Red Earth (video game)


Red Earth, released in Japan as War-Zard, is a fantasy-themed 2D competitive fighting game released by Capcom as a coin-operated video game in 1996. It was the first game for Capcoms CP System III hardware, the same hardware which Street Fighter III and its derivatives ran on. As of 2019, Red Earth is the only CPS III video game which has never been officially ported to home platforms, although its characters have appeared in later Capcom games.

Gameplay

Red Earth features two different game modes: a single-player Quest Mode and a two-player Versus Mode. In Quest Mode, the player chooses from one of the four main characters, and progresses through their character's storyline while fighting against a series of eight computer-controlled adversaries in one-on-one battles, gaining experience points during each battle, which are used to improve the character's attack and defense and access new moves. In Versus Mode, two players fight against each other, each using any of the four main characters. Red Earth uses a password feature that allows the player to play the game later on the same skill level their character reached when it ended the last time. The character is able to acquire new abilities depending on the skill level that has been reached.
The fighting system itself is similar to previous Capcom fighting games such as the Street Fighter series with a few key differences. First of all, the vitality gauge of each computer-controlled opponent fought by the player during Quest mode is displayed across the bottom of the screen, and is much larger than the player's own vitality gauge. Also, as the player lands hits on their opponents, various coins and treasure chests come out. Collecting coins provides experience points, while various items can be found in treasure chests such as orbs and food. These elements make the game very similar to a side-scrolling action game rather than a traditional competitive fighting game.
Red Earth is one of the few Capcom games with fatalities. They include splitting the opponent in half, decapitation, artery rupture, organ removal, and limb slicing.

Characters

Red Earth takes place on an alternate version of Earth sometime in the 14th century where the world did not experience any technological revolutions or Renaissance and was still in a medieval/mythological state. A new country has risen by the evil Scion, who sends out various monsters to take over the world. Four heroes emerge to defend Earth.

Heroes

Soundtrack

An official soundtrack of the game was released on December 18, 1996, for ¥3200. It was composed by Takayuki Iwai with additional help by Ryoji Yamamoto and Wataru Hachisako. It contains 72 tracks over 2 CDs. Certain tracks were later featured in the 2004 game Capcom Fighting Evolution, although they are downgraded versions and slightly offtune.

Merchandise

Two books about the game were published in Japan. The first one, titled All About War-Zard, is an in-depth look at the creation of the game. It contains many pages of concept art and screenshots, details on technical and musical aspects of the game as well as gameplay strategies. The other book, titled Gamest Mook #65: War-Zard, was a similar, although unofficial book. This book also contained a fan art section.
A Darkstalkers and Red Earth crossover manga, entitled "Maleficarum", was published in Japan in 1997. The English edition was made available by UDON in October 2010. Capcom also released several figurines of the various characters and bosses from the game.

Reception

In Japan, Game Machine listed Red Earth on their February 1, 1997 issue as being the second most-successful arcade game of the year.

Legacy

Some of the characters from Red Earth have appeared in other fighting games: