You must be cuter than Sheng Long to stand a chance!
Super Gem Fighter: Mini Mix (known as Pocket Fighter in Japan) is a Mascot Fighter of sorts by Capcom. It was released in 1997. It uses the same Super-Deformed character sprites last seen in Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo note as well as many of the same characters, with some replacements here and there.
While there's no overarching plot to the game, each character has their own story consisting of an introduction cutscene and their own ending as well. They're all of the comical variety, given the game's tone.
It plays like a typical Capcom fighter... with only 3 main buttons: Punch, Kick and Special. The game also features a dial-a-combo system (known as Flash Combos in-game) which lets you perform combos via set button inputs. During these combos, or certain other attacks, fighters will rapidly change costumes, from comical outfits (like Sakura's Bunny Girl attire or Akuma in a speedo) to Capcom character cosplays (like Felicia as Mega Man or Chun-Li as Jill Valentine).
And of course, there's the titular Gems, which serve to level up your character's special moves (which all start at Level 1 and can go up to Level 3) when you collect them, making your special moves more potent (such as Akuma's Level 3 Zanku Hadoken becoming Shin Akuma-style double Zanku Hadokens). You collect gems—which come in one of three colors (red, blue, and yellow) to correspond to one of your characters' three special moves—by pummelling your opponent or obtain them either from treasure chests that appear randomly mid-battle or flying characters from SonSon that fly across the screen from time to time, with tiny gems providing a little boost and huge ones giving you a whole level. Said SonSon characters may also drop special orbs that can be thrown as weapons or even food items to restore health.
There's also the Mega Crash, which lets you escape combos or repel your opponent with a burst of energy, but you lose all your gems, too.
The game's roster consists of 12 fighters (10 normal, 2 "hidden"), 8 of which are, of course, Street Fighter characters, joined by 3 from Darkstalkers and even one from Red Earth. Several of them retain their sprites from Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo, though Donovan Baine and Devilotte (who were in said game) didn't make the cut.
Super Gem Fighter has seen console releases on the PlayStation (released everywhere under its Japanese title Pocket Fighter), Sega Saturn and WonderSwan and on the PlayStation 2 Compilation Re-release Street Fighter Alpha Anthology.
A free-to-play sequel to Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo for iOS and Android titled Puzzle Fighter launched in November 2017, but ended its service in July 2018.
Roster
- Street Fighter characters
- Street Fighter: Ryu and Ken Masters
- Street Fighter II: Chun-Li, Zangief and Akuma
- Street Fighter III: Ibuki
- Street Fighter Alpha: Sakura Kasugano and Dan Hibiki
- Darkstalkers characters
- Darkstalkers: Morrigan Aensland and Felicia
- Night Warriors: Hsien-Ko
- Red Earth: Tessa
Tropes used in this game:
- Ass Kicks You: Sakura gets into a red playboy bunny costume, once she grab's her opponent she bumps them away with her butt. She also gets an air throw where she sits on her opponent's face, with their reaction pretty much showing they enjoyed it.
- Breaking Speech: One of Akuma's Flash Combos/special grabs makes him don a blue robe of judgment and, if he grabs you, gives one of these to a victim that's so potent they petrify in shock. This also leaves them open to a extra attack. This is specifically a reference to a recurring situation and Catchphrase in Touyama no Kin-san, a long-running Jidaigeki series.
- The Cameo: Absolutely loads, and this is other than all the Flash Combo cosplay cameos, or all the ending cameos.
- Cammy, E. Honda, Dee Jay, Guile, Charlie, Rose, Birdie, Sagat, Adon, M. Bison, Guy, Rolento, June and Huitzil in the Bar Maximum stage.
- Dhalsim, Balrog, M. Bison and Cammy as a little girl, Donovan, Anita, Jon Talbain, Baby Bonnie Hood, Blodia and June in a shop window in the Shopping Center stage.
- M. Bison on a sled, Vega on skis, Yun and Yang on snowboards, Oro and Balrog on the cable cars (along with Sasquatch) and Sodom sharing an igloo with Bishamon) in the Ski Resort stage.
- Dhalsim, Blanka and Elena, Rikuo and Sasquatch and Mai-Ling in the Dock stage.
