Groove On Fight: Gouketsuji Ichizoku 3
From Sega Retro
Gameplay
The game diverges from the preceding two entries in the Gouketsuji Ichizoku series. It takes place twenty years after the previous games, and it has a darker setting and tone than its predecessors (thoug it still retains the comedic elements of the series) and an almost entirely new cast (with only Oume and Otane Gouketsuji returning). It adopts a two-on-two tag fighting system, similar to X-Men vs. Street Fighter. Players choose two characters, which can be tagged in or out of the battle at any time. Matches consist of a single round, which lasts until one team has lost both fighters.
Characters move with and and backstep or dash with or . Characters are invulnerable while back dashing. Forward dashes can be canceled by pressing . Characters crouch with and jump with . Every character can double jump by pressing again in midair. Characters can perform a light punch with , a strong punch with , a light kick with , and a strong kick with . The attack performed varies depending on whether the character is standing, jumping, or crouching and the distance from the opponent. Characters can also attack while dashing toward an opponent. Characters can taunt with , which is a short animation during which the character is vulnerable to attack.
Every character has multiple special moves, usually done by performing a motion on the D-Pad before punching or kicking. Any normal move can be canceled into a special move for a combo. Some special moves can be performed while dashing, which are called "shadow moves." Shadow moves leave a trail of afterimages behind the character and hit additional times compared to their normal variants. Characters also have a special dash attack performed with , which causes the character to dash, slide, or roll toward the opponent and attack. This attack can be used to move to the other side of the opponent.
Blocking is done by holding the D-Pad away from the opponent, which can also be done while crouching. Special moves still inflict a small amount of "chip damage" when blocked. Characters can do a reflect block by pressing + before being attacked, which briefly causes the opponent to become stunned and stumbled backwards, creating an opening for a counterattack (but the character doing the reflect block is momentarily vulnerable if the opponent does not attack). Characters that are hit in midair by an attack that does not knock them down can recover by jumping (if they have not already used their double jump). Every character has a special "chou gottsui" attack that is performed by pressing +. This attack has a long startup time, during which the character can be hit out of it by the opponent, but it cannot be blocked.
Throws and grabs are done by holding or when next to an opponent and pressing a hard punch or kick button or the gottsui attack button. Throws cannot be blocked and can be done in midair. Some moves can only be blocked while standing or while crouching. Every character has an overhead attack that can hit opponents who are blocking while crouched by pressing and a crouched attack that can hit opponents who are blocking while standing by pressing +. When an opponent is knocked down, the character can follow up with a pounce attack by holding while pressing either kick button or the dash attack button. Characters are stunned when they are attacked repeatedly, becoming uncontrollable for a short duration, but they can recover more quickly by moving the D-Pad rapidly.
During the match, each character's partner watches in the background. The partner can be tagged into the match by pressing + (or ), switching places with the active character. The active character is vulnerable while tagging out, and the switch is not done if the character is hit. Characters on the sidelines slowly regenerate health while out of the fight. The partner can alternatively be called into the match for a quick assist attack with ++ (or +). This does not switch the active character. When a character is defeated, their body remains on the stage, and it can be tossed at an opponent by holding + while near the body.
Each team has a Stress Meter that fills when team members are hit by attacks or when opponents block their attacks or taunt. When the meter is full, it gains a level and resets. The active character bursts with energy, which can knock back the opponent, when gaining a level. When one of the team members is knocked out, the remaining team member automatically gains the next level of the meter and can charge the meter during the battle by holding + (but the character is vulnerable while doing this). The meter can be used to perform a Stress Shot, a super special move that does a large amount of damage and costs one level. The match starts with each team having one level of meter.
Modes
The Saturn version of the game has multiple modes:
- Arcade: A single-player mode where the player chooses any two characters and fights against a series of predetermined teams (in the same order every time). After the fourth match, each battle is preceded and followed by a short story scene. After defeating the boss Bristol, the player starts a match with the lead character against the secondary character. When the partner is half-defeated, Bristol's true form, the demonic Bristol-D, reveals himself and must be fought, with the brainwashed secondary character as his partner (and without the player's lead character replenishing any health from the previous match). A second player can interrupt the game with a challenge by pressing START at any time. There are eight difficulty levels (Easiest, Very Easy, Easy, Normal, Hard, Very Hard, Hardest, and Abnormal).
- Vs: A multiplayer versus mode. Players can choose any two characters, a handicap, and a stage. It can be played as one player versus one player, one player versus two players (each controlling a separate character), two players versus one player, or two players versus two players, using the 6Player to support more than two players.
- Omake: This mode is unlocked after completing the Arcade mode with any characters. It contains artwork for the game. Artwork for each character is unlocked by completing the game with that character, so all of the content can only be unlocked by finishing the game with every character.
Characters
Note: Move lists assume that the character is facing right. When facing left, and should be reversed.
P | Any punch button |
LP | Light punch |
HP | Hard punch |
K | Any kick button |
LK | Light kick |
HK | Hard kick |
Special moves using the P button can be performed with , , or . Special moves using the K button can be performed with , , or .
Playable
Only the Gouketsuji sisters, Oume and Otane, return from the previous games.
Players can form a team comprising any two characters, but each character has a canonical partner in the story and when faced in the single-player mode.
Each character has seven different color schemes, depending on which of the face buttons (including START ) they are selected with.
Age: 24
Origin: U.S.A.
Partner: Chris Wayne
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Larry Light (ラリー・ライト) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
An adventuring archaeologist who travels the world on his motorcycle in search of knowledge. After losing against Oume in the previous Goketsuji finals five years ago, Larry receives an invitation for a new tag battle tournament, signed by Oume.
