Asuka 120%
Asuka 120%, subtitled Burning Fest., is a Japanese bishōjo fighting video game series from FamilySoft. It is set in a school where members of school clubs fight each other in a fighting tournament. Originally released on the FM Towns home personal computer in 1994, Masatoshi Imaizumi led development with artwork provided by manga artist Aoi Nanase and music by Keishi Yonao. Fill-in-Cafe developed it and its four follow-ups: Excellent on the same platform, later remade for PlayStation in 1997; Maxima on PC Engine; Special on PlayStation; and Limited on Sega Saturn. Success then developed an additional two titles: Final on PlayStation and Return on Windows. New entries in the Asuka 120% series have been announced in the 2020s although are yet to be released.
Plot
The game is set at the Ryōran Private School for Women, which educates the daughters of the upper echelons of society. Every year, the school's clubs hold a martial arts tournament called the "Club Rivalry Budget Contest Mega Fight" to compete for increased budget to the winning school club. After repeated poor performances at previous tournaments, the Chemistry Club president, Tetsuko Ōgigaya, scouts and trains Asuka Honda to become this year's winner. Asuka now has to defeat members of several school clubs in order to succeed.Gameplay
The game is a 1v1 fighting game in the vein of Street Fighter II, but in Asuka 120% each character employs a fighting style and techniques unique to each club as opposed to particular martial arts. The game has a standard input system for special moves across the entire cast which had not been seen in other fighting games at the time. Asuka 120% would switch from a 2-button to a 3-button game depending on the console it was released.Also, unique to Asuka 120% is its "clash system". If both characters hit each other neither take damage; rather, they go into the next phase of the move until one character takes damage. During a clash, players can cancel into a special move, a movement option or a throw, which makes for explosive battles.
The "120%" portion of the game's name comes from the special meter gauge filling up at 120% instead of 100%. Once a full bar of meter is reached, it will begin draining slowly. During this state, characters have unlimited access to super meter.
All these systems, along with expanded mobility options compared to contemporary fighting games of that time, give Asuka 120% a flair of its own.
Characters
;Introduced in Asuka 120% BURNING Fest.- Asuka Honda of the Chemistry Club
- Kumi Ōkubo of the Rhythmic Gymnastics Club
- Tamaki Shindō of the Tennis Club
- Ryūko Yamazaki of the Volleyball Club
- Megumi Suzuki of the Cheerleading Club
- Torami Hōjō of the Karate Club
- Karina Toyota of the Biology Club
- Cathy Wild of the Pro-Wrestling Club
- Kiyoko Mitarai of the Softball Club
- Nana Owada of the Japanese Dance Club
- Shinobu Kawasaki
- Tetsuko Ōgigaya of the Chemistry Club
- Genichirō Shindō
- Ichiko Furutachi of the Journalism Club
Development
Asuka 120% was produced by just two full-time programmers who comprised the company Fill-in-Cafe. The franchise was programmed and designed by Masatoshi Imaizumi, its music was composed by Keishi Yonao, and the games' illustrations were designed by Aoi Nanase. Asuka 120% Burning Fest was just one fighting game of the era which had female characters, humor, and fan service. Similar games from that era include games such as Tōkidenshō Angel Eyes, Pretty Fighter X, and Variable Geo.Categorized as a bishōjo game, eleven versions were released for various platforms between 1994 and 1999. The combat system of Asuka 120% was based on the beat-em-up Mad Stalker, and is also similar to Makeruna! Makendō 2: Kimero Youkai Souri. Development of Mad Stalker for the X68000, FM Towns and PlayStation ; the PlayStation port of Makeruna! Makendō 2: Kimero Youkai Souri was done by Fill-in-Cafe.
In March 2021, a Japanese company called Opera House had announced two new entries in the Asuka 120% series on Twitter. The first was titled Asuka 120% Reborn, which is heavily based on the X68000 games set to release on the Mega Drive with a new character who was said to be a boxer girl, and new content. Additionally, Asuka 120% Reborn is also being planned for an enhanced release on the Nintendo Switch with an exclusive story mode. The second game was titled Asuka 120% O-Nyuu, which will feature the cast as 3D models for the first time and will be released on modern hardware. At EVO Japan 2024, exA-Arcadia announced ''Asuka 120% EXALLENT.''
Reception
Japanese game magazine Famitsu reviewed several versions of the game. Maxima Burning Fest was given a score of 21 out of 40, Special Burning Fest was given a score of 23 out of 40, and Burning Fest Final was given a score of 28 out of 40.Ted Thomas from Viz Media's online magazine wrote that Special BURNING Fest. is not worth importing.
GameSpot reviewed Excellent BURNING Fest. and gave it 7.1 in its review.
The game has been featured at fighting game tournaments, such as EVO Japan 2020. Additional to the games, Asuka 120% has had novels, soundtrack CDs, and other merchandise released during the 90s.