- Gen, Birdie, M. Bison, Adon, Fei-Long, Dhalsim, Charlie, Guy, Rolento, Sodom, Jon Talbain, Victor Von Gerdenheim and Bishamon in the Chinese Restaurant stage.
- Lilith and Leo in Tessa's Den. Felicia can also be seen in the background when you're not playing as her. Lilith will also not be on the window ledge if you're playing as Morrigan.
- Jon Talbain as a silhouette in the Aensland Castle stage.
- Demitri and Jedah (in his (her?) Midnight Bliss form) in Demitri's Castle Hall.
- And more in the PSX versions' Running Battle, up to and including X, Zero and Iris, Nina (young and adult), Peco, Momo and the "other" Ryu (both young and adult), Kumiko, the Player 1 character, Mega Man Volnutt, Roll Caskett, Tron Bonne and a Servbot, Rose, Oro, the original Mega Man, Roll and Rush and Xavier, Devilotte and Dave.
- As an Easter Egg, Tessa will occasionally use Mai-Ling as a shield while guarding in lieu of the usual magic pentagram she conjures up. Similarly, scoring a Perfect with Tessa will see Mai-Ling come out from behind her, awestruck and starry-eyed.
- Ryu goes to Savalia to fight Hauzer on Tessa's suggestion in his ending. Of course, given Hauzer is a giant dinosaur-esque beast...
- The zombies Akuma beats up in his ending resemble the ones from Resident Evil.
- Ken's ending sees him get punched out by his own wife, Eliza.
- The Russian President Not-Gorbachev from Zangief's endings in Street Fighter II and Alpha 2 appears again in Zangief's Gem Fighter ending.
- After Felicia beats Ken in her ending, he takes her to see Fei-Long so she can audition for his upcoming movie. (It turns out to be the action flick Dragon vs. Monster Cat, which Felicia is not happy about.)
- Lilith one-ups Morrigan in her ending.
- Tessa mentions an Anakaris Trading Company in her ending. The staff she bought from them (which ends up turning her into a penguin) also resembles one of Anakaris' artifacts.
- Ibuki encounters Guy in her ending who distracts her with a baked potato and runs off.
- The Comically Serious:
- Akuma may be a chibi here but all except one of his sprites still have him scowling and he still acts fairly serious. So of course, his story has him kicked off his training island because it was turned into a leisure resort and one of his Flash Combos he dons a Speedo and goggles, does some stretches and dives into a puddle. The grim, dark-hearted and merciless master of Satsui no Hado puts on a speedo and goes for a swim.
- Ryu also counts, perhaps as a straighter example since he's the only character who never changes costumes during his Flash Combos (aside from briefly donning Dudley's gloves or geta sandals) and his storyline is as it usually is, searching the world for a strong opponent and to perfect his fighting skills. But he's still a chibi and isn't any more immune reacting to the game's hilarious moveset than anyone else is.
- Combo Breaker: As noted above, the Mega Crash allows fighters to get out any kind of attack or combo by the opposing character, albeit at the cost of two levels of meter and all their Gems. Tatsunoko vs. Capcom would directly lift this mechanic for its own use, substituting the Gem cost for some of the point character's health.
- Compilation Re-release: Was included in Street Fighter Alpha Anthology.
- Crossover: Yep. Street Fighter characters playing with 3 girls from Darkstalkers, with poor Tessa from Red Earth caught in the middle.
- Dance Battler: Zangief's moveset includes That Russian Squat Dance.
- Denser and Wackier: Compared to most of Capcom's fighting games, crossover or not, this game is positively ridiculous, adorable and lighthearted too. Even Akuma comes across as a slightly grumpy old codger who sometimes joins in on a joke, as opposed to his canon self as a brutal, uncompromising demon warrior constantly in maximum Blood Knight mode. Most of Capcom's more evil characters like M. Bison or B.B Hood are all relegated to cameos, and even then they lack all of the cruel and evil traits of their canon selves, instead being just another couple of wacky residents of the game's world. Even the Resident Evil zombies in Akuma's ending simply look emaciated than bloody and rotting.
- Dreadful Musician:
- Dan's special grab and one of his Flash Combos has him dress up in either an Elvis Presley-ish outfit or the formal wear expected of an enka sing. Then he sings horribly, with the opponent jaw dropping and petrifying due to the horribleness of the song.
