Last Bronx

ラストブロンクス -東京番外地-, Rasuto Buronkusu ~Tōkyō Bangaichi~

Last Bronx is a 3D weapons-based fighting game developed by Sega AM3 on the Sega Model 2 mainboard, released in 1996 for the Japanese arcades. Home versions of Last Bronx were produced for the contemporary Sega Saturn and Windows systems. In Japan, Last Bronx was novelized and serialized into comics (manga) and radio drama. A VHS video documenting the motion capture process used for the game and introducing the characters was released in 1996. A year later, Takashi Shimizu directed the live-action movie (V-Cinema).

Last Bronx is set in an alternate version of post-Japanese bubble Tokyo, where youth disenchantment and disillusion with Japan’s explosive economic and societal progression lead into the culmination of the historic violent underground event known as the All Tokyo Street Wars, and into an era where crime and gang warfare is rampant.

The game’s fighters

• Yusaku Kudo (工藤 優作 Kudō Yusaku) is the 19-year-old boss of the bosozoku street gang “Neo-Soul” from Haneda airport. Once the number three man of Soul Crew, Yusaku takes it upon his leader’s death to finish what Soul Crew started. His preferred weapon is a metal sansetsukon; his in-game alternate weapon was a Shinkansen scale model. Yusaku is 171 cm (5 ft 7 in) tall and weighs 66 kg (145 lbs). He is voiced by Kazuki Yao.
• Joe Inagaki (稲垣 丈 Inagaki Jō) is the 23-year-old boss of the western “chopper” styled bosozoku “Shinjuku Mad” gang from Shinjuku. Once the number two man of Soul Crew, Joe left the gang shortly after, seeking his own independence and leaving Soul Crew’s leadership to Yusaku, and engages in The Last Bronx as a test of his skills and thrills. His preferred weapons are metal nunchaku; his in-game alternate weapons are corn ears. Though nunchaku and images of nunchaku were banned in the United Kingdom at the time, Sega convinced the British Board of Film Classification to allow Joe’s nunchaku to appear uncensored in the PAL release of the Saturn version. Joe is 179 cm (5 ft 10 in) tall and weighs 76 kg (167 lbs). He is voiced by Toshikazu “Kaneto” Shiozawa, who died around four years after the game’s release when he fell down the stairs at his Tokyo home and suffered a cerebral contusion.
• Saburo Zaimoku (財目三郎 Zaimoku Saburō) is the 26-year-old boss of the “Katsushika Dumpsters” gang from Katsushika. Once a member of Soul Crew, Zaimoku left upon the death of their leader, and reformed himself by working at his family’s construction business. When Redrum threatens his workers in attempts to blackmail him to the Last Bronx, Zaimoku starts up the Katsushika Dumpsters for his co-worker’s self-defense and sets off to the tournament on his own. Zaimoku’s preferred weapon is the hammer; his in-game alternate weapon is a frozen tuna. He is 183 cm (6 ft) tall and weighs 102 kg (224 lbs). He is voiced by Tessho Genda.
• Toru Kurosawa (黒澤 透 Kurosawa Tōru) is the 25-year-old boss of the “Roppongi Hard Core Boys” gang from Roppongi. One of Soul Crew’s more unrepentant and ruthless enemies, the Yankii playboy tough finds the Last Bronx the best chance to wipe out his rivals as the true rule of Tokyo’s streets and the gang underworld. Kurosawa’s preferred weapon is the bokuto (a wooden sword); his in-game alternate weapon is a folding fan. He is 177.5 cm (5 ft 10 in) tall and weighs 71 kg (156 lbs). He is voiced by Dragon Ball star Norio Wakamoto.
• Nagi Hojo (豊饒 梛 Hōjō Nagi) is the 23-year-old boss of the women-only “Dogma” gang from the Rainbow Bridge area of Tokyo, as well as a sadist. Nagi’s preferred weapon is the sai; her in-game alternate weapon is a spoon and fork. She is 167.5 cm (5 ft 6 in) tall and weighs 52 kg (114 lbs). Her measurements are 90–60–90. She is voiced by Ah! My Goddess star Kikuko Inoue.
• Yoko Kono (港野 洋子 Kōno Yōko) is the 20-year-old boss of the “G-Troops” gang from the Tokyo subways. Originally an airsoft survival game group, the G-Troops then expanded into military martial arts training upon the bubble crash, but their renown eventually got them also caught up in the All Tokyo Street Wars. Yoko engages in the Last Bronx to end all of that, as well as to find her missing brother, who was last seen dealing with Redrum. Yoko’s preferred weapon is a pair of tonfa; her in-game alternate weapons are umbrellas. She is 163.5 cm (5 ft 4 in) tall and weighs 49 kg (108 lbs). She is voiced by Megumi Ogata.
• Ken Kono (港野 拳, Kōno Ken) was the co-founder and former boss of the “G-Troop” gang. After refusing the Redrum challenge, Redrum badly injured him in a fire, and his anger made him mad and evil. Eventually, he was turned into Red Eye (レッドアイ) and himself became an agent for the mysterious Redrum (“Murder” backward) organization. In Yoko’s ending, he is beaten by his sister Yoko at the tournament’s final in the subway. Ken apologizes and tells his sister the truth, and then dies in her arms. Red Eye’s preferred weapon is a metal tonfa; his in-game alternate weapons are chopsticks and broiled sauries. He is voiced by Nobutoshi Canna, though he was credited as Nobutoshi Hayashi at the time of the game’s release.
• Hiroshi “Tommy” Tomiie (富家 大 Tomiie Hiroshi) is the 18-year-old boss of the “Helter Skelter” skateboarder gang from Shibuya. Originally from Osaka, Tommy created Helter Skelter to make space in Tokyo and keep unruly gangs from getting in the way of his and his group’s boarding. When Redrum declares the Last Bronx to be official, Tommy also engages for many reasons; for thrills, to end the unruly street gang wars, and to impress his crush, Lisa Kusanami. Tommy’s preferred weapon is the Bō (a long pole); his in-game alternate weapon is a deck brush. Tommy’s stage, “Cross Street”, features a Sonic mascot which is Sega Shibuya Game Center’s logo. He is 165.5 cm (5 ft 5 in) tall and weighs 54 kg (119 lbs). He is voiced by Nobuyuki Hiyama.
• Lisa Kusanami (草波 リサ Kusanami Risa) is the 17-year-old Japanese-American leader of the “Orchids” music band (and gang) from the Moonlight Garden in Takeshiba Passenger Ship Terminal. The daughter of a woman who was supposed to have been the next successor to the Kusanami school of martial arts from her grandfather, her mother left with her surrogate father, an American lawyer, for a wealthy life in the United States. Originally founding the Orchids to creatively escape her somewhat troubled home life, the Orchids would soon face them and their fans fighting off the denizens of Japan’s street gang underworld upon their extortion, and this would soon lead into Redrum also including the Orchids into the Last Bronx, making for a fight that Lisa never intended. Lisa’s preferred weapon is a double metal stick (aka “Double-sticks”); her in-game alternate weapon is a ladle and spatula. The youngest playable character, she is 159 cm (5 ft 3 in) tall and weighs 45 kg (99 lbs). Her measurements are 83–58–85. She is voiced by Yoshiko “Miina” Tominaga, who is, in fact, Kazuki Yao’s ex-wife.

