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Written: 11.19.06
Acquired: 10.11.06
Status: CIB
Price: $20

Publisher: Tsukuda OriginalReleased: 3.4.95
Developer: GivroScarcity: 4.5


There's obscure... and then there's obscure. Some games you love because they're great... others aren't exactly great but you love anyway because of their perks

For me, the latter rings true for this title


SUPER MAD CHAMP is a motorcycle racer with a dash of ROAD RASH, and then some. It's unfortunate the game is mostly an unknown, considering how many me-too titles call Super Nintendo home. SUPER MAD CHAMP on the other hand managed to distinguish itself as a noteworthy and truly unique effort, and its moment in the spotlight has been long overdue






THE RIDERS




1. Typical "good looking" hero boy

2. Token chick (complete with bouncy chest)

3. The "cool" rebel

4. The punk

5. The wily if not gruffly veteran



The more races you win, knock opponents off their bikes and whatnot the more money you earn. You can buy new bikes; of which there are 12. You can tune 'em up as well






ARCADE ANTICS OR SIMULATION SHENANIGANS?


Don't be fooled by the ability to buy and tune cars that Super Mad Champ is seep with sim roots and spirit. It's an arcade-like racer all the way






GAME MODES?  2 PLAYERS?  TRACK COUNT?





Two modes. Sadly, 1-Player only

1. Grand Prix (3 cups... password is available)

2. Time Attack

Total of 18 tracks







ANY TRICKS I CAN PULL?






Press down to pop a wheelie

Whenever you jump, make sure you execute one, or else when you land you'll lose the momentum you had










                Sometimes there's a dip in the road...

                Other times this platform










During take-off's, the CPU is
smart and always pop one







DASH OF ROAD RASH







Fend off the competition with
a well placed kick "L" for left
side, "R" for right





Two hits knocks 'em off; KA-CHING!







SCROLL-PLAYING GAMES





Scrolling is what (usually) makes or breaks a
game of this nature. Coming from a lesser-name
company I feared the worst. I was therefore
pleasantly surprised by how well it scrolls. The
lack of slowdown is a major plus as well. Not a
bad job here, where many others have failed.
The little details are pretty ace as well



Such as these grass cuts







TRACK VARIETY

Pretty solid -- covers most the cliches and all looks pretty damn nice















Punk swings his chain instead of kicking









      







                                                                        Lotsa dips in this SUPER CROSS-esque track

















Things get slippery here in a hurry



"Is this Heaven?"
"No... it's Iowa"



Cookie if you know which classic film this quote comes from

















Airstrike!




OK, IT'S GOT SOME ROAD RASH I'LL GRANT YOU THAT



Sure



BUT IT *IS* ONLY ONE PLAYER




Ya



SO FAR I DON'T SEE HOW IT STANDS OUT, REALLY




I've saved the best for last...





YEAH, SO?  THAT HAPPENS ALL THE TIME


That's what I thought at first too...






WHAT THE HELL!


My thoughts exactly!








Whenever you get off your bike, whether by
choice or force, this guy appears ready to fight.
Both players have an energy bar and can block.
It's no Street Fighter II... you can only punch
and jump kick, but this basic style works




                                 Actually, there IS one more thing you can do...










                      






                                                                                "Quit running and fight, ya bum!"

















"OH ----"










                                                           






                                                                                                "OOF!"



"Nice ride, buddy, think I'll take it.  Hey great workin' wit ya, let's do lunch sometime yeah?"








Throwing bikes around -- you can't
beat it. They too have an energy bar.
The lower a motorcycle's energy, the
less velocity it can travel at. And
should it ever hit zero, well, KABOOM!







FIGHT CLUB







Looking for an easy way to
upgrade your bike?  Just
stop, get off and wait...









                    Then give 'im a good slacking and
                    then say hello to your new ride







ROADKILL

This can happen to the reckless...















Ran over while standing...









                                          







                                                                                      ... or lying... OUCH

















And you thought YOU were having a bad day!










                               You can even knock off
                               passing riders if timed right







STREET FIGHTER II ROOTS

Again, the battle system is no SF II... but wait-a-sec...

















Hmmmm.....



Somewhere right now Guile's rollin' round in his grave!



No fancy Hadoken motions here. Those moves above merely cap off punch combo's (rapidly hitting "Y")







IT'S LIKE "BISHIN DENSETSU ZOKU" EH?

Zoku is a SFC-only racing-fighting hybrid, but Super Mad Champ really isn't like it. Fighting is optional in SMC whereas in Zoku you had no choice after the driving bits. Zoku came off very meh to me. Proceed with that title at your own caution






FIGHT OR FLIGHT?


When you're off your bike you have two options: fight or flight. You have to weigh your pro's and con's. Fight too long and you'll never get back in the race. If you don't finish #1 or #2 (out of 5) you have to repeat the course. So, it's advisable to fight temptation. But should you engage in the scruffle, make it quick and go

But if you just want to fool around?  It's great fun to finish 'em off, heh heh....






THIS GAME IS KUNIO KUN AT HEART?  SAY WHAT?


The only other piece of info on the web I could find on this game is a quick post that states the following, how accurate it is I do not know although I think his info is legit

----

For those who are fans of the Kunio-kun series like I am, might be aware that at some point Technos planned on releasing Kunio Bike Racing game using the same engine from Kunio-tachi no Banka. What few people may know however, was that Kunio-tachi no Banka was actually developed by outside company called Almanic. Almanic was comprised of former Technos staff members, including Kunio-kun and Double Dragon director and producer, Yoshihisa Kishimoto. Almanic did a bunch of other stuff, but their best known work was Wonder Project J and it's N64 sequel.

Anyway, Almanic was contracted by Technos to do Kunio-tachi no Banka (the true sequel to the very first Kunio-kun game) , in addition to the bike racing game. While Technos ditched the bike racing, Almanic decided to released it anyway through another company and thus, it became Super Mad Champ (without Kunio's presense in the game).

Mad Champ, as mentioned earlier, was developed on the Kunio-tachi no Banka-engine, meaning that both games, share a similar look. As a matter of fact, you can even get off your bike and fight agaisnt a rival biker (and steal his bike while you're at it). The rest of the game plays like a typical bike racing simulator, in which you race in three different types of grand prix and customize your bike (and buy a new one when you can). It's quite a fun little game.


credit: "Johnny Undaunted" 3/26/04
---

Take of that as you will! After reading that and looking at the game again... it is easy to spot the Kunio influences...







CLOSING THOUGHTS


Super Mad Champ
(gotta love its campy title) was part of the package, with Keeper, and it too eluded me for ages. I was a bit apprehensive in buying it, fearing that it might be obscure for the bad reasons....

But after playing it, nothing could be further from the truth! The racing, being the meat of the game, is plenty solid and the extracurricular activities make it that much more fun and memorable

All in all, it's a fun quirky game