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''Rival Schools: United by Fate'', known in Japan as is a 1997 3D
fighting game The fighting game video game genre, genre involves combat between multiple characters, often (but not limited to) one-on-one battles. Fighting game combat often features mechanics such as Blocking (martial arts), blocking, grappling, counter- ...
produced by
Capcom is a Japanese video game company. It has created a number of critically acclaimed and List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises, with its most commercially successful being ''Resident Evil'', ''Monster ...
originally released as an
arcade game An arcade game or coin-op game is a coin-operated entertainment machine typically installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are presented as primarily game of skill, games of skill and in ...
on Sony ZN-2 hardware. ''Rival Schools'' revolves around
tag team Tag team wrestling is a type of professional wrestling in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. Tag teams may be made up of wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of establis ...
battles between groups of students from various schools in a Japanese city, and uses a comical and humorous style.
Sakura Kasugano is a character in Capcom's ''Street Fighter'' series. She made her first appearance in '' Street Fighter Alpha 2'' in 1996 and is a young Japanese fighter who idolizes the series' protagonist Ryu, by whom she wants to be trained. She has often ...
from Capcom's ''
Street Fighter is a Media mix, Japanese media franchise centered on a series of fighting games developed and published by Capcom. Street Fighter 1, The first game in the series was released in 1987, followed by List of Street Fighter video games, six other ma ...
'' series also appears as a character in the game. An updated and expanded two-disc version of the game was ported to the
PlayStation is a video gaming brand owned and produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), a division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. Its flagship products consists of a series of home video game consoles produced under the brand; it also consists ...
in 1998 with new
minigame A minigame (also spelled mini game and mini-game, sometimes called a subgame or microgame) is a short game often contained within another video game. A minigame contains different gameplay elements and is often smaller or more simplistic than th ...
s and a new game mode called ''Nekketsu Seisyun Nikki'', featuring
visual novel A visual novel (VN) is a form of digital interactive fiction. Visual novels are often associated with the medium of video games, but are not always labeled as such themselves. They combine a textual narrative with static or animated illustratio ...
content (this game mode was removed from the NA and PAL versions of the game). A further enhanced Japan-exclusive version of the game called ''Private Justice Academy: Nekketsu Seisyun Nikki 2'' was released next on the PlayStation, featuring an improved version of the aforementioned game mode, as well as 2 new characters. A proper sequel called '' Burn! Justice Academy'', known internationally as ''Project Justice'' or ''Project Justice: Rival Schools 2'', was released as an arcade game in 2000 and shortly afterwards ported to the
Dreamcast The is the final home video game console manufactured by Sega. It was released in Japan on November 27, 1998, in North America on September 9, 1999 and in Europe on October 14, 1999. It was the first sixth-generation video game console, prec ...
.


Gameplay

The main fighting game is best described as a
polygonal In geometry, a polygon () is a plane (mathematics), plane Shape, figure made up of line segments connected to form a closed polygonal chain. The segments of a closed polygonal chain are called its ''edge (geometry), edges'' or ''sides''. The p ...
''
Marvel vs. Capcom is a series of Crossover (fiction), crossover fighting games developed and published by Capcom, featuring characters from their video game franchises and comic book series published by Marvel Comics. The series originated as coin-operated arca ...
'' game, with some notable differences. Control wise, the game imitates ''
Star Gladiator is a 1996 weapon-based 3D computer graphics, 3D fighting game released by Capcom for the PlayStation (console), PlayStation-based ZN-1 arcade game, arcade hardware. It was Capcom's first in-house polygonal fighting game (the earlier ''Battle Are ...
''s four button setup (two punches and two kicks, like the
SNK is a Japanese video gaming and interactive entertainment company. It was founded in 1978 as by Eikichi Kawasaki and began by developing arcade games. SNK is known for its Neo Geo arcade system on which the company established many franchises ...
game format). Setting wise the game borrows the
school A school is the educational institution (and, in the case of in-person learning, the Educational architecture, building) designed to provide learning environments for the teaching of students, usually under the direction of teachers. Most co ...
themed environment seen on the ''
Asuka 120% , subtitled ''Burning Fest.'', is a Japanese Bishōjo game, bishōjo fighting game, fighting video game series from FamilySoft. It is set in a school where members of school clubs fight each other in a fighting tournament. Originally released on t ...
'' series. A player chooses a team of two characters, and fights against another two character team. The actual fights, however, are one-on-one fights, with the partner only participating by being called in when a player has enough 'vigor' for a ''Team Up'' attack, done by pressing a punch and kick button of the same pressure. The Team Ups are some kind of double team attack by the character and partner, or (for most female characters' Team Ups) heal the main character or give them more vigor. After the end of a round, a player (win or lose) has a choice to fight the next round with the partner from the previous round, or to keep their main character in play. The 'vigor' meter (essentially a super meter) can go up to 9 levels, with Team Ups costing two levels and super moves from a single person costing one level of vigor. Much like the ''Marvel vs. Capcom'' games, launchers can be done that allow air combos to be performed, with all characters having universal low and high launchers. The game also has a few defensive techniques. *''Tardy Counters'' acted much like Alpha Counters from ''
Street Fighter Alpha ''Street Fighter Alpha: Warriors' Dreams'', known as in Japan, Asia, South America, and Oceania, is a 1995 fighting game developed and published by Capcom for Arcade video game, arcades. It was the first all new ''Street Fighter'' game produced ...
'', allowing a player to immediately counter-attack from a blocking position. However, the restrictions on Tardy Counters are very lax; any hard normal, special or super attack can be used to Tardy counter (Alpha counters are only limited to certain special moves for each character), and Tardy Counters do not cost any extra vigor to perform (Alpha Counters required at least a level of Super Combo gauge to do). *''Attack Cancels'' allowed a player to cancel an incoming hit simply by timing their own hit with the attack, which would cancel out both attacks (though it does not nullify the remaining hits of a multi-hit move). Also, one additional level of vigor is awarded.


