Now a review of the internet classic
Graphics:
Waku Waku 7's colorful graphics are fun to look at and seeing them in motion is just wonderful. Characters animate just as good as the ones from Galaxy fight, but with a larger repitoir of moves. The backgrounds are wonderfully animated and detailed as well! Unfortunately, the Saturn conversion looks like shit compared to the arcade one if you don't have a 1 meg RAM cart. It won't detect a 4 meg either! Very very unfortunatey. The characters in the Saturn version animate almost as well, with some slowdown, but the backgrounds look like they came off an Atari 2600 with a larger color pallet! This combined with the slowdown make the game play in a way that can only be described as "dusty". If you get this on Saturn, GET THE 1 MEG RAM CART! It doesn't make any sence either, Waku Waku should take less power since it doesn't have those goofy special effects that Galaxy Fight had and didn't require a RAM cart for. Weird. The load times without a RAM cart are also painful! VERY painful! But the arcade one is fine! Overall Graphics Score: 9/10
Gameplay:
Waku Waku 7's shining point. Easy, fast, relativly deep, and FUN gameplay! Everyone's moves are just fireball motions, a skill everyone should have by now. Comboing is easy and the Darkstalker's Series EX (or ES) moves make doing supers easy too! Devistating HARA HARA attacks only require the player to press Down Down and 2 punches or kicks, and the pursuit, stand-up attack, and wall bouncing system add strategic craziness and a way to counter EVERYTHING. A more balanced character roster is also present. The closest thing to "CHEAP" is Marurun and Rai! The gameplay is fast, fun and splendid and only slightly hampered by the RAM cart-less ness of the Saturn version without the RAM cart. Overall Gameplay Score: 10/10
Sound:
Sunsoft does it again! THE MUSIC IS GREAT! Even better than Galaxy Fight. In fact, this is probably their best work. Once again spanning genres, but this time keeping a primarily happy feel. While not as many songs have lyrics, Arina's WONDERFUL J-Pop song has more lyrics than any song from Galaxy Fight. The Saturn version actually improves here! The music is even better sounding and Arina's song gets an extra verse! BOOYAH! It's worth buying the Saturn version for $50 used just to use it as a soundtrack (that's what I do!). The voices are also crisp as ever and the more cartoony sound effects really fit the HAPPY HAPPY theme here! Overall Sound Score: 10/10
Final Score: 10/10 (so I'm a bit biased! This IS my favorite fighting game)