History VideoGame / Growl

* AnachronismStew: This game supposedly takes place in the early 20th century, but characters get to use M-16 assault rifles and the M202 FLASH incendiary rockets, both of which appeared in the later half of the century.

* EvilPoacher: RAPO, of course.

* {{Expy}}: While Burn's outfit could pass as a regular adventurer, it's pretty clear by the ripped sleeves that he's a NoCelebritiesWereHarmed version of Franchise/IndianaJones.

In the early 20th century, a ring of evil poachers is going around UsefulNotes/Africa slaughtering innocent animals, and it's up to our four heroes -- the rangers Gen, Burn, Khan, and Jack -- to beat them into submission. The game's most distinctive feature, besides the variety of weapons, is that when you free an animal from the poachers' grasp, it fights alongside you for a short while.

''Growl'', [[MarketBasedTitle known as]] ''Runark'' in Japan, is a side-scrolling BeatEmUp by Creator/{{Taito}} released in 1990.

In the early 20th century, a ring of evil poachers is going around Africa slaughtering innocent animals, and it's up to our four heroes -- the rangers Gen, Burn, Khan, and Jack -- to beat them into submission. The game's most distinctive feature, besides the variety of weapons, is that when you free an animal from the poachers' grasp, it fights alongside you for a short while.

A UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis port was released in 1991. It was relatively accurate to the arcade version, with the major changes being the lack of a multiplayer mode, scaled-down graphics, and the replacement of the lava stage with another brawling level. The arcade version is included in ''Taito Legends 2'' for the UsefulNotes/{{PlayStation 2}} and UsefulNotes/{{Xbox}}.

* AnachronismStew: This game supposedly takes place in the early 20th century, but characters get to use M-16 assault rifles and the M202 FLASH incendiary rockets both of which appeared in the later half of the century.

* BigDamnHeroes: Near the end of the game the party is suddenly attacked by poachers driving a tank. Just when they proclaim "I'm done for!" an elephant that they rescued just minutes ago rushes in and smashes into the tank, breaking it and forcing the poachers to exit and fight hand-to-hand.

* FakeDifficulty: The devs apparently assumed you'd always be playing with four people, and thus didn't bother to scale down the number of mooks if there's less players. Thus the game actively punishes any attempt at a single player game by leaving you massively outnumbered at nearly all times and prone to lots of cheap deaths.

* FunWithAcronyms: According to the manual for the Genesis port, the good guys are members of the '''P'''rotectors of '''A'''nimals' '''W'''orld '''S'''ociety. The bad guys on the other hand, are working for the '''R'''endow '''A'''nimal '''P'''rotection '''O'''rganization.

* VictoriasSecretCompartment: The Dolls have an unlimited supplies of grenades that they hide in their bosoms.

* WhipItGood: A whip is one of the weapons in the game.

* PantyShot: The panties of the female {{mook}}s can be seen when kicking or is slumped face down.

* GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere: After beating the leader of RAPO, [[spoiler:his corpse starts to slither around, and a giant alien millipede bursts out of his back, who is the ''true'' leader of the poachers. This even illustrates the trope page.]]

* CarFu: The first boss can pick up and toss a nearby truck to the player as a weapon. The final boss lifts a tank instead.

* EvilPoacher: Of course.

* GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere: [[spoiler:The final boss, which even illustrates the page.]]

* ThrowAwayGuns

* UnexpectedGenreChange: At the end of the game, [[spoiler:despite everything up until now being a realistic crimefighting beatum up, the final boss seems to be some sort of sci-fi alien-parasite thing.]]

* WhipItGood: One of the weapons in the game.
* WouldHitAGirl: Not only that, the heroes have no problem transforming the female [=mooks=] [[LudicrousGibs into red paint]].

* MissingEpisode: Sort-of. While stage numbers are never given during regular gameplay, they can be seen on the high score table, as the game takes account of the last stage you were at when you stopped playing. The stages go from Round 1 through 6 and then Round 8. There's no Round 7. It seems there was a deleted stage somewhere in between, but Taito forgot to update the numbering.

* NonIndicativeName: The game only has seven stages (excluding the bonus round at the end of the train stage), but the game's ranking display recognizes the final stage as "Round 8". Presumably there was a deleted stage that took place between the cavern and the enemy's hideout.