Super Mad Champ is a racing video game created by Almanic (aka Givro, the developers of Wonder Project J and E.V.O.: Search for Eden), released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System on March 4, 1995 and published by Tsukuda Original only in Japan.
Remember Road Rash? And do you remember a game called River City Girls Zero, and its Badass Biker sections where you fend off enemies with kicks? What if...Kunio-kun had a bike racing game? Then you likely have an idea of what this game is. In fact, this game originally WAS meant to be a Kunio game about these bike sections in a competitive style (with the Kunio-kun setting, of course), but for some reason, that idea was scrapped, and this game was released with original characters, but you can easily spot the similarities as early as the first race.
As you know, you have to place first (or second, or occasionally third) on five races across three categories of varying difficulties. First you select one of five characters, then you will have some initial money to buy your entrance fee to the next race (more difficult races cost more money to enter), and for buying and tuning bikes. But what makes this game unique is that you can hit your opponents as they try to pass and knock them out for a while, you can unmount and keep beating that opponent until it retires for this race, or you can steal his/her bike! Have I mentioned that this was going to be a Kunio-kun game?
Not surprisingly, this game never left Japan or was re-released on any medium after. And it's VERY obscure even in its native country.
Super Mad Champ provides examples of:
- Awesome, but Impractical: You can keep attacking your opponent by unmounting your bike and defeating your opponent to eliminate him/her from the race, but this takes such a very long time (even more if you control Natalie), that you practically forfeit the race if you do this.
- Badass Biker: Every character, justified in that this was going to be a Kunio-kun game (even Natalie, who can lift and throw a bike as well as the other racers!)
- Chain Pain: Riot, the punk driver, favors this instead of his feet.
- Hero Stole My Bike: The other thing that you can do after knocking down your opponent, but be careful, because the enemies can do that to you! Just hope you didn't spend too much money on that faster new bike...
- Levels Take Flight: For some reason there are circuits on a sky road, just like Mario Kart or the later Crash Team Racing, and with Gravity Barrier of course, so don't fall off the track! (But you can throw your opponents for an easy win).
- Palette Swap: Mad Rider, a generic enemy that exclusively attacks the player who are knocked off his/her bike looks exactly like Shu, only colored orange.
- Scoring Points: You get points by completing a lap on a high position (first to third), attacking opponents and knocking them off the bike (and even depleting their Life Bar to zero, which makes them retire for this race), and obviously, winning the race (by placing first to third). Because score points equals money, it's advised that you fight (literally) for getting the most money. You get bonus money by completing the race without being hit too much.
- Stuff Blowing Up: the bikes also have life bars, depeleted by crashing and by throwing the bike at your opponent, and if that life bar gets to zero, the bike will explode.
- The Smurfette Principle: Natalie is the only female character in this game.
