Sega Mega Drive: Budokan

Year: 1990
Genre: Fighting
Players: 1
Our Rating: 6/10

Mini Review

Budokan is one of those games lucky enough to have a multiple platform release. The Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, Amiga, PC and even a simplified ZX Spectrum edition were popular. However, Nintendo failed to secure a release for this title which seems like a hole in the library. The game takes place in Japan (of course), specifically at the Tobiko-Ryo Dojo. You are a trainee fighter who is expected to master the disciplines of several key martial arts/techniques, Bo, Karate, Kendo and Nunchaku. You will start out in the courtyard and enter each of the training dojos to learn the skill one by one. My first impressions of the controls were not good. They seem unintuitive and clunky.

You instantly want to run and combo the opponent, after all Street Fighter II just over the road is offering a much faster experience. This I feel though is all part of the lure of Budokan, there will be no master combos, no 80 hit ultras or insane special moves. This game is all about technique and reading your opponent. After you’ve got the feel of the game you can settle in to a more paced sort of fighting (although in matches I was often left with the urge to button bash). Button basing will simply not help you though, if anything you will be punished by your anger. As you progress the training you then begin the tournament. I found that I was ready for rounds one and two with my new found patience and skill and could eek out a string of wins. However, as you progress the game the skill curve goes through the roof. The relatively slow speed of your character and limited moves left me a little frustrated. Graphically the game is a joy to this day, I think that the pixel jaggies actually suit the Japanese style well. 

The sound also is an absolute treat. I hadn’t played this game for some time and was quite impressed with the understated use of music and the grunts and slaps fit the game very well. Could I recommend this game? Well for anyone born after 1990 I think that it may be a lost cause, it’s one of those “had to be there” games. For those that remember playing this one back in the ‘90’s I can certainly recommend on the basis that it will bring you back to a time in gaming when the fighting genre really was something else.