Plot

Rival Schools takes place in the fictional Aoharu City, where several local schools are the victims of unknown attacks and kidnappings of students and staff. The various characters in the game set out to find who is responsible for the attacks on their school, with the cut-scenes and fights portraying their interactions with the other schools and among themselves. Eventually, the story reveals that an elite school in the city, Justice High, is responsible for the attacks. The player's team eventually faces off against
Raizo Imawano ''Rival Schools: United by Fate'', known in Japan as is a 1997 3D computer graphics, 3D fighting game produced by Capcom originally released as an arcade game on Sony ZN-2 hardware. ''Rival Schools'' revolves around tag team battles between g ...
, the principal of the school, and first boss of the game. If certain requirements are met during the fight against Raizo, the story would continue as the player would then head into a true final boss fight against
Hyo Imawano ''Rival Schools: United by Fate'', known in Japan as is a 1997 3D fighting game produced by Capcom originally released as an arcade game on Sony ZN-2 hardware. ''Rival Schools'' revolves around tag team battles between groups of students fro ...
, Raizo's nephew and the true mastermind behind the events of the game. The structure of the
single player A single-player video game is a video game where input from only one player is expected throughout the gameplay. Video games in general can feature several game modes, including single-player modes designed to be played by a single player in addi ...
game of ''Rival Schools'' varied depending on how characters were selected. If two characters from the same school were selected (with a few exceptions), single-player would play in a progressing story with fights predetermined beforehand and each fight preceding and ending with short 2D cut-scenes to explain the story. If two characters from different schools were chosen, the single-player mode would instead play similar to other fighting games, with the player's chosen team fighting against random teams of opponents before facing the
boss Boss may refer to: Occupations * Supervisor, often referred to as boss * Air boss, more formally, air officer, the person in charge of aircraft operations on an aircraft carrier * Crime boss, the head of a criminal organization * Fire boss, ...
. In the arcade version, character selection is initially limited to selecting two characters from the same school and free selection of any character is accessed through time; the PlayStation version, which includes all characters unlocked by default, has no such restrictions.


Development

''Rival Schools: United by Fate'' entered development when director
Hideaki Itsuno is a Japanese video game director and designer. He was born in Osaka Japan, and formerly worked at Capcom. He has been a director and producer for several series at Capcom, including '' Rival Schools'', '' Power Stone'', ''Devil May Cry'' and '' ...
wanted to make a 60fps polygon-based fighting game. As
Capcom is a Japanese video game company. It has created a number of critically acclaimed and List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises, with its most commercially successful being ''Resident Evil'', ''Monster ...
's earlier 3D fighting title ''
Star Gladiator is a 1996 weapon-based 3D computer graphics, 3D fighting game released by Capcom for the PlayStation (console), PlayStation-based ZN-1 arcade game, arcade hardware. It was Capcom's first in-house polygonal fighting game (the earlier ''Battle Are ...
'' was already set to 30fps, because of things such as sword effects and backgrounds, the development team did not exceed the limitations of the arcade hardware. The game was originally called ''Justice Fist'', and the initial story was that fighters from every country came together to decide who was the strongest. Itsuno wrote up the design document and showed it to several co-workers but after a humble response he decided to base it on something people had an interest in and understood; he went with a school setting because he believed that everyone has had school experiences.Capcom Fighters Network (CFN) Portal: Round 2 - Hideaki Itsuno part 3
/ref> Itsuno intended for the setting to be in a school where 40 characters fought to decide who would be the class representatives. After a programmer showed him three playable characters on a screen, Itsuno came up with the two-character team idea. The character artwork was all illustrated by Capcom staff artist Bengis. ''
Street Fighter is a Media mix, Japanese media franchise centered on a series of fighting games developed and published by Capcom. Street Fighter 1, The first game in the series was released in 1987, followed by List of Street Fighter video games, six other ma ...
'' character
Sakura The cherry blossom, or sakura, is the flower of trees in ''Prunus'' subgenus '' Cerasus''. ''Sakura'' usually refers to flowers of ornamental cherry trees, such as cultivars of ''Prunus serrulata'', not trees grown for their fruit (although ...
was included as "insurance" due to worries of bad sales. A 54% complete version of ''Rival Schools'' was the most popular Capcom game at the September 1997 JAMMA show, drawing larger crowds than '' Street Fighter III: 2nd Impact''.