- For her 'punch' attack cycle, Ibuki transforms into a koto-playing geisha, ending her combo by singing a high-pitched bum-note at her opponent, which sends them flying.
- Evolving Attack: Collecting gems powers up your character's special attacks.
- The Exile: Played for Laughs in Akuma's story, where he's kicked out of his usual training spot of Gokuentou when its turned into a holiday resort.
- Flipping the Table: One of Zangief's Flash Combos.
- Forced Transformation: Tessa accidentally turns herself into a penguin in her ending.
- Funny Background Event: Everywhere, coinciding with all the cameos, of course. For example, check out the dock stage where Rikuo's trying his hardest not to get eaten by a giant snake.
- Grievous Harm with a Body: Two of Dan's attacks has him swing the body of his father at you. Using his Gag Nose as a handle.
- Here We Go Again!: Chun-Li's story ends with her fighting Felicia, mistaking her for the escaped zoo animal she's heard about. She successfully gets Felicia in a cage and heads home satisfied. Then a day later, she reads a newspaper headline talking about music superstar Felicia's disappearance.
- Hilarious Outtakes: Random clips of comedy play during the credits, inspired by Puzzle Fighter's "Intermission" sequences.
- Home-Run Hitter: Hit your opponent with enough force and not only can they bounce all around the screen (hitting you if you're in their path) but you can send them flying literally around the planet.
- Human Shield: Literally. When she's low on health, Tessa's blocking animation will change from her using a magic pentagram to using Mai-Ling as a shield.
- Humongous Mecha: Tessa has one she likes to call out in two of her Supers, which can either beat the opponent up or shoot a large energy beam.
- I Shall Taunt You: Of course. Sakura can still damage you ever so slightly with her taunt.
- An Ice Person: Interestingly, Chun-Li's Kikoken gains the ability to freeze the opponent on contact once fully leveled up.
- Idle Animation: Periodically when you hold crouch as Felicia, she'll briefly scratch her ear.
- Jaw Drop: Possibly one of the funniest reaction faces in the game, which is the effect of getting hit with both of Akuma or Dan's special grabs unless you're Felicia (who just looks dumbfounded) or Tessa (who looks visibly pissed). The best part about this is that it can happen to Akuma as well.
- Joke Character: Dan, of course. This time around he can only ever get red gems from attacking people (meaning the only special he can normally level up is the Gadoken), though at least he can get blue and yellow gems via other means.
- Leitmotif: The Street Fighter Alpha Anthology has a special button combination that plays any character's theme. They're lifted from Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo with the exception of Zangief (who gets the arranged version of his theme from X-Men vs. Street Fighter), Ibuki (who gets "Sharp Eyes", her Street Fighter III: New Generation theme), and Tessa (who gets her Red Earth theme).
- Massive Multiplayer Crossover: Downplayed as they're all Capcom games, but it still brings together characters from Street Fighter, Darkstalkers and Red Earth, plus a ton of cameos from other Capcom games.
- The Many Deaths of You: The game features more than one K.O. animation. The loser may be reduced to a pile of bones or explode into an array of glowing spheres. A less obvious reference is falling off-screen and splashing into water like in SonSon.
- Morton's Fork: Morrigan proposes a sparring match with Ken. If Morrigan wins, Ken has to buy her new shoes. If she loses, he has to buy her a new dress. Ken is so eager to fight he doesn't think about it before agreeing.
- New Work, Recycled Graphics: Most characters still retain their sprites from Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo, although at least Ryu's color scheme is now based off of his Street Fighter II appearance (white gi and red headband). Ken's sprites have also been changed to cut his hair down to its Street Fighter II length (the original version of those sprites had his hair at its Alpha series length complete with hairband) and the shotos' Hadoken-firing animation resembles the one from Street Fighter III (in that the backs of their gis billow out). Otherwise, the rest of the cast is mostly re-used sprites. Some special effects have also been re-used, such as Tessa's Astron Cannon effect and Ken's Level 3 Hadoken being lifted from the Marvel vs. Capcom series (the former is that series' interpretation of the Shinku Hadoken while the latter is actually Dhalsim's Yoga Fire).
