re shown an overworld map, and upon winning move to the next area. From here your character talks to others and then you’re suddenly in a fight. What I do like is the fact that you can skip all of this by pressing the start button. That’s what I did.
Okay so with the story out of the way let’s take a look at the gameplay. Lightning Legend is a 3D fighting game. First impressions are that this is a very typical title for this era. You face off against a foe in a one-on-one fight in a 3D arena. The first to drain the opponent’s life bar is the victor, and the ultimate winner is determined by the best of three fights. You can move left/right, jump, and your main methods of attack are punches and kicks which are performed with the square and cross buttons. Up front the controls are very basic which allow for even beginners to jump in.
There’s a lot to cover here so I’ll start with the block system. In typical fashion your character blocks automatically when you hold the button moving your character away from the opponent. What’s interesting is that it also comes in to play when you press nothing at all. I like that fact, but it seems to be a little random with blocks happening when I met neither criteria while playing. The basic attacks are just that, basic. You have a light, medium and heavy attack with slightly different results from holding directional buttons on the controller. It’s actually very simple by fighting game standards but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
Of course you’re given a few special moves as per the fighting game standard. These are mostly your traditional directional pad sweeps and holds in conjunction with the attack buttons. It’s very standard fare in this regard. Unfortunately each character only has a few different special moves, but I suppose that’s not a big deal. I won’t knock it points for that. Lightning Legend does have a few gameplay elements all its own. The first of these is the power meter on the bottom of the screen. This fills up by holding the taunt button as well as the heavy attack. When it’s filled you can strike with a super move. What’s interesting is that you can reduce your foe’s power by taunting them. I found this wasn’t as useful as charging your own meter however.
I’m usually a bit hard on fighting games. I grew up on the likes of Street Fighter II, and later became a fan of Virtua Fighter. I’m all for a deep gameplay engine, or even mechanics that make a game easy to jump into. Unfortunately Lightning Legend doesn’t really offer much for me. The combo system encourages button mashing, and not in a good way. I found this is the best way to play instead of learning intricate combination attacks, special moves, or even counters. Yes, a few of the projectile attacks make nice additions to a string of attacks but in this regard the characters are all the same. To make matters worse the hit detection is insufferable. It seems almost random at times, and placement of my character made little difference a lot of the time.
The character roster is also very generic. This is anime tropes, the game. You have the typical ninja protagonist, the super hero wannabe, the fiery heart “I will be the best type” and even the curvy female character. You only have eight to choose from, and I didn’t like any of them to be honest. On the lighter side the character selection screen, which is a sprite based scene with all of them sitting in a room, is cool but that’s a minor thing really. Their movesets are just too similar. You can collect items after defeating foes, and each character has their own set. These are mostly costumes and visual elements, but it’s at least something.
Lightning Legend however is a very pretty game. Not so much the story scenes though. Sure, the game makes use of the endearing chibi style but it’s very generic with characters that are pretty much interchangeable with any visual novel of the era. The backgrounds have a lot of detail and feel high budget but it’s ruined by the character designs. In contrast the fight sequences are actually really pretty. The environments are bland, but the characters look really good. The framerate is a bit iffy, but that’s a minor complaint when compared to the other gameplay issues. I did however really like the soundtrack. It’s a mix of pop electronic that fits the anime motif perfectly.
Lightning Legend is okay. It’s a nice diversion for newbies to the genre. Serious fighting fans won’t find that this has much to offer. Things such as the taunt system were done better in Art of Fighting, and the costumes are much more interesting in Dead or Alive. It’s no wonder that Lightning Legend was never released here.
