Kenka Bancho: Badass Rumble Review
There's just something fun and exhilarating about being a complete and utter badass. Perhaps it's as simple as the thrill of getting into fights and doing whatever you please wherever you want. Obviously in real-life this isn't possible for most people, but Atlus' newest video game, Kenka Bancho: Badass Rumble, takes this idea and puts it into a video game. Does it realize its full potential, or is it a wishful idea that was better left ignored?
The game begins with a senior class trip to the fictional city of Kyouto. Being the resident Bancho of your high school, things like visiting museums, historical buildings, and tourist hotspots simply aren't interesting. Instead, the role of the Bancho is to fight others simply to be the best. For this reason, the player must hunt down other wannabe-banchos in order to become the number one bancho in Japan. However, there are only have seven days to find and beat all the opposing banchos, so there isn't much time to waste.
Kenka Bancho is a 3D, third-person perspective, beat-em-up game that gives the genre a different spin: instead of using predetermined checkpoints, the player can choose how they want to play the game. It's divided into two parts: fighting and exploring. The main character has a wide repertoire of attacks to choose from. There are the basic punches, kicks, and throws, as is expected in the genre. Punches and kicks can be charged to deal greater damage, or one can use special attacks, which can be learned by defeating the local banchos, and new basic techniques can be learned by leveling up by defeating opponents in battle, similar to gaining experience points in a RPG.
Unlike most recent games, which act like they give free reign, but really end up guiding players through predetermined checkpoints, Kenka Bancho: Badass Rumble allows the player to choose how they want to play the game. Actions are classified as either shibui, meaning "really cool", or shabai, meaning "really un-cool", the opposite of shibui. Activities that get classified as shabai include attacking innocent pedestrians, destroying property, and using a weapon, and doing these things will cause other bancho to label the player a shabazo. Staring down an opponent before battling them, which is done using a technique called a "menchi beam", or refusing to backing down from a fight are activities which are deemed shibui. Both sides have their own advantages and disadvantages, such as getting special items and titles that are only available for a particular side. In addition to fighting other banchos, it's possible to buy new clothes, try out new hairstyles, and even choose one of the three local girls to be a girlfriend of sorts.
