RAVE: The Groove Adventure is an import title from Konami that will not be released in North America. Thanks to Lan Kwei for hooking us up with a copy!

I’ve wanted RAVE The Groove Adventure, especially since it will probably never be coming to the U.S. due to the fact the anime hasn’t been released outside Japan and licensing costs. This is kind of a bummer, because RAVE is a pretty sweet fighting game.

RAVE is very similar to the first Power Stone with a touch of Samurai Showdown. It’s very similar to Power Stone in terms of level view and power-ups though nowhere near as interactive and not quite as insane. Like Samurai Showdown, every character has their default weapon, which can be lost during battle whereupon they switch to unarmed combat.

Despite similarities to other fighters, RAVE carves out a style of its own. There are several unique quirks, the least of which being a tiny snowman who is present during every match and can be kicked into enemies or item boxes. Characters can trade weapons and when a power-meter is charged, do super attacks through the weapons. Inflicting damage or collecting green gems charges the energy meter for these powerful weapon attacks. Sometimes after getting hit a few times or doing a powerful attack you’ll be stunned for a couple seconds and be unable to attack.

From what I’ve been able to figure out so far: Z picks up items, X jumps (with the ability to double jump, bounce off walls and/or attack in midair), L blocks, A kicks, B punches and R will channel energy through your weapon, provided your meter isn’t empty. There are 9 arenas and 8 characters, with 4 others that can be unlocked. I’ve unlocked three of them so far. The Story Mode also has some Outlaw characters, which attack in groups.

Power-ups can be found in boxes and are of 3 colors: red, blue and yellow. There are different types, some will add elemental powers to your attacks, others will give you defensive qualities (like turning you into metal). You can get one of each color of power-up, though I haven’t figured out what all of them do, let alone their collective properties.

There are super attacks, some of which are completely insane. One of the female characters turns the level into a disco and everyone starts dancing, unable to do anything else while she is free to attack or collect power-ups. Unfortunately, I haven’t learned how to execute any of these yet. Looking at the instructions, I think it may be L & R, though this hasn’t worked. Maybe I need a certain weapon and set of power ups? If anyone out there knows, get in touch.

The graphics are anime-tastic. All of the character models look like 3D representations of cartoon characters and the levels are colorful and detailed. While there’s not a lot of interaction, a few levels have planes and guns that attack you. The playing fields are quite plain, but the action gets so crazy it’s not a problem.

The music is very zany and quite enjoyable. I have no way of knowing if any of it is from the show, but I like it a lot. There is music for all the dialogue / cut scenes in Story mode and tunes for each level, which all have nice introductions before going full swing. The characters also have a lot of voice and yell and scream throughout the match, either calling out attacks, curses or crying out in pain.

The Story Mode is somewhat easy to complete, especially once you master the basics and learn how to attack with the various weapons. Story mode can be played with four of the characters. Multiplayer is where it’s really at; it can get all kinds of insane and has me addicted. You can play with up to four people, or set opponents to CPU. Teams can also be added and this is very easy to figure out, even with no Japanese skill. I’ve only played with one other player so far, but even with two CPU opponents, four player matches are lots of fun. The only downer is the CPU AI isn’t all that tough and I don’t know if the difficulty can be adjusted. I can’t wait to get a match with four human players.

That said, the game is almost exclusively in Japanese, save for character names and modes on the menu. Without much trouble, you’ll be able to figure out the basic options and navigate your way through the menus and game, but there’s a lot of dialogue and story in Story mode. Although you can kind of guess what’s going on, it’s really too quirky to know what’s happening. I’m sure fans of the RAVE show/manga in Japan would love it. There’s a lot of extras too for fans too, such as character art and voice samples, a lot of which is unlocked playing through the game.

I’ve never seen the RAVE anime, but now I kind of want to, just to understand what the heck it’s about. There’s a bizarre supporting cast of characters who appear in many levels and loading screens. These include: a giant green talking sunflower who is attached to the part of one level; a blue condom-like creature riding a purple kangaroo with a smiling face; an army of cork-headed creatures. And of course, there’s the little snowman, who whines and cries when kicked and runs from you after you do it. The main characters are all tough martial artist type folks, and include a happy-go-lucky female with machine gun tonfas, a Samurai lizard and a man with the largest spiked-hair and mullet I’ve ever seen. Watching a show that chronicles the adventures of these characters would be interesting to say the least.

I’m gonna have to see if I can bribe one of our Japanese correspondents to help make a guide or something. There’s a lot of stuff I don’t understand, though I am learning quick. I’m really having a great time and can fully recommend it to fighting fans. Expect a full review in the near future.

UPDATE: Well, I said there was 4 hidden characters. I’ve now unlocked 5. Since the fifth character appeared almost out of nowhere, and there’s a menu of hidden characters and options with a few more blank spaces, I suspect there may be even more.

Other observations: