A look at Ken-Ju, an unreleased fighting game from 2005

Today we are going to talk about a game that was announced for the arcade, and home consoles. It was previewed in the magazines, tested in arcades, and then vanished into thin air. Ken-Ju was a 3D fighting game scheduled for release in 2005. This was during an era where fighters were few, and far between. Namco should be given credit for their efforts. Tekken 4 came out in 2001, Tekken 5 in 2004, and Tekken 6 in 2007. As far as Capcom was concerned the genre wasn’t worth it. Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike, the last sprite-based fighter from the studio came out in 1999. Street Fighter IV wouldn’t debut until 2008. If it weren’t for Yoshinori Ono being passionate about rebooting the franchise many fans would be out of luck today. This is the only thing I’ll give him credit for. His enthusiasm for the series was genuine, but his sense of direction was too silly.

Ken-Ju was going to be published by Sammy. The company was no stranger to the genre. There were former Capcom employees that worked there. The studio released Survival Arts, The Rumble Fish, Guilty Gear X, and Battle Blaze to name a few. The developer of Ken-Ju was Dream Factory. While you may not be familiar with the studio, you should know that they contributed a lot to the fighting, and brawler genre. The studio developed Tobal No. 1, and Ehrgeiz: God Bless the Ring. Those were two highly-influential 3D fighting games for the console, and arcade. Most notably they proposed the idea that fighting game mechanics could cross over well with dungeon crawlers. While working alongside Square they also released The Bouncer on the Playstation 2. It was the first brawler for the console, and it gave exposure to the designs from the artist Tetsuya Nomura. The main character in the Bouncer, a kid named Sion, influenced the creation of Sora in the game Kingdom Hearts. The rest as the say is history…

The hardware that Dream Factory was building on was the Atomiswave. This was developed by Sega, and it was designed to help port arcade titles to the Sega Dreamcast. There were a number of new features that would have been featured for the genre. Ken-Ju would support net-play. Audiences would be able to find competition regardless of what arcade they visited. Not only that they would be able to keep track of their character, and progress in online leaderboards. Gamers could unlock clothing, costumes, and accessories to customize their fighters. The studio was ahead of the curve, as similar things would be featured in the Tekken series as well.

People had recorded matches while the game was testing in a few arcades. This hand-cam footage had been uploaded to game forums, and YouTube. It was the only way to see it in action for over 15 years. All of that changed in early 2021 when a kind sole dumped the file online, and people quickly got it working on Dreamcast emulators. For the longest time it was assumed that if a build managed to get ripped it would prove the game was incomplete. That the animations, stages, and control would be unfinished. Those that had been playing through the game, and its various characters could all attest that the game felt complete. Every character had a single player story. The balance seemed to be there with multiplayer matches.

So then the question became why did the game never get published formally? I don’t have an answer to that, as the developer, and publisher haven’t given a formal explanation. Perhaps it was determined that publishing an arcade game in the early ‘00s was bad for business. The arcades had just about all dried up in the US. To make matters worse the Dreamcast was losing the console war, so publishing it might not make any return on the investment. So the studio just scrapped the project. Which was a sad thing for fans of the genre. Dream Factory had been pushing their own version of fighting game mechanics. They had three things they wanted to highlight. Fist awakening, was what they called a Super attack. It could be used when “the Breacher Gauge” reaches maximum. They also had Impact Defense, which was a parry system that worked on directional attacks as well, so long as the player moved the joystick at the critical moment. Lastly they had a Boost Special Move. Street Fighter fans would know this as an EX move, a stronger version of a special attack.

There were short character profiles in the game, but most players didn’t really have their backstory. I actually had the issue of Arcadia magazine where the game was profiled. I scanned in a few of the pages, and did some rough translations for those interested in the cast. The two oddest characters that I could identify were Rina and Mina (Malicious Twin Agents) they were 12-years-old. I believe they are the youngest, and lightest fighting game characters ever featured in the genre. I think the only other character that comes close is Momo Karuizawa from Project Justice. You fighting game historians out there can remind me of who was younger. Anyhow, according to Rina, and Mina’s bio they were “Innocent twins who always act together. Formerly circus performers that enjoy fighting with acrobatic techniques.” The two girls don’t fight at the same time, although it would be fair given the size of their opponents. Players could press four attack buttons to tag in the other sister. It was an interesting mechanic for sure, especially since each sister played slightly different.

