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1With so many references to games and machines from the Arcade Renaissance era, ''Manga/HighScoreGirl'' might as well be called "The History of 90s Arcade Gaming: The Series".
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3* Early on in the middle of Volume 1, Doi tries impressing Oono with his knowledge of flower symbolism at a botanical garden. At one point he points out a [[Manga/MisuMisou Liverleaf, which he says stands for "a shy person".]]
4* A [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heiankyo_Alien Heiankyo Alien]] cocktail cabinet is seen inside the Cracked Skull arcade, along with the original "rubber buttons" version of the first ''Street Fighter'' game and machines of ''Elevator Action'' and ''Pooyan''.
5* [[Franchise/MortalKombat Raiden]] is seen calling down lightning bolts outside the Yaguchi household during a thunderstorm. Haruo and Akira also discuss the {{mondegreen}} relating to his flying attack.
6* When Haruo rushes after Akira [[spoiler: towards the airport]], [[VideoGame/BubbleBobble Bub and Bob]], VideoGame/HammerinHarry, [[Franchise/StreetFighter Ryu, Blanka]], [[VideoGame/RType the R9 fighter]], [[VideoGame/FantasyZone Opa-Opa]], [[VideoGame/GhostsNGoblins King Arthur]], VideoGame/WonderBoy, [[VideoGame/KingOfTheMonsters Rocky, Geon]], [[VideoGame/GenpeiToumaDen Anda-Obaasan]], the biker from VideoGame/OutRun and [[VideoGame/{{Darius}} King Fossil]] all show up to cheer him on, among various other characters.
7* Akira accidentally knocks Haruo into the trash compactor at the end of Mission 1 in VideoGame/UndercoverCops, killing his character instantly. [[spoiler: Haruo then notices that [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness something was wrong]] when Akira acted all meek about it.]]
8* Haruo's examinee number during the Jouran High entrance test is ''VideoGame/NineteenFortyTwo'', leading him to lampshade the fact that [[OneHitKill if he fails even once here, it's over]]. [[spoiler: Unfortunately, he does fail.]]
9* During the RescueRomance mini arc, [[VideoGame/FinalFight Edi]] is shown spitting out his infamous chewing gum, after which [[{{Squick}} Guy picks it up and eats it]] in front of a disgusted Guile.
10* When Haruo looks out of a hotel window, the streets below look like a scene straight out of Capcom's old top-down BeatEmUp [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avengers_(video_game) Hissatsu Buraiken]].
11* During Akira's ride home after her first day at a video arcade, [[VideoGame/{{Gradius}} the Vic Viper]] is shown flying alongside her limousine, while [[VideoGame/{{Strider}} Strider Hiryu]], [[VideoGame/RType the R9]], Zangief, Mike Haggar, VideoGame/KunioKun and the kunoichi from ''VideoGame/TheNinjaWarriors'' join her in the backseat.
12* One of the volume covers shows Hidaka and Akira cosplaying as [[VideoGame/{{Darkstalkers}} Baby Bonnie Hood and Hsien-Ko]], respectively.
13* Akira wins a copy of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' at a summer festival shooting gallery. She then tries to win a Platform/NeoGeo console at the same game, but fails due to the box [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome being too heavy to knock over with a cork gun]].
14* When showing Akira the ''[[http://segaretro.org/Sega_UFO_Catcher UFO Catcher]]'' prize game, Haruo remarks how its music was composed by the J-Pop band ''[[Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog Dreams Come True]]''.
15* When Guile is explaining to Haruo how men must sometimes suffer pain while fighting for their loved ones, a panel shows [[VideoGame/DoubleDragon Billy Lee]] getting beat up by Black Warrior thugs.
16* In the last match against [[spoiler: Hidaka]], [[VideoGame/MegaMan2 Air Man]] is shown trying to blow Haruo away with tornadoes during Guile's InternalMonologue on Haruo's CharacterDevelopment.
17* Haruo admits to being bad at [[Main/ShootEmUp shmups]] after failing to do a no-bomb run in ''VideoGame/DonPachi''.
18* Haruo later praises ''[[VideoGame/{{Darius}} Darius Gaiden]]'' as a game even non-shmuppers would want to play for its craftsmanship.
19* [[spoiler: Akira's elder sister Makoto]] gifts Haruo with a copy of ''VisualNovel/TokimekiMemorial'' in an effort to [[IKnowMortalKombat teach him about how guy-girl relationships work]].
20* Haruo's skill gets noticed by the Shibuya arcadegoers after he defeats ''[[VideoGame/GlobalChampion Kaiser Knuckle]]'s'' [[NintendoHard notoriously]] [[SNKBoss tough]] FinalBoss.
21* [[spoiler: Hidaka]] manages to get revenge on an unprepared Haruo by trouncing him in ''VideoGame/FightingVipers''.
22* At one point, [[spoiler: Zangief]] utters a very familiar line while trying to convince Akira of Haruo's goodness:
23-->''"Since I know very well what it feels like...[[WesternAnimation/WreckItRalph to be labeled the bad guy...]]"''
24* Haruo's self-appointed nickname is "Beastly Fingers", a play on [[UsefulNotes/FGCAces Daigo Umehara's]] "The Beast" moniker. This is made more obvious by his character choices of Guile and Bishamon, both of whom are Daigo's mains.
25* Guidance Counselor Numata-san, a minor side character from the second and third volumes, resembles [[VideoGame/VirtuaFighter Lau Chan]] and even shares his fighting style.
26* The [[http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/i-must-use-haoh-sho-ko-ken "I must use Haoh Sho Ko Ken"]] meme from ''VideoGame/ArtOfFighting'' is referenced a few times in the story for comedic purposes. [[spoiler: This comes back in a triumphant way when Haruo bodies Hidaka's Boss Team during their [=KOF '95=] match using none other than ''Ryo Sakazaki himself'', and guess which move he opens with against Hidaka's Saishuu right after wrecking Rugal?]]
27* Haruo demonstrates the Super Famicom port of UsefulNotes/RPGMaker [[spoiler: to Makoto, when she asks if a game specially made for Akira could possibly exist.]]
28* We see a group of guys in the third OVA talking about [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion "episode 8" and how Asuka is best girl]].
29* In episode 4 of the second season, [[spoiler:Makoto]] and Haruo's mother alternate between punch him and turning away and punching the air in the same manner as Haggar and Guy's famous infinite combo glitch in ''VideoGame/FinalFight''. Their exact choice of characters even mirrors [[spoiler:Akira and Haruo's choice of characters in Final Fight.]]

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