Planetary Heroes

Planetary Heroes (プラネタリー・ヒーローズ Puranetarī hīrōzu), commonly abbreviated as PH, is a series of fighting games in which the players pit combatants from around the world, each with their own special moves, against one another. Multisoft (or Gamesoft, as they were called back then) released the first game in the series in August 1993.

Planetary Heroes
Planetary Heroes made its debut at the arcades in 1993 as a 2D fighting game. The player controls a young martial artist named Lucas, who competes in a worldwide martial arts tournament spanning five different countries (United States, Japan, China, England, and Thailand) and ten opponents, two per country.

The game controls consists of an eight-directional joystick and depending on the cabinet: six attack buttons, three punch buttons and three kick buttons of differing speed and strength; or two mechatronic pads for punches and kicks that determined the strength level of the player's attacks. The player uses the joystick to move towards or away from an opponent, as well to jump, crouch and defend against an opponent's attacks. By using the attack buttons/pads in combination with the joystick, the player can perform a variety of attacks from a standing, jumping or crouching positions. There were also three special techniques, performed by inputting a specific directional-based command and button combination. These techniques were the Azure Blade, the Azure Riser, and the Raging Typhoon Slash.

In the game's single-player mode, the player's chosen character is pitted against eight other main characters before confronting the final two opponents (Lienn and Percy). The objective of each round is to deplete the opponent's vitality before the timer runs out. By default, there will be two rounds of combat. However, the players have a choice from one to five rounds, as well as options for the time limit of each round. If the winning character retains all of his or her health without the time having run out, the announcer will say, "Perfect!" If the winning character is near knock out, the announcer will call, "Great!" Occasionally, both characters will be knocked out simultaneously, and the announcer will call "Double Knock Out". If the time limit for the round expires, the character with more health will be declared the winner. If one does not exist, is declared and additional rounds will be played until sudden death.

Planetary Heroes II: The New Fighters
Planetary Heroes II: The New Fighters released in 1995, was the sequel to the original Planetary Heroes. It was one of the earliest arcade games for Gamesoft's hardware. Notably, this game was known for its breakthrough graphics, as well as its separation from other clones of Street Fighter II that were made around that time with new gameplay features, including the Blackout attack, an attack that will leave the opponent temporarily paralyzed.

The original version of Planetary Heroes II featured a roster of eight playable characters that could be selected by the player. Lucas and Blake, the main characters from the original Planetary Heroes, appeared along with Chase (a former aviator from England) and five new characters from different nationalities: Haruo (a sumo wrestler from Japan), Peter (a young skater from America), Ming Shu (a female martial artist from China), Maxim (a pro wrestler from the USSR) and Manish (a monk from India).

The single player tournament mode also features four CPU-controlled opponents whom the player faces after defeating the other main characters. The bosses in the game: Hint (an American boxer already seen in the previous chapter), Wanda (a German claw-welding assassin), Percy, a one-eyed mafia boss and the former champion from the original Planetary Heroes; and Mytho (a mysterious military commander).

Planetary Heroes II OMeGA
Planetary Heroes II OMeGA, the second update of Planetary Heroes II, gave the game a complete graphical overhaul and introduced eight new playable characters. This game gave previous characters new basic moves, such as giving Wanda standing kicks, new special moves, such as Wanda diving claw, and improvements to existing special moves, such as Lucas' Flaming Knife Throw or Blake's Flaming Hawk Punch.

The game also featured slightly improved graphics including differently colored backgrounds and refined gameplay making it more faster. In addition, after every third match in the single player mode, the player will participate in a "Bonus Game" for additional points. The bonus games included (in order) a wall-breaking event, a balloon-popping bonus game where balloons are floating above the player and a crocodile bonus game where the player must fight against a crocodile.

Planetary Heroes II OMeGA Xtreme
Planetary Heroes II OMeGA Xtreme, the third and last update, was the first one released on PlayStation. It added new type of special techniques known as super combos and two hidden characters: Giras and Cressa.

Planetary Heroes II OMeGA Xtreme also introduced various modes that would become staples to the series. These include Survival mode, Team Battle mode and Time Attack mode. Survival mode takes the player through an endless number of matches to see how many opponent they can defeat without being defeated themselves. In addition, any health lost during a match will carry over to the next match, but the player would regain a little bit more health. Team Battle mode is a two-player mode which up to eight characters can be selected by each player. Like Survival mode, any health lost during a match will carry over to the next match, but the player will regain a small amount. Time Attack mode is similar to Arcade mode, except it is played to see how fast the player can go through it and beat records.

Planetary Heroes III
Planetary Heroes III was the first true sequel to the Second Series and the first entirely new Planetary Heroes arcade game developed by Gamesoft since the first iteration of Planetary Heroes II.

