Pretty Fighter X (Japan)

Year: 1995
Platform: Saturn
Developer: Imagineer
Genre: Girl fighting (18+)
Rating: ***

This is a 2D anime styled fighting game a la "Street Fighter II" that features an all female cast of fighters from various walks of life. In story mode, each character is introduced with a short animated clip that shows them encountering a mysterious golden cross pendant. The fighting tournament ultimately leads to a showdown with Maria Christel, a sinister catholic nun who holds the secret of the cross.

A rather weak game in terms of graphics and gameplay, but enjoyable for its cute characters and their hilarious fighting techniques. (e.g. the high school teacher character hurls chalk and has a move that puts their opponent in detention) The animated intros and conclusions in story mode are rather simplistic, but extremely amusing and often times quite funny. They're a nice touch that the other girl fighting games tend to lack. The game treads lightly into adult cheesecake territory by rewarding the viewer with a sexy picture of the player's character after every third fight, but none of them contain nudity. The game also spawned a poor psuedo-sequel called "Fist."