Ranma ½: Chougi Ranbu Hen

Ranma ½: Chougi Ranbu Hen; (Ranma CRH)
Developers	Rumic Soft
	Atelier Double
Systems	Super Famicom; JP: 1994
Official Websites	Ranma CRH Fightcade Portal
Online Play	Rollback (via Fightcade)

Introduction

Ranma ½: Chougi Ranbu Hen (sometimes referred to as Ranma CRH) is the sequel to Ranma ½: Bakuretsu Rantō-Hen (called Ranma ½: Hard Battle in the US). Although never released in the US, an English patch was completed by Dynamic Designs in 2018. It is considered by many to be the best Ranma ½ fighting game ever released.

Notation

Joypad Notation

F - Forward - Tilt d-pad forward/towards the opponent. (X-axis)
B - Backward/Back - Tilt d-pad backward/away from the opponent. (X-axis)
U - Up - Tilt d-pad upwards. (Y-axis)
D - Down - Tilt d-pad downwards. (Y-axis)
QCF - Quarter circle forward/Hadouken/Fireball - Tilt d-pad downwards, then to downwards and forward, then forward.
QCB - Quarter circle backward - Tilt d-pad downwards, then to downwards and backward, then backward.
HCF - Half circle forward - Tilt d-pad backwards, then to downwards and backward, then to downward, then to downwards and forward, then forward.
HCB - Half circle backward - Tilt d-pad forwards, then to downwards and forward, then to downward, then to downwards and backward, then backward.
DP - Dragon punch - Tilt d-pad forwards, then to downward, then to downward and forward.

Five Button Notation

Expressed in the form: Notation - Move - (SNES Default Map) -

LP - Light Punch - (Y)
HP - Hard Punch - (X)
LK - Light Kick - (B)
HK - Hard Kick - (A)
T - Taunt - (L)

Descriptors

Connectors

+: Used between two other pieces of notation to signify that they should be performed at the same time. i.e. "X" + "Y", "X" should be performed at the same time as "Y".

e.g. F + LP

-> (Sometimes > or ,): Indicates the next part of a sequence. i.e. "X" -> "Y" -> "Z", After "X" is performed, "Y" should follow, then "Z".

e.g. DP -> s.C -> DP

xx (Sometimes x): Used between two other pieces of notation to signify that the first should be cancelled (Interrupted earlier than it would finish otherwise) into the second. i.e. "X" xx "Y", "X" should be cancelled into "Y".
~: Indicates that the preceding action should link (immediately follow with) into the next action. i.e. "X" ~ "Y", "X" should be followed immediately by "Y"

e.g. LK ~ HP

State Modifiers

s. - The following move should be performed in the standing position (neutral in the Y-axis). i.e. s."X", perform "X" whilst standing.
c. - The following move should be performed in the crouched position (held down in the Y-axis). i.e. c."X", perform "X" whilst crouching.
j. - The following move should be performed in the "in the air" position (After having held up in the Y-axis). i.e. j."X", perform "X" whilst in the air.

Miscellaneous Notation

SP - Short for Super Move.
Twds/Twd - Towards or forward in the direction in which your character is facing.
x(Integer) - Number of times - Shows how many times that particular part of a sequence can be repeated.
xx - Canceling a move into another,
Mash - Repeatedly press a button(s).
Deep/Close - How close a move is performed - When the sprites are overlapping.
Far - How close a move is performed - When the sprites aren't overlapping.
Tick - THROW LOL
Reversal - Executing a move on the exact frame that you are granted the ability to do so.

Game Mechanics

Throws

While close to your opponent (but not the closest distance possible, except as Akane), press B+HP or F+HP and your character will perform a throw, which is unblockable and will cause a knockdown.

Throws activate in 1 frame and throw ranges differ slightly between characters. Despite this, the throw range for every character is very short, so while they are still useful, tick throws are not as effective as in many contemporary 2D fighters. You cannot throw an opponent in blockstun.

Health and Defense

All characters have identical amounts of vitality in this game, but each character has a defense value that reduces damage taken, which effectively give them different health values:

135 - Herb

130 - Genma

125 - Ryoga

110 - Akane, Shampoo, Ukyo

105 - Hinako, Mariko, Mousse, Ranma (male)

100 - Kodachi, Kuno, Ranma (female)

Dizzies

Every attack has a stun value that accumulates when it hits. A character's accumulated stun decreases by 1 every 20 frames, except when they are in their knockdown animation. When total stun gets to 10, a character is dizzied, which causes a knockdown and prevents the victim from controlling their character after getting up, allowing the opponent to land a free hit.

Pressing directions and any button except Start after waking up in a dizzy state will get you out of the dizzy state faster. After the dizzy animation has ended (regardless of whether or not you were hit), the victim's stun will not accumulate again for 80 frames, which makes re-dizzy combos very rare.

Taunts

After completing your taunt animation, your health bar will flash. While your health bar is flashing, you have access to your Super Move and the next attack you land will deal more damage. The damage increase varies between moves. Weak attacks only gain a small damage boost, but some strong attacks and specials can deal double damage or more.

The Taunt boost will end if you block an attack, use any special move, use your Super Move, or connect with any attack (even if it's blocked). Because of the animation length of most Taunts, you generally have to give up the advantage of a knockdown to successfully Taunt. Most Super Moves are situational at best, and since most interactions will cancel the Taunt boost, it's generally not worth using in a serious match compared to a jump-in mix-up or guaranteed unblockable.

Strategy

The mixup / strategy in this game is somewhat unorthodox due to throws being so difficult to preform. I will assume you have played fighting games before and skip straight to strategies specific to this game.

Know the matchups. Your success in this game is almost exclusively dependent on matchup knowledge. Certain combos and punishes work against specific characters.

Block. Combos are incredibly damaging in this game and throws are very difficult to perform. Like in any game, block when in doubt. Learning to block ambiguous crossups and 'Early Crossups' CORRECTLY is crucial.

Far Crossups. Crossing up Far is particularly lethal in this game due to the ambiguity of the jumping hitbox. Most characters have one or two high priority attacks (with strange enough hitboxes) that will prove difficult for your opponent to block correctly on crossup.

Bait Throws. More often than not, throws will not work and you will get a standing fierce instead. With many characters such as Mousse and Mariko, their standing fierces are punishable on block. Capitalize on this by hovering barely out of throw range and blocking. Punish their move with a combo.

Jump-In Unblockables. Jumping attacks can only be blocked while standing, and a character that does a standing block cannot shift to a crouching block for 13 frames. As a result, many characters can use a jumping attack right before they land, then follow up with a fast low (usually cr.LK) that becomes unblockable. Some characters even get dizzy combos from these unblockables, especially if they have some stun from a prior knockdown, so you want to aim for this anytime a knockdown gives you plenty of frame advantage.

The Characters

Miscellaneous

Frame Processing Issues

Unfortunately, because of the inefficient way the game handles things such as hitboxes, there is often slowdown with a lot of variance. Depending on the stage and characters (larger characters and busier stages are worse), the game is usually running between 30 and 50 FPS. Worse still, the slowdown can occasionally cause inputs not to register, making certain special cancels and combos stricter than they should be. Very few combos are tight enough where this will prevent them from working if RNG is not on your side, but missing certain special cancels as a result can be annoying.

The Antarctica stage alleviates slowdown the most, so this should be the preferred stage whenever possible.