Voltage Fighter Gowcaizer

At the start of the game, the player can select from one of ten playable characters, then select an opponent. If the player wins the battle, he or she is given the opportunity to take one special move from the opponent (this is also possible in multiplayer battles). This mechanic is called the Trade System. If the player already has a special move gained from another character, the new special move he or she gets will replace the old one.

However, if the player loses a match, should he or she ever continue the game, the player will be allowed access to older weapons earned from past enemies. This game mechanic is similar to the possibility to use other characters' special moves in BloodStorm, another arcade fighting game. One key feature is that if one character has little health remaining, he or she will be able to perform a desperation move to turn the tide of battle. It is also found in the Art of Fighting series, The King of Fighters series and Fatal Fury games starting with Fatal Fury 2.

In the year 1999, a massive earthquake struck the Kanto region of Japan. Devastating its entire landscape, survivors and the Japanese Government have relocated to a man made island city 115 miles offshore of Tokyo Bay, into a new capitol known as the city of Neo Tokyo. With the greatest and cutting-edge technology into the 21st century, the newly rebuilt Tokyo has become a pinnacle of human achievement and a shining example of the new city of the next millennium.

28 years later, into the year 2017, Neo Tokyo mysteriously experiences a massive spike in crime. Despite all city functions acutely monitored and managed by its cerebral computer, this surge of criminal activity has mysteriously evaded all government monitoring. But, with this spike of crime, comes from out of nowhere, powerful and courageous figures who wish to stand up to these injustices: superheroes. Aiming to make Neo Tokyo a safe haven again, these heroes will find their mystery traces back to the National Bernard Institute, Japan's foremost leading academic institution in the world, and its new but mysterious principal, Shizuru Osaki.

In Japan, Game Machine listed Voltage Fighter Gowcaizer on their November 1, 1995 issue as being the eighteenth most-popular arcade game at the time. The game was met with generally mixed reception from critics since its release. According to Famitsu, the Neo Geo CD version sold over 6,285 copies in its first week on the market.

AllGame's Kyle Knight praised the artstyle, character designs and controls but criticized the audio, stiff sprite animations and fighting system. Reviewing the Neo Geo AES version, GamePro's The Axe Grinder lambasted the unoriginal special moves, clumsy and silly-looking animations, unintelligible voice clips, and mediocre soundtrack. Spanish magazine Hobby Consolas reviewed the Neo Geo CD version and regarded it as a very good fighting game for the system, praising the "Trade System" and visual artstyle.