Asura Buster (Arcade)

It's almost the end of year 2019. Before i make review of this year, i take a quick course on Fuuki's Asura Buster - Eternal Warrior (2000). 

For once, i like to make the title screen in .gif rather than the usual single picture. Pretty neat, huh? Although this is abridged version from the original, skipping the mini demonstrations and vague words to spice the things up such as: battle, mortality, and destroy. Asura Buster is 3 years later (as the screen suggests) after the event of Asura Blade that i reviewed long time ago making it the sequel and sadly the final Asura Blade/Buster game. Personally, i like this than any Guilty Gear because it's simpler therefore more into my taste. Anyway let's get to it, shall we?

Most of the previous casts are here and some cast are quite new. There's scrolling text on this character selection screen. One on top says "You can choice (typo of 'choose') freely from these character" while on bottom says "Which one do you prefer?". Beware of the top text as it may trap you to choose bad/ low-tier characters and you most likely don't like how it end up in future! By them, i mean Zam-B (right column and 2nd row from bottom) and Leon (right column and 1st row from top). Zam-B who's like western medieval version of Samurai Spirits/Samurai Shodown's Gen-an, still sucks like in previous game. While Leon who's the blonde lad with two sword, is watered-down version of Lightning in previous game. On Asura Blade i played as Goat, i play as Taros this time. Because i favor powerhouse and robot.

First stage takes place in place called Lux, means either Luxembourg city or some Luxury place. I notice that the map take place in "Real" World and its flat! Spy_sf12_badmagic08.wav

My first opponent: Leon the pretty lad. As i mentioned before that he's weaker version of Lightning, therefore he's easy to deal with. Speaking of comparison, Taros' charging move is changed from charging blender arm to this knee grinder move. It hits lower and has smaller hitting spot than the move in previous game but it still serves its purpose pretty well. Maybe i speak too fast. Much like the predecessor, Asura Buster is 1-on-1 fighting game with weapon and capability to chain your normal move or special move swiftly  like Guilty Gear. Asura Buster applies 3 attack buttons (light, medium, and heavy) and you can string basic attacks from weak to heavy (this is known as Hunter Chain Combo). Also you block attack by holding joystick backward, jump by holding joystick up or any diagonal up, crouch by holding joystick downward, run toward the enemy by wriggling the joystick forward twice (then hold the joystick) and back step by wriggling the joystick backward twice. The basic control is quite friendly.

Take this my super move: Invincible Sword with input of 2 X quarter-circle-forward + attack button! This is the same super move as in the previous game but its execution is faster. Sadly this is the only super move that Taros has. But Invincible Sword is considered nigh unavoidable as he start to swing the sword from above and swing across the screen. Not only it deals hefty damage when connects but also looks awesome. I mean look at that huge sword and fiery meteors that come along with! That's really remarkable, right? If you don't feel using super move, you can use the super gauge for enhanced special (ES) move instead. Special moves can be enhanced by using special move input with 2 attack buttons press instead only 1 button. ES cost 1 segment of super gauge while super move cost a whole super gauge. 

Next opponent is Yashaou the main protagonist although i can't get my head on main cast not some shoto-clone. Maybe he's like Sol Badguy from Guilty Gear who's Swordsman that adept at fire element and melee combo. That must be it. But Yashaou wields arced light sword as opposed to Sol's buster blade-like sword. Also he's more fast/agile type character while Sol is more power type character.      

Taros can also change his leg into blender in mid-air. This move actually does more damage against enemy in mid-air instead using it to dive on enemy in the ground like this. But it's fun to do it this way. C:    

I encounter the sub-boss, already? That was fast! Apparently this huge blob can speak. But unfortunately i can't read Japanese so i don't know what are they talking about. I have a hunch that they're not talking about recent big movie otherwise i will bite my office table.

