Slap Happy Rhythm Busters

The year 2000. A pretty wild time for games, looking back. A year full of changes, with a new generation emerging, while the previous one was still going strong. The Playstation 2 had come out, while the original Playstation showed no signs of slowing down. Sega still believed in the Dreamcast. The Nintendo 64 would have an incredibly strong final year, before passing the torch to the Gamecube. The Game Boy had a new lease on life thanks to the runaway success of Pokemon, and the upcoming release of Gold and Silver would do real well for the Game Boy Color. Arcades hadn't died yet. The Wonderswan was doing alright, if you were an importer. The Neo Geo Pocket would grace us with its all too short lifespan. Hell, even the Saturn got one final official release that year (Final Fight Revenge)! Some of the absolute best games ever made, spread out across every console, handheld, and PC, all in one year.

With such a massive avalanche of quality, so, so many great games found themselves unfortunately lost in the shuffle. A lot of titles that didn't really get their due at the time, only being appreciated long after their release. I would like to talk about one of those games.

In this great year for games and little else, Polygon Magic released the one-on-one fighting game, Slap Happy Rhythm Busters. Polygon Magic might not be a name that you immediately recognize, but you've probably played/suffered through their work. They had previously released the comedy mini-game compilation Incredible Crisis, as well as...Galerians. I have many, many, many thoughts about Galerians, but that will have to wait for another, much more negative, time. They had also released two fighting games previously: Fighter's Impact, which was a creative, experimental fighter that was ultimately plagued by awkward inputs and incredibly cheap CPU. Then Polygon Magic would reskin Fighter's Impact for a western release under the name Vs. Vs also had a number of mechanical changes that took flawed yet unique Fighter's Impact and turned it into what might be the worst fucking fighting game I have ever played. A truly wreteched experience I had with Vs.

The first thing you probably noticed about Slap Happy Rhythm Busters is how cool it looks. The cel-shaded graphics look amazing, and fit real well with a cast of characters who all have unique, sometimes exaggerated porportions. Fighting in front of colorful cityscapes full of buildings covered in neon signage that curve and bend like a cartoon, or candy-colored corner stores that look like they would be the hangout of teenagers you would see in an issue of FRUiTS or Popeye magazine, all while listening to some hard hitting EDM. This is a game that does a great job of nailing that turn-of-the-millenium Shibuya style that other games like Space Channel 5, Mr. Driller, and the big one, Jet Set Radio were all great examples of, and unfortunately hasn't really been seen since outside of The World Ends With You. It's a shame, because it's a very cool look that blended the past and the hypothetical future that spreads a message of hope and equality. Then again, it's not 2000 anymore, and the world became a much different and stupider place since, so maybe that style can never come back. At least it can't come back the same way.

The other big thing about Slap Happy Rhythm Busters is that the game is really fucking good. The kind of good that I'm surprised doesn't have a side tournament at EVO. I was interested in playing the game solely due to how it looked, but seeing how technical it is made me stick around. SHRB liberally borrows from other fighters: its standard for combos comes from Darkstalkers' "Magic Series," or Guilty Gear's "Gatlings." One particular character, Euri, even replicates the air dashing made famous by Morrigan. There's wall bounces. There's juggles. There's dash cancels. There's short hops. There's fucking short hops! Short hops more or less only exist in SNK games! There are all these pre-existing mechanics that are used really well, and aren't haphazard like they probably would be in a different game.

But it's not all blatant lifting, as SHRB has two very unique things that separate it from other fighters. One, in lieu of a gauge for guard breaking or getting stunned, the meter under your health is for something new: once you fill up your opponents' meter, they'll begin to flash for a few seconds. During this flash, the next hit they receive will be completely unblockable, allowing for all sorts of fun combos. However, this is not a free hit, as they can still move and attack the whole time.

The other, much bigger mechanic added is that every character has a level 3 super that turns the game into a rhythm game. Just match button presses to the on-screen notes to do more damage, and if you do enough damage, you get a fun little cutscene at the end. The opponent can also mash buttons to add extra notes to throw you off your timing to try and mitigate damage, as well.

I love that this is a fighting game that has no problem wearing its influences on its sleeve, putting its own spin on all of them, and having a real heart and soul that makes the game timeless. A digital celebration of the fighting game genre, and also a celebration of youth culture. That perfect storm of style and substance that is doomed to obscurity due to a regional-only release at a time when seemingly every game company on Earth was firing on all cylinders. Luckily, the torch of "small, but inspired fighting games with a unique look" continues to be carried by games like Melty Blood and Ultra Fight Da! Kyanta 2.

Oh, and there's a pretty nasty infinite combo you can do with Frosty. They should probably ban that guy from tournament play.