The star of the game the “Ryu” essentially was Eiji Kammori (Free-spirited Brawler). His bio says “High school student that fights with the Kammori style “Sky Hand.” Then there was the standard sexy lady Shihua Fumika (Oblivion fugitive). “She is an amnesiac that rejects others, she feels she is being chased by someone.” What made her unique was that she was the only one in the cast that could attack while moving forward. I can’t think of another fighting game where a character could attack, and advance at the same time. Then there was a character that could only be described as Indiana Jones from the Guilty Gear universe. Hector Slayman (Know the Truth Explorer). He’s “An archeologist, and explorer. He fights with a mix of jujitsu, and Muay Thai.” He also has an adorable money on his shoulder. You can’t have a decidedly Japanese fighting game without the next character. Mikoshiba Nanaba (Kunoichi Schoolgirl). She’s “A high school girl trained in ninjitsu following the death of her parents.” Then of course a game with a “Ryu” needs a “Ken” as well. Enter Roger Barnes (Elite warrior advocating justice). He was “Born in a well-known family, and master of various martial arts that he learned at an early age.” Like I said, every Ryu needs a Ken.

The Black guy in the game was a boxer (surprise!) Gale Williams (Greedy Puncher) the “Former world-ranked boxer who was banished from the ring by a max-fixing match.” Then there was a classic kung-fu villain. Liu Tailong (Mysterious god of war). “He is willing to sacrifice everything for the purpose of attaining power. He invented Formula 88 Bajiquan which is based on multiple Chinese martial arts.” No good fighting game is complete without a vain pretty-boy. De-rake (Those who rule beauty). He is “A narcissist who loves himself, and beautiful things. He selects techniques that make him look beautiful.” No fighting game would be complete without an oddball. This was without a doubt a new take on Blanka. Hanuman (Revived wild). He was literally “A monkey whose abilities have been enhanced by experiments. He fights with techniques created by his rampaging animal instincts, and not martial arts.” Then you have to have your big wrestler. This one is a bit T. Hawk-meets-Zangief-meets-Necalli. The Mexican was named Guarde (Jewel keeper). He is a “A guardian who protects a temple in a certain country. He currently makes a living as a professional wrestler.” Last but not least is the handsome I Jongha (Koreas leading superstar). He is “A popular actor, and professional soccer player. He fights to protect Seafore using his foot technique which is a mix of taekwondo, and soccer skills.”

For the most part I really enjoyed the character designs, and their style which falls between Bengus’ work on Street Fighter Zero / Alpha, and Daisuke Ishiwatari’s work on Guilty Gear. Moreover the characters actually have an entirely different outfit for Player 2. Normally fighting games have a pallet swap, a slightly different color of the main costume. Ken-Ju had radically different looks for their cast. The wild Hanuman went from appearing like an escaped beast to a god in disguise. Others like I Jongha actually showed up in their soccer kit. Gale Williams was the first striker that I saw wearing a rashguard top with pants, his alternate look predated the makeover that Ken received in Street Fighter V more than a decade later. Imagine that, a game studio simply putting in entire outfits that were unlocked from the get-go, plus the ability to earn other costume upgrades!

Visually the game had an anime, almost cel-shaded look. It worked well for the cartoon style that Dream Factory was going for. The studio was good at recreating the aesthetic of the lead artists. This was especially true for the Akira Toriyama (Dr. Slump, Dragon Ball) designs in Total No. 1. This adherence to character stylization would be a graphic format used by DIMPS, and Arc System Works on their franchises as well. All games need a boss character, and this one was as unique as the cast. His name was Zine. He sported long blonde hair, and a red suit. His torso was wrapped as bandages. The character floated around the stage like a vampire. If I could compare him to another villain I’d say he was similar to Avel AKA Code Death from the unreleased Capcom Fighting All Stars, and the despot Vold Ignicio from Fighting Layer. The game also featured a secret time-release character. The title lacked a traditional karate fighter until Sekishusai popped up after the game had been running for a few weeks. The 75-years-old “Kagamiryu Karate Master” was as memorable as the rest of the cast.