Gameplay and Development

Each match is a best out of two rounds fight with victory by knock out or remaining health at the end of the 30-second time limit. The stages are set in real Tokyo city closed areas without any ringouts. However, fighters can jump on the barriers (and eventually make a disqualifying ring-out backflip from there).

Sega AM3 used the “PKG” 3-button system introduced by the AM2 in Virtua Fighter — “P” stands for “Punch” (or weapon), “K” for “Kick” and “G” for “Guard”. The player uses the arcade joystick to move the character. Certain joystick and button combinations result in special attacks and combination attacks. The “G” button is used to block the opponent’s attacks and to perform a feint attack called “Attack Cancel”. Strong attacks, throws, and rolling moves can be performed using different button combinations. Taunts can also be used — Last Bronx is part of the rare games in which the CPU uses this feature against the player or even another CPU-controlled character.

Last Bronx was first planned to be released in the first week of August 1997, but it was actually first sold in Japan on July 25, 1997. The Tokyo Bangaichi subtitle appears only in the Japanese release. The logo’s blood squirt was removed in overseas editions. Only the 2006 PlayStation 2 Sega Ages 2500 Series Vol.24 version uses the original Last Bronx: Tokyo Bangaichi title name and logo.

Last Bronx includes advertising for real-life brands such as Shott, Suzuki, Toyo Tires, AM Records, Java Tea (now defunct), Axia (Fujifilm retired the Axia name), Wild Blue Yokohama (now defunct), and Japan Airlines (JAL). Most of these advertising bills were removed or exchanged with Sega or Saturn logos, sometimes replaced by “Now Printing” bills, in overseas releases. An “AAA Act Against AIDS” bill, which is a Japanese nonprofit annual event concert, was introduced in the subway stage of the 1998 Windows version. The Saturn exclusive opening anime’s theme song Jaggy Love, performed by the R&B trio D’Secrets (Kaori, Mayumi & Rie, now defunct; they are also the Japanese equivalent of the American girl group TLC) was released as a single, with Kaze No Street as the B-side.

That’s about it for this post.