As you expected from blob creature, Vebel can changes its body for attacking method. But -you know- biologically not mechanically like Taros. As it turns 80% lower part of its body into huge maw, i immediately remember of early form of Vertex monsters in Nogi Wakaba wa Yuusha De Aru. That could mean that this bastard is ultimate threat to humanity!

If you look carefully, Vebel doesn't have super bar but it can unleashes this large laser beam that i can consider super move as it deals multiple hits and potentially great damage if not blocked. Also Vebel can do this move while jumping too! But compare to Curfue or S. Geist from Asura Blade, Vebel is significantly easier. But keep in mind that even Vebel is large target, it can block your attack almost immediately. Even i predict that i can hit it while it recovers from its previous move, it manages to block my attack somehow! My only advice is: attack Vebel relentlessly but carefully.

Next i fight Sittara, Yashaou's rival. He has straight projectile move and uppercut move. Yep, he's legit Shoto-clone. To be more precise, he looks like K' from King of Fighter because Sittara shoots purple flame by swiping with his leg much like the K'.

But his legwork is nothing compared to the mechanical might that i have. FALCON TAROS PAWNCH! XP

After that, it's bonus stage! Beating a horde of wolf in Angry Canyon. As the place's name suggests, there's a good chance that the wolves as vicious as hell and the right thing to do is punch them as many as you can within allotted time. The blue wolves will charge at you straight while the red ones will try to jump or lunge at you but my solution is simple: stay in left corner and jab (light attack) continuously. This bonus stage reminds me of barrel-smashing bonus stage in Street Fighter 2 as you are unable to block this wolves' attack.    

There, i knocked 75 of them. New record! According to some review, the wolf's sprite exists in Asura Blade but Fuuki didn't applies it perhaps the game is incomplete due to constrained time. The more you know.

Next match is mirror match! I don't know whether the No 22 is the enemy's Taros or my Taros. Thing for sure is, the enemy is in darker tone that means he's the bad guy.

But i'm the one who do the low blow! Spy_specialcompleted12.wav

With input of dragon punch move, Taros can unleash a laser that shoot along the ground and creates explosions. The laser itself doesn't hurt, it's the explosion that do the hurting. Kind of like giant Cyclops robot in Contra: Hard Corps.  

 

After the bonus stage, the final boss appears! I say that Asura Buster's single player mode is much shorter than Asura Blade's. Anyway, what this old man king can do against me who's powerful robot, huh?

So you turn into giant two sided giant, huh? I'm not impressed. I forget to tell you about the remarkable announcement to begin a round: "To Arms!". It's at the same level of coolness as "En Garde!" in Samurai Spirit/Samurai Shodown.

King here is kind of mixture of Gill (from Street Fighter 3) and Apocalypse (from X-Men vs Street Fighter) or Onslaught (from Marvel vs Capcom). King who's also his own Queen apparently, like to swing their hand around and summon meteors.

Do you know why Onslaught or Apocalypse face the player and not just stand still at the center like this? Because they're designed to be able to press you without giving you much safe spot. The King don't know about that therefore you can stay at the left corner with minimum threat from them. Then you can clobber their right hand there easily and safely. As for me, i just boot it over and over again until they're dead. The boss fight only last 1 round, by the way.  

Then they turn into hollowed corpse and fade into nothingness. Sniper_revenge21.wav

Oh, wait! There's more. As i haven't used any continue, i have to fight once more! The King presumably transform into Rose Mary and demand rematch. Demoman_battlecry05.wav

I forgot to tell in Asura Blade review that Rose Mary is another Shoto-clone. Combine that with the fact that she's sexy character, she's basically Morrigan from Darkstalker. Therefore you can see this match as Asura Buster version of Huitzil versus Morrigan.  

And I'm still sucker for anti-air move. What should i need to do is: less trust on my instinct to jump toward her. But besides that, she is quite easy to defeat much like other opponents excluding Vebel. Maybe because they only spend the super gauge by using ES moves and they don't use super move at all.    