- Not What It Looks Like: Ken tries telling this to Eliza when she sees him shopping with Morrigan in his ending. She doesn't believe it and punches him out.
- Personal Raincloud: While Ryu himself isn't miserable at all in this game, one appears over him during his Shinku—sorry, Boufuu Tatsumaki Senpukyaku Super.
- Playing with Fire: Naturally, Ken's Shoryuken (provided you level it up first) but now his Hadoken (actually Dhalsim's Yoga Fire as seen in the Marvel vs. Capcom games, essentially turning it into Shakunetsu Hadouken, a move not actually used by Ken in the Street Fighter series until V) and Tatsumaki Senpukyaku gain this property when leveled up.
- Power-Up: The titular gems, as well as throwable spheres, much like in Red Earth.
- Secret Character: Stretching the term a bit, but Akuma and Dan are normally hidden, but are very easily selectable just by placing your cursor on the top-left (for Akuma) or top-right (for Dan) of the roster.
- Self-Parody: A Super-Deformed Street Fighter title that goes for both Lighter and Softer and Denser and Wackier, with cameos by the bucketload and various character quirks Played for Laughs.
- Shock and Awe:
- Ryu's Shoryuken and Tatsumaki Senpukyaku start getting these properties once you level them up.
- Felicia's EX Charge is repurposed in this game, functioning like Blanka's Electric Thunder as opposed to simply building up meter.
- Shout-Out: By the hundreds.
- While clearly owing a lot of its mechanics to Street Fighter (hence the title), several aspects are instead inspired by Red Earth. This includes the "No Mercy!" call at the start of a fight and use of precious stones for both Power-Ups and additional attacks (the former accompanied by a "Level Up!" announcement).
- Dan's father appears in most of his son's moves... in the form of a red-skinned man in a green gi with a very long nose, parodying Takuma Sakazaki and his alternate "Mr. Karate" identity consisting of a tengu mask.
- Some of the things Hsien-Ko can play with in her taunt include Vega's claw and Chun-Li's bracelet (referencing that old rumor from the days of Street Fighter II where Chun-Li could throw her bracelets as a special move).
- While he doesn't fully change clothes in his Flash Combos, Ryu dons Dudley's boxing gloves in one of them and performs one of his throws (his neutral throw), punching the opponent repeatedly in the stomach.
- Ibuki's aerial kunai throw move and Kasumi Suzaku Super has her don Rolento's outfit since her kunai throw is similar to Rolento's Stinger special from the Alpha series. This became pretty funny years later when Ibuki and Rolento were paired up in Street Fighter X Tekken.
- One of Ibuki's Supers has her cut the enemy into pieces and quote (in Japanese) Goemon's "Once again, I have cut a worthless object" from Lupin III, complete with a similar pose.
- One of Akuma's winquotes tells the opponent to stick to playing "puzzle games", referencing Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo, the spiritual predecessor. Dan also offers to teach his beaten opponents about playing "puzzle games."
- The game's intro has Felicia standing on a mountain and meowing at the full moon, a parody of Jon Talbain doing mostly the same thing in the intro to Night Warriors: Darkstalkers' Revenge.
- Single-Stroke Battle: One of Ibuki's Supers is this, making the opponent collapse into little tiny square-shaped bits.
- Squashed Flat: Some attacks can squash the opponent, briefly stunning them.
- Super-Deformed: The game takes the same adorable chibi style as Puzzle Fighter. Some characters' win quotes even lampshade and poke fun at their own stubby limbs and oversized heads.
- Taken for Granite:
- One power-up orb can turn the victim to stone if it connects. Zangief usually starts out with one.
- This is also the effect of Akuma and Dan's special grabs.
- Victory Pose: Of course. Most notably, when Morrigan beats Dan, Sakura or Chun-Li, pressing a hidden button combo has her cosplay as them and do one of their poses.
- Wave-Motion Gun: One of Tessa's Supers, Astron Cannon, has her summon her giant robot to shoot a huge laser beam. Dan's Oyaji Blast super is a smaller variant, shot out of his dead father's ghost's nose.
- Will Not Tell a Lie: Hsien-Ko says the dead don't tell lies when she's beaten by Akuma in his ending and thus shows him to a good training spot.
