Uploaded December 2021 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Not your typical episode, my son and I play a few rounds of Rakugakids for the Nintendo 64 and show off some of that gameplay.
Rakugakids (らくがきっず, Rakugakizzu) is a 2.5D fighting video game created by Konami for the Nintendo 64, released in 1998. The name Rakugakids is a portmanteau of the Japanese word rakugaki (meaning "doodle"), and the English word "kids", a reflection of the visual style of the game which resembled children's drawings.
The game is similar in play to a toned-down Street Fighter. The button layout is the six-buttons fighting game standard consisting primarily of three punches and three kicks, which combine with various directional commands to produce special secondary moves. All characters have a single-button attack that sends the opponent into the air, where they can then be pursued and aerially attacked. Perhaps to complement this, each character can perform an additional jump while in the air.
Super combos in this game are referred to as "Magic" and a player can have up to three levels of Magic which are represented by three crayons that appear at the bottom of the screen. Super Meter levels can be spent in three ways: offense, where an attack causes heavy damage with a few hits; defense, where an attack causes little damage, but sends the opponent far away; and counter, usable only while the character is blocking, causes medium damage and sends the opponent flying away.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rakugakids
The basic setup is a bit like Capcom fighting games, particularly the Marvel VS series. There are three punch buttons and three kick buttons – a bit awkward on the normal N64 controller – plus a taunt and “Magic” button. Every character can double jump, and do a “Cyclone Attack”, which knocks the opponent through the air and bounces them toward you, giving you an opportunity for a mid-air hit. Every character also has three different super attacks, with the super bar represented as a crayon coloring in a gray line. Super attacks are done by holding a direction and hitting the Magic button, or you can do a more traditional fireball style input.
Holding Forward plus Magic will do an Attack Magic, which does heavy damage on an opponent if it hits. Defence Magic is done by holding Back and hitting Magic. It doesn’t do much damage, but it knocks the opponent far enough for you to get a breather. Counterattack Magic is done by hitting the opponent while blocking, and knocks the opponent away from you while doing reasonable damage.
For the most part, Rakugakids is fairly decent. It doesn’t offer much innovation from any other 2D fighter besides its art style, but it plays reasonably well. The major problem is that the action feels kinda stiff, because the attacks don’t really flow into each other well and combos are hard to pull off. Plus, the awkward dimensions of some of the characters can make judging attacks difficult. But the game’s charm goes a long way towards differentiating itself from practically everything else out there, which counts for a lot. There’s also some brief loading times between matches, which is odd for a cartridge game.
An interesting idea that wouldn’t be seen again until Virtua Fighter 4 is the Training Mode. You choose a character, and fight through as many opponents as you can. Supposedly, the AI will learn how you fight as you go, and you’ll be able to use this custom character to play through the game’s arcade mode. In practice, though, your character probably won’t be as smart as any good human player.
Rakugakids was never released in America, for whatever reason – perhaps it was a bit too cute, but then again, this is the Nintendo 64, where children’s games seemed to proliferate – but it got an English release in Europe. It wasn’t completely forgotten, as Beartank made a couple of cameo appearances in Castlevania: Circle of the Moon and Konami Krazy Racers. You can turn into the bear by equipping the Pluto and Black Dog cards, and wearing the Bear Ring. These are both pretty annoying to obtain, but the Beartank has extremely high offense, as well as some special moves carried over from Rakugakids. However, he can be killed in a single hit. Songs from the game also appear in a few Bemani games.
Source: hardcoregaming101.net/rakugakids
Not your typical episode, my son and I play a few rounds of Rakugakids for the Nintendo 64 and show off some of that gameplay.
Rakugakids (らくがきっず, Rakugakizzu) is a 2.5D fighting video game created by Konami for the Nintendo 64, released in 1998. The name Rakugakids is a portmanteau of the Japanese word rakugaki (meaning "doodle"), and the English word "kids", a reflection of the visual style of the game which resembled children's drawings.
The game is similar in play to a toned-down Street Fighter. The button layout is the six-buttons fighting game standard consisting primarily of three punches and three kicks, which combine with various directional commands to produce special secondary moves. All characters have a single-button attack that sends the opponent into the air, where they can then be pursued and aerially attacked. Perhaps to complement this, each character can perform an additional jump while in the air.
Super combos in this game are referred to as "Magic" and a player can have up to three levels of Magic which are represented by three crayons that appear at the bottom of the screen. Super Meter levels can be spent in three ways: offense, where an attack causes heavy damage with a few hits; defense, where an attack causes little damage, but sends the opponent far away; and counter, usable only while the character is blocking, causes medium damage and sends the opponent flying away.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rakugakids
The basic setup is a bit like Capcom fighting games, particularly the Marvel VS series. There are three punch buttons and three kick buttons – a bit awkward on the normal N64 controller – plus a taunt and “Magic” button. Every character can double jump, and do a “Cyclone Attack”, which knocks the opponent through the air and bounces them toward you, giving you an opportunity for a mid-air hit. Every character also has three different super attacks, with the super bar represented as a crayon coloring in a gray line. Super attacks are done by holding a direction and hitting the Magic button, or you can do a more traditional fireball style input.
Holding Forward plus Magic will do an Attack Magic, which does heavy damage on an opponent if it hits. Defence Magic is done by holding Back and hitting Magic. It doesn’t do much damage, but it knocks the opponent far enough for you to get a breather. Counterattack Magic is done by hitting the opponent while blocking, and knocks the opponent away from you while doing reasonable damage.
For the most part, Rakugakids is fairly decent. It doesn’t offer much innovation from any other 2D fighter besides its art style, but it plays reasonably well. The major problem is that the action feels kinda stiff, because the attacks don’t really flow into each other well and combos are hard to pull off. Plus, the awkward dimensions of some of the characters can make judging attacks difficult. But the game’s charm goes a long way towards differentiating itself from practically everything else out there, which counts for a lot. There’s also some brief loading times between matches, which is odd for a cartridge game.
An interesting idea that wouldn’t be seen again until Virtua Fighter 4 is the Training Mode. You choose a character, and fight through as many opponents as you can. Supposedly, the AI will learn how you fight as you go, and you’ll be able to use this custom character to play through the game’s arcade mode. In practice, though, your character probably won’t be as smart as any good human player.
Rakugakids was never released in America, for whatever reason – perhaps it was a bit too cute, but then again, this is the Nintendo 64, where children’s games seemed to proliferate – but it got an English release in Europe. It wasn’t completely forgotten, as Beartank made a couple of cameo appearances in Castlevania: Circle of the Moon and Konami Krazy Racers. You can turn into the bear by equipping the Pluto and Black Dog cards, and wearing the Bear Ring. These are both pretty annoying to obtain, but the Beartank has extremely high offense, as well as some special moves carried over from Rakugakids. However, he can be killed in a single hit. Songs from the game also appear in a few Bemani games.
Source: hardcoregaming101.net/rakugakids
