Battle Circuit (1997) is Capcom's last side-scrolling Beat 'em Up for the arcades, the last one in a line of great titles such as Final Fight, Cadillacs And Dinosaurs, Captain Commando and the Alien vs. Predator spin-off. Sadly, it's pretty much unknown to the public, because it saw a very limited release (and it was never released in the US), in a period when the arcade phenomenon was already waning.Set in the year of 20XX, it features a motley crew of Bounty Hunters as main characters, and it is a return to the '50s Sci Fi-inspired settings of Captain Commando, with alien worlds, mad scientists, robots and fantastically weird character designs. Up to 4 players can join the fight, making it a very colorful, confusing and fun experience.Another interesting feature of the game is the capability of upgrading the characters by buying new attacks, life and resistance enhancements, etc. Since the characters are bounty hunters, it makes sense that the most common bonuses are coins and stacks of cash, that can be used at the end of every level to buy said upgrades.Battle Circuit provides examples of:
Extremity Extremist:Pink Ostrich uses mostly her legs and beak. It makes sense, because she is a bird after all and mainly uses her wings for flying. The only time she uses her wings for attacking are for her upper cut and desperation attacks.
Helpful Mook: The blob thing on the gold saucer drops food when attacked. If you attack it more, it'll drop bags of money. It appears Every 250,000 points.
My Brain Is Big: Dr. Saturn. He even has a metal ring around his huge head, making him look like his namesake!
Natural Weapon: The PC's all have their own weapons and there are no weapons to pick up in the game. Ever. This is justified considering out of the group there is a Cyborg, Cat Girl, Plant Alien, a Superhero of sorts, and a little girl riding an ostrich. They do pack a bunch of moves, making weapons kind of redundant.
Real Men Wear Pink: Or better, Real Ostriches Are Pink. Pinky is an intelligent pink ostrich with an eyepatch who can apparently fly. And she's badass.
Recurring Boss: Dr. Saturn, whom you face a total of three times.
True Final Boss: The Master Program. You need 3,200,000 points and either 1000 coins or almost all of the upgrades to face him.
Warmup Boss: Your first encounter with Dr. Saturn.
What Do You Mean, It Wasn't Made on Drugs?: You start asking it yourself when you witness some of the more outlandish character designs. Zipang, for one, is some kind of one-eyed robotic/cyber knight with a lance, riding an indescribable two-headed snail/griffon creature that hides weapons in its shell.
Whip It Good: Yellow Iris has a rapid whip attack.
Wings Do Nothing: Adverted with Pink Ostrich, as she can fly for a few seconds.
0 reviews 