Chances are that, if there’s a Japanese video game around, it’s also had a tie-in OVA (original video animation) made about it.Tekken,Street Fighter,Final Fantasy,Sonic the Hedgehog, and evenYshave had OVAsmade about them.
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But there are some video game OVAs that have fallen by the wayside. Ones that fell into obscurity because they either strayed too far from its franchise’s target audience or were based on a game that was a little too niche. Here are some game series whose OVAs disappeared into the ether.
10King Of Fighters
Technically,King of Fighters: Another Daywas an ONA (original net animation) as it was released in four 6-minute-long episodes online. Made by Production I.G, each episode focused on a different KOF fighter. One episode would have K’ and Maxima taking on Ralf and Clark, then another would have Kyo Kusanagitaking on Ash Crimson.
It’s also the only time the characters from theMaximum Impactgames would appear in animation, with the first episode focusing on protagonists Alba and Soirée Meira.Another Daygot plenty of coverage during its release in late 2005. But its fame has since faded away due to that brief release and short runtime. It felt more disposable as a result, despite arguably looking better than its CG successorKOF: Destiny.
9Megaman
Surprisingly, the Blue Bomber has had more animated love in the West than his native Japan. Despite having some lavish animated scenes in the PS1 entries (and notoriously terrible voice acting). But Megaman’s most memorable animated appearances have been Western. Those being his infamous recurring role inCaptain N: The Game Master, or theinsane Ruby-Spears cartoon.
However, in 1993, Japan got a 3-episode OVA calledRockman: Hoshi ni Negai Wo. In it, Megaman chases Dr Wily out of the Famicom and into the real world. With the help of the Kobayashi family, the super fighting robot battles against the mad scientist while learning about Japanese culture. The OVAs did somehow reach the US a decade later via ADV Films but remains relatively obscure.
8Street Fighter
Street Fighter: Yomigaeru Fujiwara-Kyōis perhaps the most obscure of the franchise’s official animations. It’s a semi-sequel to the more famousStreet Fighter 2anime, using its art style and Japanese voice cast, and doesn’t actually feature any fighting at all, in the streets or otherwise. Instead, Ryu, Ken, E.Honda and Chun Li find themselves split up and sent back in time to Fujiwara, Japan’s ancient capital city.
Ken tells Ryu random facts about the city as they search for Honda and Chun Li. The OVA was never released outside of Japan, and it was only available there twice: on VHS at an exhibition about Fujiwara in 1995, then on DVD forStreet Fighter’s 15th anniversary in 2002. Nowadays, the curious can find the whole thing subtitled on YouTube.
7Voltage Fighter Gowcaizer
After Masami Obari turnedFatal FuryandBattle Arena Toshindeninto OVAs, theDouble Dragondevelopers Technos got him to work onVoltage Fighter Gowcaizer, one of their fighting game projects. Unlike his previous work, Obari got to design the game’s characters from scratch before putting them on the small screen. Unfortunately, his designs weren’t as good as SNK’s classic characters, and the game got middling reviews at best.
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The 3-episode OVA got edited together into a film for its US release via Central Park Media. It tried to go more in-depth on the game’s plot, not that there was much of one to begin with. The OVA is mostly remembered today for its bonkers plot and bad voice acting. Still, two of its characters - Karin Son and Shaia Hishizaki- got to survive beyond the franchise in Obari’s porno seriesAngel Blade.
6Zone Of The Enders
To prepare for the release ofNoriaki Okamura and Hideo Kojima’sanime-style mech-combat sim, Sunrise Inc put togetherZone of the Enders: 2167 Idolo. The hour-long installment served as a prequel to explain the game’s premise. Notably, how Earth and Mars went to war with each other, what Idolo is, and how it connects to Viola,Enders’main villain.
Helen McCarthy included it in her500 Essential Anime Moviesbook back in 2009. Though chances are most people forgotZone of the Enderswas a thing. Despite also gaining a TV series,Z.O.E: Dolores, I, the franchise’s legacy today exists largely as references in Kojima’sMetal Gearseries.
5Samurai Shodown
Ever wondered whatSamurai Shodownwould look like in the hands of the guy behindKiteandMezzo Forte? The character designer from those series, Yasuomi Umetsu, got to redesignShodown’s Ainu priestesses Nakoruru and Rimururu, as well as Nakoruru’s dark counterpart Rera.
Nakoruru: Ano Hito Kara no Okurimonowas originally going to be a 13-episode series until Studio ARMS cut it down to two. Then they lacked funding to finish the second episode. So, in the end, it became a one-off, half-hour show about Nakoruru fighting against Rera and her inner darkness. While Rimururu and Manari play around on the sidelines.
4Twinbee
If the FPS genre ruled the US during the 2000s and collectathon platformers ruled Europe in the early 1990s, shoot-em-ups reigned in Japan across the late 1980s. For fans that wanted something less serious thanGradius, less funny thanParodius, while still being a Konami product,Twinbeescratched that itch.
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That may sound facetious, butTwinbeewas a pretty big deal at the time of its release. It had tie-in manga comics going well up to 2006, two short anime films, a radio drama CD, and an OVA adaptation of said radio drama calledTwinbee Paradise. In it, Twinbee and friends must retrieve the Belle Cloud of Bell to restore their shrunken pilot Pastel back to her normal size in time for the Ms Donburi contest.
3Panzer Dragoon
Sega Saturn fansdidn’t have muchto hold above their PS1 and N64-owning friends. A version ofX-Men vs Street Fighterwith actual tagging was Japan-exclusive, and the onlySonicgame that didn’t have a host of caveats on it wasSonic Jam-a compilation of the Genesis games. There wasPanzer Dragoon, a series ofSpace Harrier-esque 3D shooters that became a cult hit with gamers.
Production I.G even put together a half-hour OVA about a boy and his blue dragon rescuing a damsel in distress from a black dragon. It can be found on YouTube, though it isn’t recommended. One review on MyAnimeList described it as “an odious dumpster juice smoothie”.
2Ninja Gaiden
Going by the game’s Japanese name,Ninja Ryūkendenhas a grand total of 2 sentences on Wikipedia. Luckily there is more info on it elsewhere, and the full OVA is on YouTube as well. It was released back in 1991, well before Ryu Hayabusa gained his kunoichi harem via theDOAseriesand modern trilogy. In fact, it came out before even the third game in the original NES trilogy.
Taking place betweenNinja Gaiden2: The Dark Sword of ChaosandNinja Gaiden 3: The Ancient Ship of Doom, Hayabusa has to stop Dr Ned Friedman and Professor Bucky-Wise from using the Bone of the Demon to fill New York City with monsters. Yes, Bucky-Wise. Sounds like the kind of nameYaiba: Ninja Gaiden Zwould’ve used.
1Salamander
AKALife Force, theSalamanderseries never really stepped out from the shadows of theGradiusseries. It could spin off as much as it could, butGradiusand its jokey equivalentParodiusended up being the belles of the shoot-em-up ball. Regardless, it gained two OVAs:SalamanderandSalamander Basic Saga: The Meditation of Paulain 1988. The latter is the more obscure of the two, with not even a Wikia giving it a full synopsis.
The best that can be winkled out is that the titular Paula comes to warn the people of Planet Gradius of a grave threat heading their way. Then it’s up to three heroes to confront it and save the day. Maybe it’ll turn up online someday. Though it might be easier to just re-watch theMacrossseries again.
