Rurouni Kenshin: Enjou! Kyoto Rinne
Developer: Banpresto
System: Playstation 2
Genre: Anime, Action, Adventure, Brawler
Released: September 14, 2006


Ah, the licensed video game. An opportunity to cash in on the fanbase of another entertainment medium. Instigator of the downfall of the videogame industry (look up "E.T. for the Atari 2600).
Now, movie games have been good on occasion (see "Scarface: The World is Yours"), so too with comic book games, but then there's that special market that tends to get bent over the proverbial desk on a regular basis: anime games.

Not necessarily "games with a japanese animation look" to them. I mean "Licensed Anime Fighter: *Pointless Acronym* Stardust Cross Edition" type stuff. Its the general consensus that anime games suck in general. So when a property like Rurouni Kenshin, which I am a fan of, got a game, I withheld my giddyness for a while, and scoffed when I heard it wasn't coming to North America.
But thanks to the internet, and the PS2 modding community, I now had the chance to play this game.

But does it survive the anime game curse? Read on to find out...








As you might ascertain from the title, Rurouni Kenshin: Enj-- i'll just call it RK for now, focuses on the "Kyoto Arc" of the anime/manga series.

To sum it up for those who don't know it, Kenshin Himura is an ex-assassin who, after one horrible moment in his life, vows to never again take a life. He wields a sakabato (reversed-blade sword), and wanders the land. He comes to rest at the Kamiya-Kasshin dojo in Tokyo, where most of the series takes place.
Anyway, during this arc, an old enemy of Kenshin's makes a return, and Kenshin learns that the man who took his place as a Choshu assassin, a delightful mummy-man named Makoto Shishio, is trying to plunge Japan into chaos. An envoy from the government begs Kenshin to go to Kyoto to stop him, which Kenshin agrees to, to the dismay of his companions, who leave as well to go find him.

The game has 4 stories, each centering on a different character in the series. While Kenshin's story is the "canon" one, the other 3 present accurate stuff as well, including some "what-if" stuff.

Speaking of characters, there's 4 of them (duh).
There's titular character Kenshin Himura, master of batto-jutsu,
Sanosuke Sagara, who prefers to bash people's faces in with his fists,
Hajime Saito, former Shinsengumi captain, master of the "gatotsu" (he likes stabbing people)
and the unlockable bishonen shinobi, Aoshi Shinomori, complete with twin kodachi (short swords)
The characters each have a distinct feel, but play similarly nonetheless.



The controls are decent. Its the pretty standard "X=Jump, Square = Light Hit, Triangle = Heavy Hit" fair.
Pressing Circle causes your character to side-step/dodge-in-place, letting you pummel an unsuspecting goon who underestimated your button pushing skills. Holding a direction on the analog stick while pressing Circle causes you to dash, for when you need to run from the enemy (or mob of enemies).
Special moves can be used when buttons are pressed in unison (i.e. Jump+Light Hit = Uppercut-hit).
Holding L1 puts your character into a "ready" stance, which also "locks in" on your enemy, and is useful for the boss fights, so you can keep track of the enemy and roll around them, etc.



Finally there's the "ougi"s (in other words, SUPER PWNAGE ATK!), which are used by pressing R1+R2 when the "ougi indicator' is golden yellow. The indicator is filled, I think, by being within a proximity of your opponent(s).
Appropriate to the source material, Kenshin has no ougis until he completes his training with his master, Sano has none until he finishes learning it from Anji, and Saito has all his from the get-go, cause he's cool like that. I don't recall Aoshi's, but I think you can't use them until some point early on in his story (once he gets his 2nd sword, I believe).

As always, the ougis are flashy, cinematic, and oh so sweet. When I finally nailed Soujiro with Kuzuryu-sen (Nine Headed Dragon), screams and profanities of excitement flew at my TV (hitting Soujiro with any ougi is pretty tough, you see).



Now, the bulk of the "non-canon" stuff is comprised of fights against mobs of lesser enemies. These aren't quite so fun in my opinion, mainly because it becomes apparent that the fighting mechanics are designed for 1-on-1 fights, and it becomes a challenge to concentrate on up to a dozen foes at once and block and dodge as appropriate.
If you happen to seek out these fights, you'll earn a bevvy of EXP for your character, so if you can bear these group fights, it is to your advantage.

Its the boss battles, however, that truly shine in this game.
From the tutorial battle with Jin-E Udo, to the confrontation with Senkaku, from Aoshi's first bout with Kenshin, to the desperate clash with Cho the Sword Hunter, there's plenty here for RK fans.
Knowledge of the source material plays to your advantage, too (which is something thats nice to see).
For instance, if you remember that Kenshin crippled Senkaku by dodging around him repeatedly until his leg broke, try it out in the game, and, lo and behold, Senkaku can't dodge anymore!
It's also a blast to live out the best fights of the series (until the Jinchuu arc, mind you :P), such as the epic bout with Soujiro, or even Kenshin's training with Seijuro Hiko.

There's also a plethora of secret bosses as well, usually with the Juppongatana (10 Swords) who weren't a part of your selected character's story mode. The list runs from fat-ass Iwanbo, hang-gliding anorexic Henya, scythe wielding transvestite Kamatari, and oddly enough, former Shinsengumi captain Soshi Okita, who has made only minor appearances in most RK media (though I guess this is no different).



The events and progression of the game appear to operate on a clock, with a new event happening after enough day-night cycle has gone by. Talking to a certain waitress in an outdoor restaurant lets you jump immediately to the next story event, which is nice if you don't feel like grinding for EXP.




There's not all that much I can say about the visuals. It has a pseudo-cell shaded look that most anime games have.
The text-box cutscenes have some awkward and stiff looking animations, sort of like Tales of Symphonia in that regard, but aren't that bad. The major cutscenes appear to have mo-cap (I'm not an expert on this so I'm not sure if it is motion capture), and are much better in quality. There's voice acting for pretty much all the relevant/important scenes in the game, so odds are if there aren't any voices when you talk to that random police-officer, its not important.


The sound is similar to the visuals. The sound quality is ok, the music is right out of the anime, well, most of it, which is odd.
There are plenty of tracks right from the animation, but others sound like those songs you hear on MadTV that "sound like a really popular song but not quite like it so we don't get sued" type of thing.



In conclusion, Rurouni Kenshin EKR is a surprisingly solid action-brawler, with all the fanservice (not the boobies kind), fun gameplay, and good control you could could want from a licensed anime game. Its a bit rough around the edges, but most of this can be forgiven. Highly recommended for Rurouni Kenshin fans. Should be looked into for someone looking for an anime-style action/brawler.

Pros:

+ Solid Gameplay
+ Good controls
+ Plenty of Fanservice (Fun things for the fans, not boobs)
+ Boss fights are fun

Cons:

- Group fights are a bit of a pain
- Some music seems "inauthentic"
- The non - mocap scenes are a tad awkward looking
- You'll want a translation guide for Saito's story. Do it.


My score:
7.5/10

Verdict:
Buy It
but find it cheap if possible.
Would be rent, but no video store I know carries imported videogames.