Maybe the game wouldn’t have been a commercial success, but then again, maybe it could have sold enough copies to warrant a series. Sadly we may never know how. The good thing is that we have emulation letting the most die-hard fighting game fans enjoy the experience. Would you like to see a studio bring this game to modern consoles? Do you think it would be an interesting addition to the Xbox, or Playstation libraries? Do you think game studios should make more experimental fighting games, rather than sequels to established franchises? I’d like to hear your take in the comments section. Thank you for reading this entry. If you would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

The Abridged History of the Brawler, part 19

IGS, the indy studio that could, released The Gladiator aka The Road of Sword in 2003. This was the last sprite based brawler in the arcade that was worth a damn The quality of the title was head and shoulders above the half-hearted efforts from other small publishers over the past few years. The character designs, levels and animations were on par with the best from Capcom and Konami during their peak. When new filters, more colors, animations and effects were rendered thanks to the more powerful graphics engine, then Gladiator actually appeared to be even better than brawlers from the big publishers.

Like previous IGS titles it was set in an Eastern mythology world. The archetypes were pulled from classical legends but stylistically updated for modern audiences. The game was very much in the vein of the Capcom Dungeons and Dragons titles. It allowed players to choose which of three paths they would take to reach an evil warlord, but unlike the D&D games there were no shops to purchase upgrades to the characters. The game had a level-up system which affected the speed, strength and special moves of the characters, the more battle points a character earned the more techniques they could perform in game. The title even provided a complex brawling engine. A player could select automatic combos so that all they had to do was press the same attack button over and over to do multiple hits, or advanced players could manually enter the commands and perform a multitude of attacks and special moves that would be the envy of many fighting games. Players that worked well together soon learned that they could activate a special attack simultaneously to get special animations and even more powerful attacks to bring down bosses.

The game was beautiful. The character designs and architecture were not strictly based on one Asian region but reflected a myriad of cultures including Chinese, Mongolian and Korean. IGS was clever with this approach as they could localize the game relatively quickly in most Asian countries. I would rank this game up there with Guardian Heroes and then go a step further without sounding sacrilegious and say that it was more important to the industry because it was so rare. An independent studio working on a brawler with archetypes they were familiar with, in a style that was decidedly Asian but not anime’ plus not based on a license, could defy the expectations of gamers. It could inspire an entirely new wave of great design. The Gladiator never saw a console release, nor any English localization to the best of my knowledge. If not for the imported Chinese arcade games in Downtown LA arcades I would have never seen this title, or a couple other IGS gems. For those reasons the Gladiator deserved to get just a little more exposure and the hopes that word would spread and the title might yet find a home on Xbox Live.

By comparison the big publishers were still pushing for the brawler to be in 3D. Sega released Spikeout Battle Street in 2004 for the original Xbox. The title was actually developed by DIMPS. This was the sequel to the rare arcade brawler and actually set years after the earlier SpikeOut titles. The game revolved around a new gang, made up of the next generation of brawlers, including Spike Jr. It was a good way to honor the legacy of the publisher. Spike Jr. was previously seen in SpikeOut Final Edition. He followed his father around and imitated his moves. As he grew up he gained a style all his own. Players could actually unlock the original team in the game and have father and son fight side-by-side like the good old days. The game was unique because it provided access to the Sega battle network so players could enjoy competing online.

Battle Street was a fun title that rekindled the magic of the original SpikeOut but at the same time could prove to be difficult if you didn’t know the nuances of 3D brawling. Players that tried this game and didn’t have some experience playing games like Virtua Fighter, Fighting Vipers or the earlier SpikeOut would be at a loss The genre was difficult to get into and master once it had moved to 3D Yes Double Dragon and the other classics could be difficult but gamers could pick up techniques and strategies quickly. Once the format had moved to 3D the experience became exponentially more difficult but not exponentially more rewarding. Opponents were harder to defeat and they came in wave after wave, striking at blind spots and eating up the health and patience of gamers. Players were eager to find more rewarding brawling experiences. They looked at the young publisher to try and deliver that.

