1994 · Fighting · Shooter

Ultraman Powered

The player is cast as Ultraman, a Japanese masked super hero who has to fight the weirdest creatures that arrived from somewhere to destroy everything. Some of them looks like giant dinosaurs and the others are too odd to describe. This title is a one-on-one fighting game. The player has the option to fight in versus mode or story mode. Also, a two-player mode is included, to battle against human opponents.

Released: 1994
Platforms: 3DO 3DO Interactive Multiplayer
Genres: Fighting Shooter
Developers: —
Publishers: —
Perspective: First person Side view
Themes: Action Science fiction
Country: Japan
Languages: Japanese

About

Ultraman Powered is a fighting game developed by Tose and published by Bandai for the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer. The player takes on the role of the extraterrestrial superhero Ultraman Powered, tasked with protecting the Earth from destructive aliens and monsters. Gameplay primarily consists of one-on-one battles where the player must deplete an adversary's health meter using both basic and special fighting techniques. The game also contains 3D rail shooter sections and a two-player versus option.

The game is based on the 1993 television series Ultraman: The Ultimate Hero, known in Japan as Ultraman Powered. The game was created using digitized backgrounds and character sprites from this series and uses clips from it as full-motion video (FMV) cutscenes. Ultraman Powered was released exclusively in Japan on March 20, 1994 as a launch title for the 3DO in that region. Global critical reception for the game has been mixed with many reviewers complimenting its graphics but panning its slow gameplay and controls.

Keywords

robots
kaiju
licensed game

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

Ultraman Powered is a fighting game based on the 1993 home video series Ultraman: The Ultimate Hero. The player takes on the role of the titular Ultraman Powered, an alien superhero who, alongside the Worldwide Investigation Network Response (WINR), must defend the Earth from hostile aliens and monsters. The core gameplay involves one-on-one battles between Ultraman and a single opponent. Each combatant has a health meter that the other must attempt to deplete in order to win the match.

Attacks consist of basic punches and kicks as well as moves requiring more complex gamepad button combinations. A green power meter that constantly replenishes can be expended to perform special abilities like long-range projectiles. Matches have a time limit.

Development

Ultraman Powered was developed by Tose and published by Bandai, the latter of which was the official licensor of the long-running Japanese Ultraman media franchise from Tsuburaya Productions. The game is specifically adapted from the 1993 home video series Ultraman: The Ultimate Hero, also known in Japan as Ultraman Powered. This show was the tenth Ultraman live-action series overall and the first in the franchise to be produced in the United States, having been filmed in Los Angeles. The FMV cutscenes featured between the game's battles are clips taken from the series.

The game also utilizes digitized landscapes and character sprites lifted from the show. Ultraman Powered was one of the first games to be developed for the Japanese 3DO market. It was released exclusively in Japan as a launch title for the console on March 20, 1994.

Reception

Reception for Ultraman Powered has been mixed with positive remarks for its graphics and negative remarks for its gameplay. Many critics positively compared its 2D fighting presentation to SNK's Art of Fighting, which zooms in on the combatant sprites as they approach one another. Mark Wynne of the UK publication 3DO Magazine relates this same feature to that of Way of the Warrior and complimented Ultraman Powered's digitized backgrounds and characters as well as the "brilliant" look of its shooting sections. The Brazilian magazine Ação Games called the game a "must-see" with "stunning" digitized images "perfect" animation and a "clever" zoom function. An import preview blurb from

VideoGames - The Ultimate Gaming Magazine proclaimed, "The cool graphics of this CD-ROM are something to see." Deniz Ahmet and Gary Lord of Computer and Video Games felt that the game's graphics were its only redeeming quality. While the quartet of writers for the Japanese Weekly Famitsu mostly appreciated the game's visuals, one contributor thought the pre-rendered sprites were awkward.