Reception

In Japan, ''Game Machine'' listed ''Rival Schools: United by Fate'' on their February 1, 1998 issue as being the most-successful arcade game of the month. ''
Next Generation Next Generation or Next-Generation may refer to: Publications and literature * ''Next Generation'' (magazine), video game magazine that was made by the now defunct Imagine Media publishing company * Next Generation poets (2004), list of young ...
'' reviewed the arcade version of the game, rating it three stars out of five, and stated that "To be honest, ''Rival Schools'' is a button masher, but it's good, clean button mashing, packaged a little differently." ''Next Generation'' reviewed the PlayStation version of the game, rating it three stars out of five, and stated that "This is one of the more enjoyable fighting games available, and hardcore players should give ''Rival Schools'' a try. They may be pleasantly surprised."


Ports

After its initial arcade release, the game was ported to the PlayStation. The PlayStation version of the game came in two CDs. The first disc included the original arcade game and the standard modes included in most home versions of fighting games. Capcom enhanced the original game with animated introduction and ending sequences, as well as adding voice-over to the story mode in single player. The conversion also added two new characters, Hayato Nekketsu (a hotheaded
physical education Physical education is an academic subject taught in schools worldwide, encompassing Primary education, primary, Secondary education, secondary, and sometimes tertiary education. It is often referred to as Phys. Ed. or PE, and in the United Stat ...
teacher) and
Daigo Kazama ''Rival Schools: United by Fate'', known in Japan as is a 1997 3D fighting game produced by Capcom originally released as an arcade game on Sony ZN-2 hardware. ''Rival Schools'' revolves around tag team battles between groups of students fro ...
(a teenage
gang A gang is a social group, group or secret society, society of associates, friends, or members of a family with a defined leadership and internal organization that identifies with or claims control over Wiktionary:territory#Noun, territory in a ...
leader and the elder brother of Akira, who was a non-playable supporting character in the arcade version). The second disc, named the Evolution Disc, featured several new games to complement the arcade original. This disc included several
minigame A minigame (also spelled mini game and mini-game, sometimes called a subgame or microgame) is a short game often contained within another video game. A minigame contains different gameplay elements and is often smaller or more simplistic than th ...
s based on some of the students' activities and the ''Nekketsu Seisyun Nikki'' mode, a
character creation Character creation (also character generation / character design) is the process of defining a player character in a role-playing game. The result of character creation is a characterization, direct characterization that is recorded on a charac ...
mode in the form of a
dating sim Dating sims, also known as dating simulation games, are a video game subgenre of simulation games with romantic elements. While resembling the visual novel genre in presentation, true dating sims utilize an additional statistical and time manage ...
. In this mode, a player would be able to create a student and go through a typical school year. Over this time, the custom character could develop friendships with any of the characters at the various schools, which allowed to give the custom character moves and reveal bits and pieces about the existing characters and their backgrounds. Once the custom character was finished with the school year, it could be used in any of the normal fighting modes, save for the original Arcade game. Capcom translated most of the games on the Evolution Disc for the English localization, and planned to include the character creation mode (rebranded as "School Life") as well, but later abandoned it, citing the amount of time it would take to translate it from Japanese to English. The rest of the extra modes featured in the Evolution Disc were still included in the overseas versions. On February 23, 2012, Capcom re-released the PlayStation port on the Japanese
PlayStation Network PlayStation Network (PSN) is a digital media entertainment service provided by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Launched in November 2006, PSN was originally conceived for the PlayStation video game consoles, but soon extended to encompass smartp ...
.


Sequels


''Nekketsu Seisyun Nikki 2''

Capcom released a PlayStation-exclusive sequel in Japan titled . The game featured two additional characters,
Ran Hibiki ''Rival Schools: United by Fate'', known in Japan as is a 1997 3D computer graphics, 3D fighting game produced by Capcom originally released as an arcade game on Sony ZN-2 hardware. ''Rival Schools'' revolves around tag team battles between g ...
, Taiyo High School's newspaper club photographer, and
Nagare Namikawa ''Rival Schools: United by Fate'', known in Japan as is a 1997 3D fighting game produced by Capcom originally released as an arcade game on Sony ZN-2 hardware. ''Rival Schools'' revolves around tag team battles between groups of students fro ...
, a swimmer who studies at Gorin High School, as well as a new version of the Nekketsu Seisyun Nikki school sim mode, which features additional minigames and further plot developments over the original Japanese version of ''Shiritsu Justice Gakuen''. This version too was later released on the PlayStation Network in Japan, in 2015. On release, ''
Famitsu , formerly , is a line of Japanese Video game journalism, video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly f ...
'' magazine scored ''Nekketsu Seisyun Nikki 2'' a 30 out of 40.