Demolish Fist was developed by Sammy and DIMPS in 2003. Sammy had developed the Atomiswave arcade hardware which featured interchangeable carts, similar to SNK's Neo Geo and IGS's PGM. The hardware was so well done that SNK used it to power the King of Fighters XI, Samurai Showdow VI and Metal Slug 6 games. Their main developer, DIMPS, was made up of former Capcom and reportedly SNK employees. Their flagship fighting game Guilty Gear had caught the attention of the community. Guilty Gear used HD sprites and brilliant 3D backgrounds. With Demolish Fist they were trying to rewrite the 3D brawler. The game featured a quartet of typical Japanese street designs, cool-looking androgynous guys similar to the Bouncer from Squaresoft. The engine was 3D but the camera was a traditional fixed side-scrolling perspective. Just because the camera was fixed it did not mean the characters could only face left or right, players were free to fight in a full 360 degrees.

The designs of the heroes and villains looked very typical and bland. Some thugs with helmets were pulled right from the Hokuto No Ken / Fist of the North Star comics. The animations seemed stiff and sluggish and the fighting mechanics were insipid. Demolish Fist was the complete opposite of the Guilty Gear. The combat was poorly paced and characters could perform feats of superhuman strength, like lifting and throwing motorcycles and cars with ease. It made little sense that they could be harmed by a punch or kick from anything less than a gigantic robot. The one redeeming gameplay element that it did introduce was the "Vertigo" mode. Characters could power up a separate energy bar and then activate the Vertigo attack which sped up the player and moved them automatically between opponents. All a player had to do was press attack quickly while in this mode. The computer would automatically target the nearest opponents and throw punches and kicks between them in rapid succession. The Vertigo mode was not unlike the fighting mechanic given to the Flash in the Justice League Heroes. It looked impressive and made players wish that all 3D brawlers could be as simple to control.

Unfortunately there was little else in Demolish Fist to bring new fans to the genre. The title was still important for the the developers. The experience working with 2D and 3D technology, techniques and gameplay would be merged a year later. The fighting game, the Rumble Fish, released in 2004 used rotoscoped 3D models to build 2D sprites. It kept the pacing from Guilty Gear but updated the techniques used to build sprites based on the models they had created for Demolish Fist. These lessons of combining 2D and 3D elements would find their greatest success a few years later when DIMPS was tapped by Capcom to develop Street Fighter IV. Before Capcom had even conceived Street Fighter IV however they had tried to bring the brawler into 3D. Their first attempt was a well done but little known title.

Crimson Tears, another 2004 title was a sci-fi, cel-shaded, rpg brawler featuring three humanoids, err “mutanoids” named Katie, Amber and Tokio. Since the game was set in the future the grinding system was set inside of giant corporate towers and factories fighting soldiers and robots rather than against monsters inside an evil wizard’s lair.

The game allowed characters to build techniques and master weapons as well as collect items to help get them through levels. Players could trade items and upgrade their stats. Once players had achieved higher levels then the true heart of the combat system could be explored. Players could perform multi-branched combos that allowed them to juggle opponents, or stun them and set up an attack on rivals closing on from the sides or behind. Combos could be as diverse as a player allowed with button presses rather than controller commands. This combo system was easier to get into than even SpikeOut. Other studios would work on comparable fighting mechanics going forward. While Rocksteady studios would like to claim they invented the "freeflow combat system" for its Batman / Arkham games a variation of it was seen in both Demolish Fist and Crimson Tears five years earlier.

Unfortunately Crimson Tears was very repetitive and it took ages for characters to reach their full potential. It is possible that very few players actually took the time to max out their stats and explore the combat engine. That difficulty curve was a missed opportunity for Capcom and developers Spike, of Fire Pro Wrestling fame, to bring the brawler into 3D. The brawler was experiencing growing pains through the new millennium. Having been taken out of the arcade, put on consoles and made into 3D did nothing to improve the experience. The next blog will look at Capcom's attempts to reinvent the experience for a new generation of console players. As always if you enjoyed this blog and would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!