Planetary Heroes III revamps the Super Combo system introduced in Planetary Heroes II OMeGA Xtreme by adding a three-level Super Combo gauge. Like in OMeGA Xtreme, the Super Combo gauge fills in as the player performs regular and special moves. When the gauge reaches Level 1 or higher, the player can perform one of their character's Super Combo techniques. In addition to Super Combos, the player can also perform a special counterattacking technique called a B-Blackout after blocking an opponent's attack, which consumes a level of the Super Combo Gauge.

There are also new basic techniques such as Air Blocking, the ability to guard during mid-air, and Chain Combos, which are combos that are performed by interrupting the animation of one basic move by performing another of equal or greater strength. In addition to recovering from an opponent's throw, the player also has the ability to roll on the ground when they fall to the ground after an attack.

Planetary Heroes III Evolution
Planetary Heroes III Evolution was the first official update to the series bringing many improvements, such as significantly more detailed graphics and animations and and faster and more fluid gameplay.

The main new feature in the game is the inclusion of the Custom Combo system, which replaces the Chain Combos from the previous title. If the Super Combo gauge is on Lv. 1 or above, the player can initiate a Custom Combo pressing two punch buttons and a kick simultaneously (or vice versa). The player can then perform any series of basic and special moves to create a Custom Combo until the Timer Gauge at the bottom of the screen runs out. Additionally, each character now has two Alpha Counters instead of just one: one that can be performed with a kick button and another with a punch button.

Planetary Heroes III Infinite Legend
Planetary Heroes III: Infinite Legend was the second official update to the series.

Planetary Heroes III: Infinite Legend added new features: "Guard Breaks", unique moves which cannot be blocked by an opponent, and "Excel Combos" ("excel" being abbreviation for "extra cancel") allowing player to connect a series of basic and special moves for a limited time. During an Excel Combo, the player begins with a basic move and can follow up with a different basic move or follow-up a basic move with a special move, which can be followed by a different special move. However, the player cannot connect any move with the same move, nor is it possible to cancel special moves into basic moves during an Excel Combo.

Planetary Heroes III: Infinite Legend +AlphA
Planetary Heroes III: Infinite Legend +AlphA was the third official update to the series and the first one of this series released on PlayStation 2.

Planetary Heroes III: Infinite Legend +AlphA, further success in "Guard Breaks" added in the previous upgrade, added also "Surprise Blow" system which does not use up energy stored "super bars", and rather than being unblock-able, works as an over head attack that can be blocked, but only when standing. Survival mode, Team Battle mode and Time Attack mode made their return for this console version.

Planetary Heroes III: Infinite Legend X
Planetary Heroes III: Infinite Legend X was the fourth and last official update to the series and the first one of all the saga released on PlayStation 2.

Planetary Heroes III: Infinite Legend X continued the fighting mechanics from Planetary Heroes III: Infinite Legend +AlphA making them a bit faster. Along with Survival mode, Team Battle mode, and Time Attack mode were introduced two new modes. "Iron Ball" mode, a bowling minigame where each character has different attributes. "Psyblade Force" mode, a beat 'em up mini-game where the player with an over-the-shoulder perspective as they fight wave upon wave of Mytho's Psyblade Force through four stages, eventually facing Mytho himself. The player can pick up health and power-ups while they fight waves of enemies.

Planetary Heroes IV
Planetary Heroes IV: Fight for the Future was the true sequel to the Third Series. Series game discarded the character roster from previous games, with the exception of some characters.

Planetary Heroes IV: Fight for the Future introduced the Supreme Arts selection system and the ability to parry an opponent's attack. significant new gameplay changes had been introduced from the previous games in the series. For the first time, it allowed players to maneuver around an arena interacting with walls and other obstacles for extra damage. These "environmental hazards" in turn allowed players to juggle opponents for consecutive combos and allowed the designers to implement a "switch maneuver", which let players escape from cornering and throw the tide in their favor. The game engine had been tweaked to be more focused on the environment, causing the characters to move more slowly and fluidly than in Planetary Heroes III: Infinite Legend X. Finally, the game introduced a brand new graphics system, that featured increased lighting, dynamic physics, and smoother surfaces.

Planetary Heroes IV: Giga Strike
Planetary Heroes IV: Giga Strike was the first official update to the series bringing some adjustments to the gameplay and added some new characters. It was the first one of the Fourth Series released on PlayStation 2.

Planetary Heroes IV: Giga Strike introduced a comprehensive training mode. The mode consisted of an encyclopedia of fighting game terms, complete character command list walkthroughs, tips on all of the game's mechanics, recommended character combos, alternative options for failed combos, detailed command input timings, slow motion for frame counting and timing, and other useful training tips.

In this update was introduced also "Impeccability Challenge", a beat 'em up mini-game very similar to "Psyblade Force" mode from Planetary Heroes III: Infinite Legend X, where the player with an over-the-shoulder perspective as they fight wave upon wave of Dragon Army through six stages, eventually facing Iram.

Planetary Heroes IV: Last Attack
Planetary Heroes IV: Final Attack was the second and and last official update to the series. It was released on PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360.

Planetary Heroes IV: Final Attack brought just some improvements in the graphics system and a slight speeding on the characters' movement.