Welcome to the first post of 2025 on Shinkansen Retrogamer (I hope you’re not watching the second, non-consecutive Trump inauguration since he is a cheater and a crook!). I hope you’ve all enjoyed a holiday break (spending time with friends and family, opening Christmas presents, watching the ball drop…). Today, we review a Sega Saturn game released in 1996 and never left Japan — we call it Vatlva (bat-toh-bah)! The game was developed by Ancient (which is Bare Knuckle/Streets of Rage composer Yuzo Koshiro’s own company along with his sister Ayano Koshiro and his mother) and published by JVC (which was closed in late 2011, as the company was merged with Kenwood — another Japanese company — to create JVCKenwood). Japanese animation studio J.C.Staff (the same company that worked on Azumanga Daioh, the anime adaption based on the yonkoma comedy manga by Kiyohiko Azuma) provided the animation cutscenes for the game.
This game boasts kick-ass artwork by Hitoshi Ariga1 (Bluesky, YouTube), and a kick-ass soundtrack by Yuzo Koshiro (if you have played any of the Streets of Rage games on the Sega Genesis, including the fourth game on modern-day platforms such as the Nintendo Switch and the PlayStation 4 — here’s the YouTube link to the game’s soundtrack)! But, is this game actually good? MobyGames describes the game: “In Vatlva, various duos pilot their vehicles in a top-down arena and try to take down their opponent with whatever weapons they have.”
Characters
The game has the following characters (text is taken and translated from this website in Japanese since there is no PDF file in the game’s manual):
Jin and Go (Jin Todoroki, 50 years old male, and Go Todoroki, 17 years old male): The father-son duo from Tokyo, Japan, who both have cross-shaped scars near their left eye (a nod to Himura Kenshin from Rurouni Kenshin), and the game’s main protagonists. Go Todoroki is the energetic and action-packed man and Jin is the bright, cheerful, energetic, and action-packed boy who loves cars, computers, and adventure more than he loves three meals a day. They are the Pilots of JB4AR-sp “Goshin”.
Allissa and Rally (Allissa Heintze Mirano, 18 years old female, from New York City (USA) and Rally Young Gardner, 21 years old male, from Wollongong, Australia): Allissa and Rally are a couple. Although they are a cool duo, they sometimes show a passionate side. They are the pilots of the modified R41-1G “Millenium”.
Pek Sisters (Fapha Pek, 16 years old female, and Chawtchet Pek, 13 years old female): Two sisters hailing from Seoul, South Korea (where automotive manufacturer Hyundai originated) donning red baseball caps (looking at you, Trump administration!). Fapha is the active older sister, who wears her long hair in a ponytail and red shorts and boots. Chawtchet is the quiet younger sister, who has chin-length hair (similar to Peppermint Patty from Peanuts) and wears jeans and sneakers. They are the pilots of M2PCx-Plum.
Jill and the Rats (Jill Bates, 12 years old male, four rats, two male and two female): A genius boy from Seattle, United States who loves to tinker with computers and software development, and has four pet rats (Cairo, Chicago, Menphis, and Nashbill, all named after Windows operating system’s codenames) as his allies. His name is a play on the Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates (also from Seattle). They are the pilots of MC1-Doors.
Cosmo and Gomes (Cosmo Mararga, 19 years old male, from Barcelona, Spain, and Gomes Baldeux, 16 years old male, from Paris2, France): Gomes comes from a rich family in Paris (which predates the magical girl superhero TV series Miraculous Ladybug by 14 years) who loves playing with weapons. Cosmo is the older supporter and the eldest son of the Mararga family, a Spanish conglomerate known to everyone in the financial world. They are the pilots of the CG-3 “Enola Gay” (which is named after the bomber).
Gell Bates (15 years old male): Jill’s older brother, who is the student council president of Vatlva Academy and the pilot of GMC-1 “Tier Klein”.
Dorry Yates (26 years old female): A woman with an extremely robust build who is a teacher at Vatlva Academy. She is the pilot of the GR49Kx Arnold.
Gato Yamada (58 years old male): The principal of Vatlva Academy who drives a strange vehicle called a bus, and looks very strange, wearing a kimono and goggles, but his way of speaking and the firepower he exerts are befitting a principal. The oldest playable character, he is the pilot of the GMC-1 “Tier Kreis”.
Arashiyama Family (Gandayu Arashiyama, 45 years old male, from Morioka, Japan, and Steffanie Arashiyama, 40 years old female, from Helsinki, Finland): The husband-and-wife team who are construction workers and also the only adult team in the game. They are the pilots of the modified version of the “KONATSU5” (the vehicle is a play on the Japanese construction and forestry company Komatsu).
Though this is the information I provided for the game while reviewing, the game can be found on eBay at reasonable prices… unless you have a Japanese Sega Saturn. That was the first post of 2025.
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Initially written as 有賀ヒトシ, later as ありがひとし (in all-hiragana form, same reading).
Where the Summer Olympics formerly held (same with Tokyo 2020, despite the one-year delay and not allowing any spectators at all due to Japan facing a state of emergency at the time, Seoul 1988, Barcelona 1992…).