Retro Replay Review

Gameplay

At the core of Honoo no Ryōrinin: Cooking Fighter Hao lies a unique blend of action and culinary strategy. You control the master chef Hao in frenetic top-down arenas, darting between prey and ingredients in a race against time and your opponent. Rather than a traditional brawl, each “fight” is resolved in the kitchen: hunting down animals, harvesting vegetables, and executing signature cooking moves to craft the ultimate dish.

The hunting phase plays like a light action game. You must track down roaming beasts—each serving as the protein base for your next recipe—while keeping an eye on fallen vegetables and seasonings strewn about the arena. Land the right sequence of attacks to subdue your quarry, then initiate a timed cooking mini-game that determines both the style and quality of your entrée. Successful combos yield rarer dishes with higher flavor scores.

Cooking isn’t a solitary affair, however. Your rival chef is doing the same, scrambling to gather ingredients and potentially stealing your hard-earned catches mid-preparation. You can interrupt their cooking sequence with well-timed attacks, snatching away ingredients or even outright stealing a partially completed dish. The first chef to finish a high-quality meal wins the duel, making positioning and resource control just as crucial as your kitchen skills.

Graphics

Visually, the game dazzles with vibrant, anime-inspired cutscenes that bookend each duel. These hand-drawn interludes bring Hao’s quest to life, emphasizing dramatic reveals and epic chef showdowns. The art style stays true to classic ‘90s anime aesthetics, featuring bold character designs and dynamic camera angles during key story moments.

In the arena itself, the top-down perspective offers clear visibility of hazards, ingredients, and your competitor. Sprites are crisp and colorful, each chef boasting a distinct palette and set of animations that reflect their cooking style. Vegetables pop against the textured floor, while the animals you hunt move with lively, fluid motions that make every chase exciting.

Special cooking moves are highlighted by flashy effects—steam, éclats of seasoning, and bursts of flame—that give each dish its own visual flair. Between bouts, the user interface remains unobtrusive, clearly displaying timers, ingredient counts, and your opponent’s progress bar without cluttering the screen. Overall, the graphical presentation strikes a fine balance between playful charm and competitive clarity.

Story

Honoo no Ryōrinin: Cooking Fighter Hao centers on Hao’s quest for vengeance and culinary mastery. After his master is defeated under mysterious circumstances, Hao vows to avenge him by challenging every inn and restaurant in the land. Each establishment is defended by a master chef, and rather than a conventional duel, they settle disputes through the art of cooking.

The single-player mode unfolds as a series of chef-to-chef encounters, each accompanied by colorful anime cutscenes that reveal snippets of backstory and the motivations of rival fighters. You learn about the relationships between chefs, their unique cooking philosophies, and the rare ingredients they favor. These narrative beats provide both context and stakes, making each victory feel meaningful.

Although the storyline is straightforward—revenge through cuisine—the game sprinkles in humor and camaraderie. Between intense cooking matches, honest exchanges at the inn’s bar and playful banter among chefs add levity. By the time you face the final culinary boss, you’re not just fighting for Hao’s honor, but also for the legacy of his fallen master.

Overall Experience

Honoo no Ryōrinin: Cooking Fighter Hao offers an addictive gameplay loop that will appeal to both action gamers and cooking enthusiasts. The blend of arena combat with timing-based cooking segments keeps each duel fresh, encouraging you to experiment with different ingredient combinations and strategies. Matches are delightfully tense, especially when an opponent swoops in to sabotage your progress.

The inclusion of a two-player versus mode greatly boosts replay value. You can pick from a roster of chefs—each with their own signature dishes and special moves—and challenge friends in local co-op. Friendly rivalries often escalate into heated showdowns, making this an excellent party game option for those who enjoy competitive kitchen chaos.

While the controls can feel slightly fiddly at first, and there’s a mild learning curve to mastering cooking combos, perseverance is rewarded with satisfying culinary triumphs. Fans of anime-styled visuals and lighthearted revenge narratives will find plenty to love. Overall, Cooking Fighter Hao stands out as a whimsical, high-octane twist on the fighting genre—serving up both action and flavor in equal measure.

Retro Replay Score

null/10