Unlike in Asura Blade, Asura Buster has proper ending for each character but the texts are in Japanese and i can' read them. So i can decipher the ending by the pictures only. Taros here emits memory images when he was still cheerful young boy, keep sitting under moonlight, and can't feel glory over defeating The King at all. To quote Exdeath in Dissidia Final Fantasy" "Empty Victory". I'm not sure whether i get another ending if i finish the game not within 1 credit because -you know- the game is pretty easy. [Fairly High Arrogance Intention]

You can also get the artwork of your character in credit roll unlike in previous game where the credit roll is just boring and without anything special on it. I forgot to mention that you can't change character if you use continue. So choose your character wisely. By that i mean "Definitely don't pick Leon or Zam-B!" unless you want to challenge yourself that hard. I saw a streamer had hard time to finish the game by playing as Leon as his damaging capability is very underpowered and his agility don't cover that lackness well.

Before i put the summary, i like to show you a bit about Goat and by sheer coincidence my first opponent is Taros. Compare to Taros, Goat changes drastically. He becomes more cocky than before as his neutral stance is he puts his greatsword over his shoulder while grinning. He throws his spiked iron ball straight forward, diagonal down, or diagonal up. While the ES version of the move is the original ones where he slam it overhead. His uppercut slash is one of his super move and no longer the standard special move. By inputting reverse fireball move, he no longer lunge and slash more with extra input. Instead he charge forward with his sword on front at stomach height. Some says his moveset become worse but in my opinion his moveset become safer and less reckless. His ending is: he kills many warriors and later stands on top of their corpses. That's what i expected from such Badblood as him.

 

Fuuki's Asura Buster - Eternal Warrior (2000) is another fast-paced fighting game that has bigger roster (including the secret characters such as Asura Blade's Alice) and friendlier than its predecessor. The gameplay is fast and engaging. The super gauge can fill on its own even if you do nothing. You can chain your basic attack, special move, and super moves. Some of the casts have bigger super gauge, allowing them to use ES moves more frequently. While others have smaller super gauge, allowing them to use super moves faster. Some of the cast remains the same with the precursor while other change. For example: Yashaou's moveset remain the same while Alice become weaker but she's accompanied by a tall skeleton on the background. As far as i know, there's no complex input for special move or super move. The command input is not far from fireball motion or dragon punch motion. The hit detection is pretty reasonable. There's parry feature which is your wide slash can negate enemy's attack and vice versa, depends on situation thus creating more complex maneuver clash within battle. The music feels more muffled and the visual color looks paler, if compared with the previous game. While he sound effect feel as sharp and/or contrast as the one in predecessor. 

I can say that Asura Buster - Eternal Warrior (2000) is simpler version of Guilty Gear. It may be more well-designed than previous game but it also feels rushed especially with less A.I match but the roster is bigger which feels odd. As the result, i can finish the game within less than 30 minutes. However there's proper ending for each character, but i doubt every secret character has it. Overall, i can recommend you to play Asura Buster over Asura Blade the prequel. It get high recommendation, even. If you fancy fighting game with neck-breaking speed and ability to chain your attack such as Guilty Gear or Vampire Savior, you most likely will love this game. For finishing touch on this review, i will do something that i haven't done it for months: Character stat's analysis.   

There's good chance that Taros' design is based on Huitzil from Darkstalker, their main color is the same (Yellow) for starter. As you expected from bulky robot, Taros's punch is strong. He has not only big attack power but also elevated defense capability. Therefore his main stats is Strength (4.5/5). He has ability to utilize various weapons within himself and most of them are transformation from his part. Thus i conclude that he has Dexterity and Intelligence of 3/5. It requires cunning mind and fine skill to manage those weapon, you see. He's quite slow but he has jet thruster to provide sudden boost on his movement and like every other character he has decent capability to link his attacks to another. He has powerful fighting ability but at the cost of his humanity and/or normal life. Or that's my speculation.