Pocket Fighter (Arcade) Review

 (Originally posted on June, 2018)

(1997, Arcade)

(Though I own a copy of the game, it was played on a CPS2 emulator.)

Pocket Fighter is a particularly unique oddity among Capcom’s vast and storied catalog of fighters. Having the mighty CPS2 hardware to work with, why in the world would they suddenly constrain their burly world warriors and slinking night fiends to an awkward ‘super deformed’ style? Not merely disorienting, but somewhat nullifying the important decider that is limb length, this outdated practice of sacrificing pixels from the extremities to allow for larger, more expressive faces was most often used as a last resort to make a RAM demanding brawler appear attractive on the largely incapable 8-bit systems. Indeed a bit cumbersome (but not unenjoyable) to control, the majority of Pocket Fighter’s cute but unwieldy characters have entirely non-playable origins; first serving as flashy window dressing for the traditional puzzler “Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo”.  Never passing the opportunity to repackage some lovingly crafted sprites, Capcom took 9 of the characters from their jewel-based puzzler and recast them back into the fighter genre they were just parodying. Although vampire hunter Donovan is mysteriously absent, an adorably angry and squat Zangief plus a couple additional oddball series characters help fortify the base roster. I originally bought and enjoyed Pocket Fighter decades ago on the Sega Saturn, scooping up nearly every brawler I could afford back when Capcom were in their fisticuffs producing primes. Noticing that this was one of the few 2D games missing from the anticipated Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection, what more perfect time to replay the shrunken and smooshy fighter than now?

This bizarre take on the Capcom fighter universe is seemingly aimed at newbies with its three attack button set up, but also introduces more than enough new mechanics to engage experienced players. The ‘flash combo’ system makes it easy to connect a succession of hits as the fighters switch costume mid-combo, their attire changing with cartoon-like swiftness according to how you input the command string. Beginners can mash the buttons and pull off random combos with little to no trouble, whereas veteran fans have ample trash talking opportunity by memorizing the command branches and their corresponding wardrobes. From the dozens of different surprises, Interpol police officer Chun-Li now suits up as S.T.A.R.S. Special Forces’ Jill Valentine of Resident Evil. Tough guys Zangief and Akuma make believe they’re construction workers and carpenters. Felicia even puts on a Megaman suit and fires buster shots!

Seen before and since in other fighters, the item system allows for health boosts and new attack options to come from outside any giving character’s given martial art, such as treasure chests or floating Japanese deities/Chinese legends. Staying true to the game’s origins, the same gems found in Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo can be beat out of the other player to then grab and power up your multiple charge bars. Beyond the standard array of super combos, there’s a more desperate “Mega Crush” options which is unblock-able but comes at the expense of quickly draining your meter and gem inventory. On top of these integral new systems are a slew of more subtle and intricate offensive/defensive mechanics for high level players to master.

Taking advantage of the reimagined characters’ wackier manifestations, the development team let loose with bizarre, light hearted quests barely connected to the main games. The once deathly feared Akuma is hilariously in search of a new training ground after his island has been taken over and turned into a theme park. Zangief’s once again on a mission to promote his mother land of Russia, this time attempting to secure one of the more head turning Darkstalkers to perform in concert. Now causing trouble in the bedroom more indirectly, succubus Morrigan winds up in the middle of a love triangle with a married fighter. Never having much of a competitive scene or a compelling single player mode, the fun backgrounds and their numerous cameos do the brunt work of making the game worth experiencing:

Toy Shop – The warm brightness of a multi-storied toy store wonderfully contrasts with the cold wintry night. The recurring appearance of a child-like Balrog is particularly hilarious here, as he peers into the windows; boxing mitts pressed against the glass.

Ski Resort – A more cheerful, western style take on Darkstalker’s snowy village: still retaining the villagers, huts and Shiba Inu Yosuke from Bishamon’s stage. It’s well worth jumping high up into the bright blue sky to see all the characters on the overhead ski lift. The relentless cheer of the distinctive CPS2 xylophone manages to also give off an interesting melancholy.

Beach House – The lofty “Beach House” looks like a combination of the classic Blanka SF2 stage and Elena’s SF3 stage. As a giant snake feeds on a Darkstalker, Dhalsim utilizes his long limbs to bathe an elephant seating his wife. Far off in the distance of the ocean, the Thai statue from Sagat’s stage even manages to make an appearance.

Gen’s Restaurant – Capcom’s HQ can be seen behind all the colorful and flashy Chinese architecture. Among all the dining fighters, Talbain sinking his teeth into a cooked animal several times his size and Rolento eating his ramen while sneaking around on the floor are both especially hilarious.

Tessa’s Den - So wonderfully warm and cozy, I wouldn’t mind living there. The fisheye viewing perspective first experimented with in Street Fighter 3 is used here to effectively display occult drawings on the warmly lit ceilings as a few characters lounge by the fireside.

Moonlight Dark Castle – Possibly the best background in the whole game: an alternate, even more warped take on Morrigan’s gloomy chateau. Further charging all the unworldly strangeness is the exciting, somewhat ethereal music that strongly differentiates itself from the largely forgettable laid back cutesiness featured in most of the game.

Demitri’s Mansion – An early housewarming party is held as servants move furniture into the vampire’s spacious new mansion. A child-Demitri hilariously slides over the reflective marble floors.

Bar Maximum – DJ’s bar is full of cameos and dense with architecture and color. The music is energetic and groovy enough to get DJ dancing behind the bar. No surprise, as it sounds suspiciously like Prince’s Alphabet Street.

No matter what your level of experience with the fighting genre is, don’t let Pocket Fighter’s childish action, streamlined button inputs or relative obscurity turn you away, as there are plenty of new features and variables to engage even the most seasoned fans. Whether you’ll stay for very long is the main issue. With so many mechanics to abruptly keep track of behind its childish exterior, the game feels as random and puzzling as its bizarre trail of development. When approached not necessarily as a fighter you’ll want to master, but a unique and all new offering of Capcom’s genius graphical charm wrapped up in plenty of quirky new gameplay ideas, it’s more than acceptable for a brief run. The arcade version of this game was played for the review, but player’s might find the additional single player content of the Saturn and PSOne ports make for a better overall package. With a most eye-catching surface appeal if nothing else, one could see this somewhat forgotten brawler eventually packaged with the similarly curious ‘Street Fighter: The Movie’ in an addendum to the 30^th Anniversary Collection.