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Age: 18
Origin: U.S.A.
Partner: Larry Light
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Chris Wayne (クリス・ウェイン) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
A violent and troublesome gang leader. He decides to accompany his professor and friend Larry in the tournament to get away from his parents, Keith Wayne and Annie Hamilton from Gouketsuji Ichizoku, who often chide him for his bad behavior.
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Age: 32
Origin: Japan
Partner: Hizumi Yukinoue
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Sujiroku Tenjinbashi (天神橋・筋六) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The leader of the Tenjinbashi clan, who took over at a young age after his father died. Like the Goketsuji clan, his family has ties to the Yakuza. However, he has no interest in the family business and travels Japan attending festivals and other cultural events in a lion mask and drumsticks.
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Age: 22
Origin: Japan
Partner: Sujiroku Tenjinbashi
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Hizumi Yukinoue (雪上・火澄) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
A young man obsessed with ninjas, video games, manga, and anime. He modeled his appearance and his fighting style after anime and manga characters. He meets Sujiroku at a festival, and they bond over their love of Japanese traditions and decide to enter the tournament to propagate the beauty of Japanese culture.
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Age: Unknown
Origin: Hong Kong
Partner: Solis R8000
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M.A.D. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
A mysterious scientist whose real name is "Max Ax Dax." The time-space officer Solis crash-landed her time machine near his lab. He volunteered to fix the machine while Solis had contacted the Goketsuji twins, who invited her to the new tag tournament. M.A.D. enters as her partner, seeing an opportunity to acquire more experiment subjects.
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Age: 20
Origin: Eight Moon Colony
Partner: M.A.D.
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Solis R8000 (ソーリス=R8000) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
A young policewoman from the year 2115. Solis investigates the activities of a powerful organization suspected of tampering with past events for its own benefit. She discovered that this organization was responsible for the disappearance of important families and financial groups a hundred years ago, including the Goketsuji clan. Learning that she was a Goketsuji descendant, Solis travels back to the year 2015 to prevent the destruction of her clan.
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Age: 70
Origin: England
Partner: Oume & Otane Gouketsuji
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Falco (ファルコ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
An old man who is expert at every kind of table game. Falco met the Goketsuji twins at Otane's casino, where he won against Oume in a poker game. Bitter at her loss, Oume attacked Falco, but he was able to read through Oume's moves. Impressed by his skills, the twins offered Falco a a monetary award to be their partner in their next tournament.
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Age: 100
Origin: Japan
Partner: Falco
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Oume & Otane Gouketsuji (豪血寺・お種 & お梅) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The two leaders of the Gouketsuji clan. Both sisters fight in the tournament together as one contestant, strapped to each other's backs. The lead partner changes depending on whether the player is on the left or right side of the opponent.
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Age: 43
Origin: Germany
Partner: Damian Shade
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Rudolph Gartheimer (ルドルフ・ガルテイマー) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
A ruthless man feared by everyone who knew him. Once part of the Goketsuji clan, his family fell of the Oume's graces and were subsequently banished, losing everything. His family eventually recovered their wealth, but Rudolph still held great hatred for the Goketsujis, especially Oume. He seeks to win the tournament and destroy the Goketsuji clan.
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Age: 14
Origin: Japan
Partner: Popura Hananokouji
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Remi Otogiri (乙霧・レミ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The only daughter of a high-class family who are descendants of an evil witch. Her calm and classy demeanor made her one of the most popular students in her school, motivated to show the power of music. Her classmate Popura also has magical powers, and they became best friends quickly. She wants to win the tournament to earn enough money to hold concerts around the world and help the poor. She is accompanied by a living music note named Kuroma (クロマ).
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Age: 13
Origin: Japan
Partner: Remi Otogiri
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Popura Hananokouji (花小路・ポプラ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The daughter of Clara from Gouketsuji Ichizoku 2. She has learned all of her mother's magic tricks and fighting techniques. After Clara mentioned her participation on a prestigious tournament, Popura invited her fellow magical classmate Remi as her partner to join the tournament. She hopes winning will help her find her father, who has been traveling the world.
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Bosses
The bosses are secret playable characters in the Saturn version.
Age: 35
Origin: England
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Bristol Weller (ブリストル・ウェラー) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
An intelligent but heartless man, born from a family of aristocrats, who is willing to do anything to fulfill his ambitions. Even with his success as a Gartheimer company partner, he wanted more, so he entered a pact with demons to rain destruction upon the world in exchange for his supernatural powers.
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Bristol-D (ブリストル-D) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
After Bristol has been defeated, his true identity is revealed as Bristol-D, a vampiric demon summoner. He was arrested for his various crimes in the year 2115, but he escaped and traveled through time in order to manipulate past events to his benefit. He has the power to control other people's minds and brainwashes the player's partner, and he can create portals to summon demons from the underworld. These demons he summons with his normal and special moves are from the Shin Megami Tensei series (also by Atlus).
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Hidden
- Main article: Groove On Fight: Gouketsuji Ichizoku 3/Hidden content.
Damian is a secret playable character in the Saturn version.
Age: 17
Origin: Canada
Partner: Rudolph Gartheimer
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Damian Shade (ダミアン・シェード) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
An orphan adopted by the Gartheimer family. He is Rudolph's servant, secret lover, and tag team partner, but he never gets the opportunity to fight as he is shot by Bristol as soon as Rudolph is defeated.
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Stages
Each team fights in a particular stage in the single-player mode, but players can choose any stage in the multiplayer mode.