Kamen Rider is a Beat 'em Up action game developed by Sun L and published by Bandai for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1993, based on the Japanese tokusatsu series of the same name and also one of the first video games based on the franchise.
The game's plot loosely follows the original first show, from way back in 1971. Players assume the roles of Takeshi Hongo (Player 1) and Hayato Ichimonji (player 2), the first two Riders who must stop the Shocker Organization from taking over the world by beating up legions and legions of Shocker mooks in levels set in the city, docks, construction sites, a dam, before a final confrontation in the Shocker Headquarters.
A playthrough is available right here
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See also Ultra Toukon Densetsu for another arcade-actioner based on Toku.
Henshin!
- Back-to-Back Badasses: On two-player mode, Takeshi Hongo and Hayato Ichimonji can each take on legions of Shocker mooks coming from both sides of the screen.
- Badass Normal: Takeshi Hongo and Hayato Ichimonji, much like in the show, can beat up scores and scores of Shocker Combatmen without resorting to transforming.
- Big Dam Plot: One particular stage is set atop a dam, where mooks can be knocked into the water for an easy defeat.
- Boss Rush: Takeshi and Hayato in the final level, where they'll face five previously defeated bosses in a row before the Final Boss.
- Construction Vehicle Rampage: In between stages, Takeshi and Hayato (In their Rider forms) will have to fight an excavator piloted by a lone Shocker mook, and defeat it by preventing it from running the Riders out of the screen within a certain time limit.
- Conveyor Belt o' Doom: The stage in the factory have Takeshi and Hayato battling Shocker mooks while standing on a conveyer belt that takes up the whole screen, moving towards a hydraulic press. And they must be on the move to prevent getting killed instantly. Every now and then, unfortunate Shocker mooks will end up under the press as well.
- Crate Expectations: Like every good brawler, this game has wooden crates that can be smashed for points, or for throwing mooks headfirst into.
- Diving Kick: The Rider Kick is available in the game as well as a special move. After defeating the bosses, the game then creates a cutscene where Takeshi Hongo or Hayato Ichimonji (in Rider mode) pulls a Rider Kick from the defeated boss' POV, followed by the boss' death.
- Flunky Boss: All the bosses are flanked by Shocker mooks.
- The Goomba: The low-ranked Shocker Combatmen are hilariously ineffective opponents meant to be used as punching bags by Takeshi Hongo and Hayato Ichimonji. They're just there for the players to beat up between boss fights.
- Henshin Hero: Takeshi Hongo and Hayato Ichimonji, the original Riders, are the playable heroes, who can execute their classic transformation moves when facing bosses.
- Mirror Match: The boss of the factory stage is an evil clone of the Kamen Riders, who looks exactly like Takeshi and Hayato in Rider forms (he can be differentiated by his orange boots), and execute the same finishing moves.
- Never Bareheaded: Hayato Ichimonji wears a cap in civilian mode, and never loses it despite the amount of jumping and kicking he performs. He does lose it when he henshins into Kamen Rider, and the cap returns once he's back to civilain mode.
- Outside Ride: One stage have Takeshi and Hayato atop a Shocker truck fighting mooks left and right, which can be knocked off the edge and defeated instantly. Unfortunately the heroes can lose a life instantly if they are the ones who stepped off.
- Riding into the Sunset: The final frame of the game, where Takeshi Hongo and Hayato Ichimonji rides off into the sun on their bikes after saving the world from the Shocker Organization.
- Transformation Sequence: The Rider Henshin sequence from the TV series is faithfully recreated here, albeit in 8-bit. In-game the player in control of Takeshi or Hayato can pull off their henshin as an Emergency Transformation when their health is running really low - they have their Life Meter reset back to maximum in Rider mode.
