Last Bronx, subtitled Last Bronx: Tokyo Bangaichi (ラストブロンクス -東京番外地-) in Japan, is a 3D versus fighting game developed by Sega AM3 for Sega Model 2B CRX arcade hardware.
Last Bronx takes place in a more disastrous telling of the early 1990's bubble boom and crash in Japan, where its stock market crash was more akin to an economic depression, giving rise to a huge wave of gang warfare and criminal violence amongst Japan's youth and juveniles.
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Tokyo was riding high on the tsunami of global economic supremacy when the bubble broke in 1991. Then things fell apart. Hundred billion yen building complexes were left half-finished, and salarymen started having instant ramen for lunch as the slush-money supplies dried up. And slowly, the hidden Japan began to emerge, crawling in from the shadows on the outskirts of town. Biker gangs and Chinese mafia; loansharks and slave-traders; Doomsday cults, madmen and thieves.
Those were the days of the First All-Tokyo StreetWar - where young gangs met and dashed and slid into run down streets, slick with their own blood. Then a single crew of unstoppable bōsōzokus appeared to put an end to the violence and bloodshed. Through fair-handed dealings and iron-fisted fighting skills, the Soul Crew gang blazed a path for the future of Tokyo's young...
...until, under circumstances still riddled with doubt and accusations, the leader of the Soul Crew was viciously killed. The tenuous balance of power was thrown out of whack, and every street tribe with pride, dreams or ambition felt the shockwave of his fall like to call to arms. The Second StreetWar was ignited.
At the height of the fighting, an ominously worded challenge to the leaders of the toughest gangs appeared in graffiti scrawls all over Town:
"Fellow Citizens: We all grow weary of this bitter strife. And so now I call on each of you in the name of peace. You all know how useless these recent squabbles are. I have a modest proposal to remedy this unfortunate situation: I call for a fighting tournament, solely between the chosen leaders of each worthy gang. A decisive battle that will spare the lives of the young while settling the question of which group has the power to rule Tokyo. Of course the fights will be held in secrecy, and the results will not be made public. This is a fight for Honor not Fame. A Final Word: I regret that under no circumstances can a refusal to participate be accepted. In the event that any of you do not attend, I will make arrangements to have flowers sent to the funeral. I look forward to meeting each of you at the appointed hour."
REDRUM
Several of the recipients of this very peculiar challenge shrugged it off as a practical joke or thought it was a trap set by a rival gang. But when members off their crews were found dead in Tokyo Bay, the truth of its warning became very clear.
The 19-year-old boss of street-gang "Neo-Soul" from Haneda airport. Yusaku is 171 cm tall and weighs 66 kg. His weapon is a metal sansetsukon; his alternate weapon is a Shinkansen scale model.
Joe Inagaki (稲垣 丈)
The 23-year-old boss of the "Shinjuku Mad" (新宿マッド) gang from Shinjuku. His weapons are nunchaku; his alternate weapons are corn ears. Joe is 179 cm tall and weighs 76 kg.
Lisa Kusanami (草波 リサ)
The 17-year-old leader of the "Orchids" music-band (and gang) from the moonlight garden in Takeshiba Passenger Ship Terminal. The youngest playable character, she is 159 cm tall and weighs 45 kg. Her measurements are 83–58–85. Lisa's weapon is a double metal stick (aka "Double-sticks"); her alternate weapon is a ladle and spatula.
Hiroshi "Tommy" Tomiie (富家 大)
The 18-year-old boss of the "Helter Skelter" gang from Shibuya. He is 165.5 cm tall and weighs 54 kg. Tommy's weapon is the Bō staff; his alternate weapon is a deck brush. Tommy's stage, "Cross Street", features a billboard with an image of Sonic the Hedgehog.
Yoko Kono (港野 洋子)
The 20-year-old boss of the "G-Troops" gang from the Tokyo subways, and the sister of Red Eye. She is 163.5 cm tall and weighs 49 kg. Yoko's weapon is a wooden tonfa; her alternate weapons are umbrellas.
Saburo Zaimoku (財目三郎)
The 26-year-old boss of the "Katsushika Dumpsters" (葛飾ダンプスターズ) gang from Katsushika. He is 183 cm tall and weighs 102 kg. Zaimoku's weapon is the hammer; his alternate weapon is a frozen tuna.
Nagi Hojo (豊饒 梛)
Also known as "The Raving Lesbian," Nagi is the 23-year-old boss of the "Dogma" (怒愚魔) gang from the Rainbow Bridge area of Tokyo, as well as a feminist. She is 167.5 cm tall and weighs 52 kg. Her measurements are 90–60–90. Nagi's weapon is the sai; her alternate weapon is a spoon and fork.