''Project Justice''

''Project Justice'' (''Moero! Justice Gakuen'' in Japan), was released in 2000 in
Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
and 2001 in the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
and
Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
for arcades and the
Dreamcast The is the final home video game console manufactured by Sega. It was released in Japan on November 27, 1998, in North America on September 9, 1999 and in Europe on October 14, 1999. It was the first sixth-generation video game console, prec ...
. In comparison to ''Rival Schools'', ''Project Justice'' featured teams of 3, adding three-person team-up attacks and the ability to interrupt and stop 2-person team-ups. Like the previous game, ''Project Justice'' included a character-creation mode that came in the form of a virtual board game. This creation mode also was never released outside Japan due to localization issues. Since at least 2013, director Hideaki Itsuno has expressed an interest in continuing the ''Rival Schools'' series by developing a third installment. On August 31, 2024, Itsuno announced that he is leaving Capcom, meaning that a new ''Rival Schools'' is likely not going to happen.


Legacy

A
comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...
based on ''Rival Schools'' was produced by
UDON Udon ( or ) is a thick noodle made from wheat flour, used in Japanese cuisine. There are a variety of ways it is prepared and served. Its simplest form is in a soup as with a mild broth called made from dashi, soy sauce, and mirin. It is usual ...
Studios, with its first issue published on May 17, 2006, with art by
Corey Lewis Corey Sutherland Lewis (also known as Rey, Reyyy or The Rey) is an American comic book creator. He is primarily known as the creator of ''Sharknife'', published by Oni Press. Other works include ''PENG'' for Oni, and providing back-up comic stri ...
. Originally, the comic was to be produced by
Dreamwave Productions Dreamwave Productions was a Canadian art design studio and comic book publisher founded in 1996. Best known for its comic book adaptations of ''Transformers (toy line), Transformers'', the company shut down on January 4, 2005. History Brothers ...
, but when Dreamwave showed signs of financial failure, the rights of the comic were sold to UDON, which had already produced the successful ''
Street Fighter is a Media mix, Japanese media franchise centered on a series of fighting games developed and published by Capcom. Street Fighter 1, The first game in the series was released in 1987, followed by List of Street Fighter video games, six other ma ...
'' comic. The comic was not as successful as the same universe as the main ''Street Fighter'' series that is based. The comic was made available on August 31, 2007 in the U.S. and later released as a
webcomic Webcomics (also known as online comics or Internet comics) are comics published on the internet, such as on a website or a mobile app. While many webcomics are published exclusively online, others are also published in magazines, newspapers, or ...
. Kyosuke would appear in '' Capcom vs. SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium 2001'' as a playable character with Batsu and Hinata serving as assist characters in one of his super moves. Batsu would appear in '' Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars'' as a playable character. Following the appearance of
Sakura Kasugano is a character in Capcom's ''Street Fighter'' series. She made her first appearance in '' Street Fighter Alpha 2'' in 1996 and is a young Japanese fighter who idolizes the series' protagonist Ryu, by whom she wants to be trained. She has often ...
in the first game, Capcom has established the ''Rival Schools'' series as taking place within the same world as its ''Street Fighter'' series, with characters from ''Rival Schools'' appearing in various ''Street Fighter'' media. Hinata, Natsu and Shoma all featured prominently in the '' Street Fighter Legends: Sakura'' comic series, while Hinata and Tiffany make cameo appearances in ''
Street Fighter V ''Street Fighter V'' is a 2016 fighting game developed by Capcom, Dimps and Taito and published by Capcom for PlayStation 4 and Microsoft Windows, Windows. The major follow-up to ''Street Fighter IV'' (2008) as part of Capcom's ''Street Fighter'' ...
''. On August 16, 2021, Akira was added as a playable character to ''Street Fighter V'' as part of its 5th season of downloadable content, becoming the first playable ''Rival Schools'' character in a ''Street Fighter'' game, with her brother, Daigo as her assist; Edge and Gan make cameo appearances in her accompanying stage.


Notes


References


External links

* * {{Franchises by Capcom 1997 video games 1998 video games 3D fighting games Arcade video games Capcom franchises Capcom games Multiplayer and single-player video games PlayStation (console) games PlayStation Network games Rival Schools Fighting games Video games developed in Japan Virgin Interactive games