Rad Battle Grandprix

Rad Battle Grandprix (ラッドバトルグランプリ) is a fighting video game in which the players battle against other combatants in arena-sized cars. Their first game after their formation, it was produced by Burst Arts and published by Namco in September 1993 for the Arcades before being ported to the Sega CD. It was notorious for its use of "animated" sprites (drawn by Hiroshi Osaka).

## Gameplay

Rad Battle Grandprix's gameplay is most reminiscent to the likes of other 2D fighters following Street Fighter II, but to differentiate itself from the "clones," it features various twists in its gameplay. For one, the player has a "Combo" gauge that builds as the player performs various moves. The Combo gauge begins at Lv. 1 and reaches Lv. 2 when it becomes half-full and energy will surround the player's character until it becomes full and reaches HI level. Players can then perform a "Combo Art", which consumes a short amount of the Combo gauge, or a "Burst Art", which consumes a large amount of the same gauge. In addition, players can perform Hi Jumps, the ability to roll away or towards an opponent, and the ability to chase an opponent after throwing them for additional attacks.

## Story

The game takes place on a fictional continent on Earth, where a tournament is being held, on which the Rad Battle Research Facility has invented automatic mobile arenas in the game for opponents to battle upon. Friendly rivals Roy Armand and Byron Greenly, as well as secret spy Gina Aoshi attend this tournament and fight against eight opponents, only to end up in the affairs of the Builders Organization.

## Playable Characters

Much like the first *Fatal Fury* video game, Rad Battle Grandprix features only three playable characters. The player chooses one of them and then progresses throughout the game defeating the opponents.

* Roy Armand: the lead protagonist; an American 20-year-old who is searching for his father, who was in the war against the Builders Organization. He attends the tournament hoping to find the answer to his father's whereabouts.
* Gina Aoshi: a Japanese 19-year-old girl who works as a nurse. However this is more of a coverup for her true occupation; she is actually a spy. She attends the tournament in order to learn more about the Builders Organization.
* Bryan Greenly: an English 21-year-old who is the son of a retired boxer. He is the fair rival of Roy and the two compete in the tournament in order to prove which one of them is the strongest.

## CPU Opponents

* Millie Kristine: an Australian woman who is one of the three owners of a local aquarium. She promised her family that she will win the Rad Battle Grandprix so that they can raise enough money for the aquarium.
* Harry Rodriguez: a Brazilian man who has lived in the mountains since his childhood. He enters the Rad Battle Grandprix to determine of his strength has improved from his training.
* Erika Fujiwara: a Japanese girl who is taking over for her mother as the watcher of her garden. Believing that victory could lead her to a larger selection of flowers, she enters the Rad Battle Grandprix to make that vision a reality.
* Mathis Brooks: an American man who was a soldier before retiring after being the lone soldier returning from the war. He later joined Builders in order to not only win the tournament, but also kill his opponents.
* Natsume Fontaine: a Japanese-French clairvoyant who despises ugly things and favors beauty the most. She works for Builders, hoping to rid the world of anything deemed as disgusting.
* Kouga Kishimoto: a ninja trained in the traditional martial arts to fight in the tournament. He is actually a member of the Builders Organization, hired to take down anyone who would foil the group's schemes.
* Benjamin O'Reilly: a Scottish man who is the founder and scientist of the Rad Battle Research Facility.
* Giorgio Showell: the final boss; an Italian man who is the top enforcer and head of the Builders Organization. 3 years ago he used to be a regular member of the Rad Battle Research Facility until he decided to defect from the agency and formed the Builders Organization to train captives into powerful fighters.

## Stages

* Arena
* Beach
* Port
* Temple
* Jungle
* Cavern
* Tundra
* Wastelands
* Mountain
* Builders Organization's Hideout
* Giorgio's Base