''Ragnagard'' is an

arcade Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated video, pinball, electro-mechanical, redemption, etc., game ** Arcade video game, a coin-operated video game ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade video game's hardware ** Arcad ...

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- ...

developed by Saurus and System Vision, and published by

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 ...

and Saurus for the

Neo Geo The , stylized as NEO•GEO, is a video game platform released in 1990 by Japanese game company SNK Corporation. It was initially released in two ROM cartridge-based formats: an arcade system board (Multi Video System; MVS) and a home video gam ...

arcade,

Neo Geo CD The is a home video game console produced by SNK Corporation, released on September 9, 1994. The system is the same platform as the cartridge-based Neo Geo released four years earlier, but converted to the cheaper CD media format which reta ...

and

Sega Saturn The is a home video game console developed by Sega and released on November 22, 1994, in Japan, May 11, 1995, in North America, and July 8, 1995, in Europe. Part of the fifth generation of video game consoles, it is the successor to the succes ...

. The game's characters are all based on

Shinto , also called Shintoism, is a religion originating in Japan. Classified as an East Asian religions, East Asian religion by Religious studies, scholars of religion, it is often regarded by its practitioners as Japan's indigenous religion and as ...

deities.

Gameplay

''Ragnagard'' is a fighting game using

pre-rendered Pre-rendering is the process in which video footage is not rendered in real-time by the hardware that is outputting or playing back the video. Instead, the video is a recording of footage that was previously rendered on different equipment (typ ...

sprites similar to that of Rare's ''

Killer Instinct ''Killer Instinct'' is a series of fighting game, fighting video games originally created by Rare (company), Rare and published by Midway Games, Midway, Nintendo, and Microsoft Studios, Xbox Game Studios. The original Killer Instinct (1994 vide ...

'' but with different gameplay mechanics. The game features an Aerial Battle System which is done by pushing up on the joystick and both of the weak punch and weak kick buttons together, allowing for air combos and air dashing. Players can also charge up the power gauge (based on four elements of Water, Wind, Fire, and Thunder, though each character only uses two of the four elements) which allows for Desperation Moves to be performed. Super Desperation Moves can be performed only if the player's life is flashing red, similar to ''

The King of Fighters ''The King of Fighters'' (''KOF'') is a series of fighting games by SNK that began with the release of ''The King of Fighters '94'' in 1994. The series was initially developed for SNK's Neo Geo (system), Neo Geo MVS arcade hardware and received ...

'' series.

Ports and related releases

''Ragnagard'' was later ported to the Neo-Geo AES, the home console version of the Neo-Geo MVS. This version features limited continues and different difficulty settings. This version was re-released through the

Wii The Wii ( ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America, and in December 2006 for most other regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major home game console, f ...

Virtual Console The Virtual Console was a line of downloadable retro video games for Nintendo's Wii and Wii U home video game consoles and the Nintendo 3DS family of handheld systems. The Virtual Console lineup consisted of titles originally released on pa ...

exclusively in Japan. ''Ragnagard'' was also ported to the Neo-Geo CD exclusively in Japan; this version features an improved intro, slightly cleaner

background music Background music (British English: piped music) is a mode of musical performance in which the music is not intended to be a primary focus of potential listeners, but its content, character, and volume level are deliberately chosen to affect behav ...

, and a few other tweaks. This version of ''Ragnagard'' was later ported to the

, also exclusively in Japan. This version features a few new modes and control customization, while some of the game's graphics and gameplay were improved and altered. Unlike the arcade and Neo-Geo versions, in which the player can play as one of the bosses by entering a cheat code, the Neo-Geo CD and Sega Saturn versions allow the player to play as the bosses only by entering the versus mode.

Reception

''Ragnagard'' received generally mixed reception from critics since its release. Of ''

Electronic Gaming Monthly ''Electronic Gaming Monthly'' (''EGM'') is a monthly American video game magazine. It offers video game news, coverage of industry events, interviews with gaming figures, editorial content and product reviews. History The magazine was fou ...

''s four reviewers, Crispin Boyer had a subdued reaction, but the other three panned the game. Shawn Smith and Sushi-X found it boring due to the characters' choppy movements and the lag time between each move, and Dan Hsu and Sushi-X remarked that while the pre-fight animations are impressive, the graphics are undistinguished once the fight starts. ''MAN!AC''s Robert Bannert commended the character designs but felt overall mixed about ''Ragnagard'' when reviewing the Saturn conversion in regards to several design aspects. ''Player One''s Christophe Delpierre compared the visual style of the game with ''

''. In a retrospective review for ''

AllGame RhythmOne , a subsidiary of Nexxen, is an American digital advertising technology company that owns and operates the web properties AllMusic, AllMovie, and SideReel. Blinkx was founded in 2004, went public on the Alternative Investment Market, ...

'', Kyle Knight felt mixed in regard to the pre-rendered visual presentation and audio design but criticized the balance issues with characters and gameplay.

Notes

References

External links

''Ragnagard''
at

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''Ragnagard''
at

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''Ragnagard''
at

Killer List of Videogames Museum of the Game, which includes the Killer List of Videogames (KLOV), is a website featuring an online encyclopedia devoted to cataloging arcade games past and present. It is the video game department of the International Arcade Museum, and h ...

''Ragnagard''
at

MobyGames MobyGames is a commercial website that catalogs information on video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controlle ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ragnagard 1996 video games ACA Neo Geo games Arcade video games D4 Enterprise games Fiction about Shinto Fighting games Hamster Corporation games Multiplayer and single-player video games Neo Geo CD games Neo Geo games Nintendo Switch games PlayStation 4 games PlayStation Network games Saurus games Sega Saturn games SNK games System Vision games Video games based on Japanese mythology Video games developed in Japan Video games set in Japan Video games with pre-rendered 3D graphics Virtual Console games Xbox One games