KAMEN RIDER: memory of heroez is a 3D Beat 'em Up action game released for the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 in 2020, and is based off the Japanese superhero franchise of the same name, but specifically focusing on three seasons in particular: Kamen Rider Double, Kamen Rider OOO, and Kamen Rider Zero-One.
The story takes place in Sector City, an island brimming with an unknown energy. It was once a well-known tourist area with many visitors every year, until a mysterious accident happened that cut it off from the outside world. The Narumi Detective Agency in Futo City receives a mysterious email asking them to journey to the island and find a "Professor Aida", who has gone missing.
In Shotaro Hidari's quest to solve this case, he'll run across both Kamen Rider OOO and Kamen Rider Zero-One, who join forces to fight the mysterious evil blighting the island and uncover the truth behind the accident and the identity of Professor Aida...
Gameplay-wise, players can take control of each of the three main Kamen Riders, along with utilizing the bevy of different forms each one has, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. Other than that, the player must make use of the combo-based battle system while keeping an eye on their RP (Rider Points), which is essentially a stamina bar that depletes with the use of strong attacks, form changes and dodges. The player can also perform powerful EX attacks when the appropriate meter is filled, which take the form of a Rider's Finishing Move, most commonly the franchise's famous Rider Kick.
See also Kamen Rider Battride War, another Kamen Rider-based 3D Beat 'em Up.
A word of warning: while this game has its own story, it still heavily references the events of both Kamen Rider Double and Kamen Rider OOO. As such, please be mindful of potential unmarked spoilers for both series.
This game contains examples of:
- Absurdly Low Level Cap: No Rider can level up any higher than level 10. Use a Rider consistently enough, and you will hit the cap with them.
- Advertised Extra: Zero-One is this pretty hardcore. He has the least amount of story relevance in the entire plot and you could reasonably have him be removed and not need to change too much.
- A Taste of Power: At the very beginning of the game, the player is put in control of Kamen Rider Double, and is allowed to use every single possible combo of Gaia Memories. But then Shotaro runs into Zeus and loses them all in an implied Curb-Stomp Battle, and he spends the rest of the game recovering them one by one.
- Awesome, but Impractical: Flight. It's undeniably cool to be able to float in the air and cover great distances, but it serves basically no combat purpose, given that enemies can't reach you when you're flying and vice-versa (ranged attacks aside). And OOO Gatakiriba Combo and Zero-One Rising Hopper can accomplish the same ends with their super jumps, which don't consume any RP at all, while flying drains it constantly.
- Back from the Dead: Every single Greeed from Kamen Rider OOO and every single member of the Sonozaki family from Kamen Rider Double have somehow returned despite dying in their respective series. This includes Ankh, though throughout the game, they all die again one by one.
- It's implied they're more dopplegangers than true resurrections (though some of them view themselves as being revived) as at least some of the characters "revived" are ones that didn't actually die in the first place, most notably the Smilodon Dopant aka Mick the cat who Phillip mentions is still back at the Agency with him at the same time Double is fighting it.
- Big Damn Heroes: Both Accel and Birth jump in to help their respective primary Riders during crucial moments, becoming playable right after.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Subverted. Philip has nothing but suspicion for Ai at first, who seems to be leading them astray and is constantly missing vital information, on top of bearing Foundation X branding. But no, she's as nice as she appears, and Philip apologises when he looks into Ai and finds nothing amiss. Double subverted when it turns out that Ai is actually housing Professor Aida's consciousness, and was waiting for the right moment to steal Zeus' Core Energy for herself to become immortal.
- Possibly triple subverted in that it's implied based on the characters’ comments and attitudes in the ending, that Ai was at least partially a real AI that Aida was secretly influencing from within and not just Aida tricking them the whole time, suggesting that most of her nice attitude and helpfulness was genuine as far as Ai was aware.
- Chekhov's Gun: The Eternal Memory. Turns out Kamen Rider Eternal numbered among the revived villains, and when beaten, he dies again while leaving his Gaia Memory behind, which Double takes. Sure enough, when facing Zeus, who enjoys immortality as a result of the Zeus Gaia Memory's abilities, the Riders are able to use the Eternal Gaia Memory to take this away and render Zeus vulnerable.
- Continuity Nod: Double and OOO already know and are familiar with each other when they meet up, referring to either Eiji's early cameo in W Forever A to Z or one of the main group Kamen Rider team ups that took place between 2010 and 2020 such as Kamen Rider Taisen. On the opposite side, neither of them had ever heard of Zero One before as he had yet to take place in any of the team ups until after the game had been released.
- Crucified Hero Shot: Referencing his Anti-Villain status in his home series, the Nasca Dopant gets smashed into a window in a crucified pose after his boss battle, with the glass cracking around him to form a Background Halo. He remains in this pose long enough to have a heartfelt conversation with Shotaro before the window completely shatters, sending him plummeting to his death until it's revealed later that he survived.
- Disney Villain Death: The Nasca Dopant ends up being sent flying out a window after his boss battle. Subverted. He survived, and lends aid to Double once before the final battle, where he sacrifices himself along with Ankh to cut off Zeus' Core Energy.
- 11th-Hour Ranger: Kamen Rider Birth Prototype, who only appears in the final stage to back the others up after having been caught up in other work.
- Face Framed in Shadow: Shotaro, in the brief few moments we see him untransformed.