Toru Kurosawa (黒澤 透)
The 25-year-old boss of the "Roppongi Hard Core Boys" (六本木野獣会) gang from Roppongi. He is 177.5 cm tall and weighs 71 kg. Kurosawa's weapon is the bokuto (a wooden sword); his alternate weapon is a folding fan.
Red Eye (レッドアイ)
Formerly known as Ken Kono (港野 拳), the co-founder and former boss of the "G-Troop" gang. After refusing the Redrum challenge, Redrum badly injured him in a fire, and his anger made him mad and evil. Eventually, he was turned into Red Eye and himself became an agent for the mysterious Redrum organization. In Yoko's ending, he is beaten by his sister Yoko at the tournament's final in the subway. Ken apologizes and tells his sister the truth, and then dies in her arms. Red Eye's weapon is a metal tonfa; his alternate weapons are chopsticks and broiled sauries.
Gameplay
Last Bronx is a 3D polygonal fighting game, similar to the likes of Virtua Fighter 2, but developed independently by AM3 on an entirely different engine. Most notably, each of the eight characters wield unique weapons of various sizes and strengths. Like other fighting games, each match is a best out of two rounds fight with victory by knock out or remaining health at the end of the 30-second time limit. The stages are set in real Tokyo city closed areas without any ring outs. However, fighters can jump on the barriers (and eventually make a disqualifying ring out backflip from there).
Last Bronx uses the "PKG" 3-button system introduced by the AM2 in Virtua Fighter – "P" stands for "Punch" (or weapon), "K" for "Kick" and "G" for "Guard". The player uses the arcade joystick to move the character. Certain joystick and button combinations result in special attacks and combination attacks. The "G" button is used to block the opponent's attacks and to perform a feint attack called "Attack Cancel".Strong attacks, throlls and rolling moves can be performed using different button combinations. Taunts can also be used. According to AM3, each character has roughly the same number of moves as those seen in Virtua Fighter 2[13].
The game has a number of real-world Japanese sponsors, including Gamest and Famitsu magazines.
History
Development
Last Bronx is the third in a set of games released during the mid-1990s by Sega's AM teams to capitalise on the success on a genre kickstarted by Sega's own Virtua Fighter. At the time, Sega AM2's Virtua Fighter 2 and Fighting Vipers were proving to be profitable ventures - Last Bronx stands as Sega AM3's (sole) attempt at taking some of the market for themselves. While Virtua Fighter 2 is seen as the technical fighter and Fighting Vipers a more intense experience, Last Bronx was envisioned as a story-led fighting game with motion-captured weapons, one of the first games to do so (the other being Namco's Soul Edge).
Release
Last Bronx proved to be another big success for Sega, despite AM3's lack of experience with the genre.
Legacy
Following the release of Last Bronx, AM3 largely abandoned the 3D fighting game genre so no direct sequels have ever been produced. The popularity of Last Bronx however led to comics, radio dramas and a V-Cinema film.
After being announced at the Sega Saturn Senryaku Happyoukai conference on the 8th November 1996, Last Bronx was brought to the Sega Saturn in mid 1997. It was considered at the time to be a big technical achievement for home console fighting games, the key feature being polygonal backgrounds, which although present in plenty of arcade games prior to Last Bronx's release, were non-existent on home consoles due to a perceived lack of processing power. Usually, as was the case in Virtua Fighter 2 and Fighting Vipers, backgrounds would be replaced with unrealistic 2D variants, and were a common source of complaint at the time.
Last Bronx was the first fighting game to break this trend, although the level of detail in the background still pales in comparison to the Model 2 version. It is also notable as at the time, no PlayStation fighting games were achieving this feat either (although they became more common towards the end of 1998). Of note is that Last Bronx was also is also AM3's first Saturn game, with previous conversions behind handled by CS Team.
As was customary, the Saturn version contains more gameplay modes so as to satisfy a console audience. Also included is are animated introduction and ending seuqneces.
PC version
Following the Saturn release, a PC version of Last Bronx was released in 1998. The PC version retains the Saturn's extra modes but with visuals more comparable to the Model 2 version. Videos run at roughly half the frame rate on PC compared to the Saturn.
Special Thanks:Hiroya Tanaka, Tetsu Saito (iNOKS Records), Masaaki Hori (iNOKS Records), W.Tang (APJ), Kouyousha, Sega Digital Studio, & All the Testers