Rival Schools: United by Fate is a very underlooked fighting game from one of my favorite developers; Capcom. They are generally considered to be the most celebrated fighting game developer worldwide. There’s a good reason for this; while they didn’t invent the genre they’re the company responsible for popularizing it with their arcade hit Street Fighter II. In the 16-bit era they stuck almost exclusively to Street Fighter because that was their cash cow. With the emergence of 3D gaming Capcom had to get a little more creative. Street Fighter was a bit behind as far as catching up to the tech goes. The main series stayed strictly two dimensional, but they attempted a few spin-offs using polygonal graphics and they just didn’t catch on as well.
This was the time when they also created a few new fighting game franchises as well. The big one is when they acquired the Marvel license and started a new line of brawlers based on it. This too didn’t necessarily catch on until they combined it with Street Fighter. Then there was Rival Schools. This title was a hit in the Japanese arcades and Capcom decided to port it to the Sony PlayStation console. It’s a real shame that the franchise has long been retired because the original Rival Schools is one of my favorite 3D fighters of all time.
Upon hearing the name I assumed that this game was about rival varieties of martial arts. That’s not the case; the word ‘schools’ is literal here. It’s a unique spin on the genre premise that I wasn’t a big fan of at first (I mean, who cares about a fighting game focused around High School students and faculty?) but the over the top nature and sense of humor soon won me over. This is not a game that takes itself seriously. Rival Schools takes place in a place called Aoharu City in Japan. Several local students and teachers have gone missing, and rather than sit by and wait their turn the classmates and faculty have taken to arms to find out who is behind the recent rash of kidnappings.
The roster is eccentric and over the top. Just picture any anime series centered on characters in school and you have a general idea of what to expect. You have jock characters (based on individual sports like volleyball, soccer, and baseball) as well as a cheerleader, various teachers, and a few just general students who specialize at being… students. It might sound weird so far but the roster is full of diverse characters that have different fighting styles and special move inputs. Some are fast, others are slow, some have long reaching attacks while the rest can strike only from short distances. There’s a fair amount of voice work included here but it was left in Japanese. Some might appreciate the authenticity but I would rather know what everyone is saying to be perfectly honest.
Rival Schools is a 3D fighting game with a few unique twists. First of all no matter which mode of play you choose you don’t pick just one fighter. In the basic modes you choose two, and can switch between them in between the rounds. This isn’t a feature I liked at first but it can be pretty useful when you need to switch up strategies for the next round. This also allows you to use a team based move that, depending on your partner character, can either cause the foe a lot of damage or power-up your fighter currently in play. It’s a pretty interesting dynamic that immediately grew on me. The game itself plays like a 3D version of Street Fighter Alpha, but simplified. In Rival Schools you have only four attack buttons; two punches and the same number of kicks.
Personally I’ve always thought that six strike inputs is a bit too much and I prefer what Capcom did with the system here. Each character has their own set of special moves that use sweeps and holds on the directional pad in a similar manner to every Street Fighter game ever, you can also sidestep (which is more useful than in most other similar titles) and blocking is done by holding the away button. You even have super moves, and these occur far more frequently than in your typical genre offering. The fighting engine is fast and solid, and unlike most Street Fighter games there’s an emphasis on aerial attacks here with several moves that can only be performed in the air. It’s a pretty solid fighting engine that I had a lot of fun learning. It’s one that I wish was expanded upon to the current generation.
What I love so much about this game is the fact that it is very simplistic and easy to jump right into. I spent just a few minutes in the training mode and I was good to go. That’s pretty rare for a fighter because I usually like to be a bit more intricate but I felt adept immediately. While the learning curve is low there are a few intricate elements that carve a thick line between good and mastery. For example you have tardy cancels and attack cancels which are a bit difficult to learn. The first of these allows you to counterattack from a blocking position. Even hours into the game I struggle to find just the right moment to take advantage of this. That’s why I would be hesitant to play against more experienced players.
The latter is less complicated and happens more by chance than anything; attack cancels are aptly named because they occur when you and your opponent strike at the same exact time. Another aspect I really like about this game is just how much content is included in the package. The game spans two discs which is very unusual for a fighting title. The first contains the usual versus, arcade and training, and while the second just includes complimentary modes (which aren’t that far removed from the main ones) it’s a welcome change. You can actually play with four different players in tag team style which is awesome. The sheer diversity and amount of content alone are incredible; you’ll be playing for a long while.
Rival Schools is not the best looking fighting game on the platform, but for its time the developers did a pretty darn commendable job. Everything is rendered in polygons and while it does have that typical scratchy look that most games on the original PlayStation do the colorful aesthetic is enough to distract from this issue. The characters are all anime style and while they all look highly derivative I can’t complain too much because they’re imbued with a lot of personality and charm. The only real issue I have is the face textures. They’re pixelated and are not dynamic. They look a little creepy to be perfectly honest, but the only time you really see them is during the victory poses. I suppose it’s just a limitation of the PlayStation hardware and it’s poor texture quality.
Aside from that the anime opening sequence is impressively animated, and the character portraits are pleasant. This is a pretty good looking game. The soundtrack is also very well done. Each stage has its own theme and some of them (like the hallways) get stuck in my head easily. That’s definitely not a bad thing; I love the bouncy techno pop of most stages. It’s as over the top and unforgettable as the visual aesthetic. The composer did an amazing job. It goes a long way to making Rival Schools feel more like a proper anime television show.
When the original PlayStation was big most fighting fans were playing the big guns like Tekken, Dead or Alive and Street Fighter. While Rival Schools was popular in Japan it’s sad that it never really caught fire around the world. To be fair Capcom cut a few major features out of the domestic release. Despite this the basic game itself is solid and stands as one of the zaniest and most entertaining PS1 fighting games I’ve ever played. There are few fighting games that are this frantic, fun, and run as smoothly. Here’s to hoping they revive the brand, or even release the original as a PS1 classic on PSN because it definitely deserves more exposure. It’s beyond tragic at this point in time.