- The Faceless: Strangely, the Riders' faces are never once shown. Shotaro's eyes are constantly in shadow, Philip only ever speaks as part of Double, Eiji is seen either from behind or from the chest down in the brief few moments he spends untransformed, and Aruto is always transformed the whole time he's on screen.
- Feather Flechettes: As in the show, OOO Tajadol Combo revolves mostly around flinging feather projectiles.
- The Ghost: Is. While Zero-One calls her to liberate a sector due to Ai being unavailable, she is never seen or even heard. She's also implied to be the person that Aruto was speaking with during the scene at the beginning of the game.
- Heroic Sacrifice: In the final battle, Zeus has become completely invincible due to his drawing on stored Core Energy. All seems lost until Ankh and a still-living Nasca Dopant interfere with the supply, making Zeus beatable at the cost of their returned lives. Not that they particularly cared for being revived anyway.
- Immortality Seeker: Professor Zeus' MO, but not for himself. Rather, he seeks eternal life for a select few. Namely, Professor Aida, who he ended up losing in an experiment gone wrong. And as it happens, Professor Aida is still alive and seeking the same thing, being perfectly willing to backstab Zeus for it.
- In a Single Bound: Kamen Rider OOO can accomplish this with the Gatakiriba Combo, and Zero-One can accomplish this with his base Rising Hopper form. It covers a huge distance and doesn't consume any RP, perfect for getting out of a sticky situation.
- Jerkass: Ankh, natch. Almost all of his dialogue is him sniping at the other Riders and expressing a lack of care for their mission. But it doesn't stop him from sacrificing himself again to knock out Zeus' supply of Core Energy.
- "Just Frame" Bonus: If a Rider dodges certain attacks right as they're about to hit them, then a prompt to hit a button is briefly displayed. Hitting this button performs a counterattack that not only replenishes the player's RP, but it instantly kills weaker Mooks and utterly destroys any shield's an enemy may have, along with granting increased shield damage for a brief time.
- Late Character Syndrome:
- If it's possible for a form to be this, then Kamen Rider OOO Mukachiri Combo qualifies. It's very powerful, has great range and mobility and comes with the unique ability to poison opponents. However, by that point, the player will likely have sunk Enemy Codes into upgrading every other form, and even if they have the Codes handy to upgrade the Combo if they so choose, by that point in the game, there's really very little to use it on before the Final Boss.
- For the same reasons as above, Kamen Rider Birth Prototype falls into the same trap. Despite his usefulness and ability to pull enemies towards himself and vice-versa, he joins the party so late that you'll barely have a chance to actually use him before the Final Boss, which he isn't even selectable for anyway. And that's not getting into him not even being max level at that point, which at least one other Rider in the player's party very likely will be by that point.
- Mooks: The Masquerade Dopants and Waste Yummies from Double and OOO respectively are once again utilized by scientists connected to Foundation X. Also appearing among their forces are the Foundation’s model of Guardian robots from Kamen Rider Build that were used by Kaisei Mogami in Kamen Rider Heisei Generations FINAL: Build & Ex-Aid with Legend Riders.
- New Game Plus: Completing the game once will not only unlock Extreme difficulty, but will also unlock a New Game+ mode. This not only carries over all collectibles and experience into a fresh game, but also unlocks Kamen Rider Double FangJoker and Kamen Rider OOO Burakawani Combo for the player to use.
- One-Winged Angel: Zeus, after having lured the Kamen Riders to the top of the Central Tower, is able to draw upon stored reserves of Core Energy to assume a gigantic form in his last stand. The Riders don't have a hope in Hell of harming him until the supply is disrupted.
- Out of Focus: Zero-One is basically this as he has no real story relevance whatsoever, as nothing from the show's story is part of Zeus's plot. Aruto is the only character from his series that appears. None of his enemies or rivals show up and unlike Accel and Birth, Vulcan and Valkyrie don't appear to back him up either. Is might be working with him as support but unlike Akiko we never hear her side of the conversation.
- Punny Name: Your Exposition Fairy is a robotic tour AI known as Ai. The pun isn't lost on resident comedian Zero-One.
- Super Mode: Fittingly for Kamen Rider, if a Rider fills up their EX Gauge after a certain point in the game, they can access their respective Super Mode, which renders them invincible and incredibly powerful for a limited time. They can also use an EX Attack which consumes any remaining amount of the EX Gauge, which can really do some damage. Double gets CycloneJokerXtreme, OOO gets the Putotyra Combo, Zero-One gets Kamen Rider Zero-Two, Accel gets Accel Trial and Birth gets Birth Day. The only ones that don't get Final Forms are Kamen Rider Joker and Kamen Rider Birth Prototype, who can't change forms anyway.
- This Looks Like a Job for Aquaman: Rather fittingly, Kamen Rider OOO Shauta Combo's unique ability of being able to dive underwater sees a grand total of two uses in the entire game. Mercifully, though, its long-ranged attacks and grappling abilities mean that it has use beyond just that.
- The Voice: In this game, Akiko does make a voiced appearance over Double's Stag Phone, but nothing more. Her portrait for when she is speaking isn't even her face, but rather the Stag Phone itself.
- Xtreme Kool Letterz: The game's title, memory of heroez, with the Z derived from Zero-One.
- You Shall Not Pass!: Just before the final boss, the Riders all find themselves ambushed by a group of Mooks, who the secondary Riders all volunteer to stay behind and fight, allowing Double, OOO and Zero-One to press on ahead and face Zeus.
