GAME REVIEW | Bitchslapping For Honor With "Rose & Camellia"
In the 1980s, there was a soap opera called Dynasty. Story-wise, it wasn’t anything to write home about. However, the slap fights amongst the aristocratic ladies made it a cult sensation. Rose & Camellia Collection, which brings the entire series to the West for the first time, is like taking the best part of Dynasty and injecting it with an interactivity that works far better than it has any right to.
The collection features all five games in the series, including the Rose & Camellia vs. La-Mulana spinoff. Very much like Divekick, you only have one weapon at your disposal. But instead of your feet, it’s the palm of your right hand. To be the best, you gotta slap your way to the top!
Much of the narratives of the games follows the same route. Elegant ladies want to be on the top of society. Some claim it’s for the honor of the family, whereas others just want the power to laze about. In order to earn those rights, you must fight your way up the ladder until you come face-to-face with the head of society. And then, it’s time to get smacking!
Never once does Rose & Camellia Collection take itself seriously. From its anime-like opening to the haughty-taughty voice acting, every moment of these games is a hilarious carriage ride through aristocracy. The arrogance, the pouting, and every tongue clicked by these characters had me rolling with laughter. If this was all this game delivered, it would still be worth the experience.
And yet, these five games have some of the best interactive controls I’ve seen in its genre. While you can simply swipe with the screen in portable mode, it’s when you use the Joy-Cons where the game twinkles like morning dew on rosebuds. Holding the right A button allows you to prepare for a slap, whilst flinging it soft or hard makes for a hit or a feint. Holding R preps you to dodge, as you literally pull back to avoid a bitchy right hand.
I’ll be blunt: there’s never been a spectacle quite like what’s offered in Rose & Camellia Collection. The sight of ladies being slapped to the point of their heads coming right off adds more silliness to the whole game. As the fight goes on, the more beat-up these women become, to the point of being comically swollen. It gets even better when you can initiate a combo, as you fling your Joy-Con crazily to keep the slaps going.
Playing a game like this is almost like how I would picture playing a new Punch-Out!! (an obvious inspiration to the game). There are ladies who are more than just your run-of-the-mill dames. You’ve got twins to defeat, giant behemoths, demonically-possessed heathens, and the occasional robot or two. These cast of characters — up to 30 in total — have their own unique slapping style and tells, which you and a friend can see for themselves when in versus mode. (Note to EVO: add this game to the competition!)
However, not all is perfect with Rose & Camellia Collection. The campaigns themselves take very little time to complete, with all five titles clocking in at less than two hours combined. There’s also some pretty unfair fights, where having to evade a hit requires eye-blinking reflexes. Despite these hiccups, they don’t take away from the barrel of laughs these games often deliver.
PROS:
- Funny as hell
- Great motion controls
- Wonderful voice acting
CONS:
- Some frustrating battles
- Short campaign
FINAL THOUGHTS:
Rose & Camellia Collection is unlike any other fighting game out there. Yes, you may have a sore shoulder after going through the campaign, but it’s worth slapping through to get to the laughs and to the top of society. It may not be a 1:1 Dynasty simulator, but I’m certain Rose & Camellia Collection would’ve left a smile on Aaron Spelling’s face.
FINAL GRADE:
Promotional consideration provided by WayForward Technologies.
