Rakugakids for N64 is a sadly forgotten fighter

destructoid.com:

I mentioned in my look at Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness that its developer, Konami Computer Entertainment Kobe, got a bit of a bad rap from their work. However, even in those sometimes maligned Castlevania efforts, there’s a spark of life that was lost in future 3D entries in the series.

It made me curious about the developer’s other efforts, but it wasn’t my intention to move directly onto another one of their titles. However, when the credits rolled on Rakugakids, I realized I must have subconsciously picked up the cue since this Japan-only N64 title was developed by Konami Computer Entertainment Kobe.

Rakugakids has always fascinated me. The N64 was kind of a horrible console when it came to fighting games. There were some decent titles, but piled on top of that was a heap of the absolute worst. Rakugakids isn’t close to being competitive with the best fighters of the era, but its unforgettable visual style makes the experience worthwhile.

Rakugakids is your typical six-button arcade fighting setup. The bottom row of buttons are punches of varying speed and strength, while the top row is all kicks. There’s also the R-button, which triggers your “magical attack,” essentially just a super move. Special moves require your standard quarter-circle/half-circle flicks. It’s a pretty friendly setup. The characters don’t have very diverse special moves, so it’s rather friendly to beginners.

The one maddening part of the controls is that if you’re holding forward and hit the kick button, it becomes a throw. If you just want to kick, you have to remember not to hold forward while doing it. It’s not a big problem, but it makes the punches a bit easier to use for setting up combos, since you’re not running the risk of suddenly