Waku Waku 7

Waku Waku 7 (わくわく7, Waku Waku Sebun, lit. "Exciting 7"), is a 1996 2D fighting game developed and published by Sunsoft initially as an arcade game for the Neo Geo MVS arcade system in 1996 worldwide.

A port for the Nintendo Switch, part of the Arcade Archive collection from the Japanese video game publisher Hamster Corporation, was released in March 2017. A year later the same port was released on Xbox One and PlayStation 4.

Plot
"It is said that the person who collects all seven of the legendary WakuWaku balls will have their dearest wish granted. Those who find one of the balls become obsessed with the ruthless desire to obtain the others, who will be victorious in the bitter battle to become the owner of all the balls. Victory or defeat - it all lies in your hand."

Gameplay
Waku Waku 7 has an irregular feature set for a fighting game of its time, and includes features common to SNK fighting games (such as four basic attacks and screens zooming).

The game has a roster of nine characters (two of which were available only in the Versus mode of the console ports). Each has a significantly different playstyle and parodies a well-known character from another game. Each character has a powerful special move (referred to as the Harahara movement, or Harahara motion). They had several factors that made them unique, including a need to be charged (during which the character concentrates, says something, strikes a pose or blows a fanfare) and being unblockable and difficult to dodge, but can be interrupted while charging; while charging, the game flashes a warning and sounds an alarm. Characters could be launched through the screen to hit the other corner, and attacked while on the ground; but also could dodge or attack while getting up.

Characters

 * Rai Bakuoh is a cocky 15-year-old boy who pursues the WakuWaku Balls to achieve his dream of more exciting adventures. He is a parody of Sie Kensou of The King of Fighters/Psycho Soldier. He practices BMX tricks and has an excellent jumping ability (including a double-jump). However, most of his special moves use some sort of dark electric power.
 * Arina Makihara is a 17-year-old girl with bunny ears, clad in a unitard and short-sleeved jacket. She pursues the WakuWaku Balls to achieve her dream to have a nice love. She is said to have learned to fight in an extracurricular compulsory class in high school, and is often seen with her friends and little brother, who are, like her, all parodies of typical half-animal/half-human characters from several shōjo manga and anime mix with klonoa.
 * Dandy-J is a treasure hunter hired to go after the WakuWaku Balls, though has no wish to grant in particular, and is accompanied by his friend's daughter Natsumi Hazama and pet cat "Rampoo" (sometimes mentioned as Ramp or Rump) in his quest. Dandy-J uses a whip in his battles, with Natsumi and Rump sometimes making single attacks at the opponent. He is a parody of both the titular character of the Indiana Jones series and Joseph Joestar from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure.
 * Mauru (known as Marurun in the Japanese version) is a purple forest creature that is a parody of Totoro. He carries a lost little girl named Mugi Rokujoh. He likes fruits and singing. Mauru's play style is similar to the Darkstalkers character Sasquatch, with many moves mimicking near-verbatim.
 * Politank-Z is a tank-mecha of the police department, which is a parody of the police tanks from Dominion. It is piloted by the Chief and his trusty sidekick, the Mechanic, who is a dog. The Politank is large and slow, making it easy to hit, but is able to deal large amounts of damage.
 * Slash is a calm and collected elf with light green hair and a blue trench coat who battles with a laser sword. He has no wish to grant in particular when he obtains the WakuWaku Balls. He is a parody of typical sword-using heroes of certain manga and anime.
 * Tesse is the seventh robot built by Dr. Lombrozo, Tesse was made to be that of a maid (cooking and keeping the house clean). She pursues the WakuWaku Balls to not only cure the illness of Dr. Lombrozo, but to also achieve her dream of becoming human. She fights using an assorted array of cleaning utensils, electricity attacks, and a syringe. She is possibly a cross parody of Astro Boy and cosplay restaurants.

Selectable only in the versus mode:


 * Bonus-kun is a living punching bag whose looks, motives and attacks directly lampoon Ryu from Capcom's Street Fighter franchise. His origins lie in Galaxy Fight: Universal Warriors; he was Rouwe's punching bag, until it became alive and was then trained by him. Due to a lack of limbs, he cannot crouch or grab opponents. In Waku Waku 7, he features more moves than he did in Galaxy Fight: Universal Warriors.
 * Makaitaitei Fernandez (known as Fernandeath in the Japanese version) is a black sphere with stubby arms, legs and wings, a large grin and an irritating modulated voice. Fernandez is the game's final boss, and is as tall as a skyscraper. Through a variety of magical means, the other characters are enlarged so as to fight him on equal terms, which is a reference to the kaiju genre.

Cameos

 * Arina from Waku Waku 7 was made cameo in the mobile game Shanghai Musume: Mahjong Girls on 2012 in Japan.