Retro Replay Review

Gameplay

The first hour asks you to meet this game on its own terms. You are not steering a wrestler around a ring in real time; you are guiding The Mask, an original masked fighter whose name you can change, through menus and world maps until another Kinnikuman combatant stands in your way. If you came in expecting an arcade brawler, that adjustment can be abrupt. If a character-driven turn-based RPG sounds appealing, the directness has its own pull.

Combat is built around a compact list of choices: hit, throw, guard, and special moves. That makes each fight less about execution and more about committing to an option and tracking the energy lost on both sides after every blow. The fights sound uncomplicated, but the use of wrestling-flavored actions gives the turn-based format a better fit than generic sword-and-spell commands would have. Special moves also get the spotlight with a full-screen attack image, a welcome reward for choosing them.

The long-term hook is the 63-fighter roster. Winning a bout improves your fighting skills, so there is a clear reason to keep moving through the next encounter rather than treating every victory as an isolated exhibition. Still, the menu-and-text travel and static combat images can make the journey feel repetitive. Give it a chance if you enjoy methodical RPG progression and mainly want to work through a broad Kinnikuman cast; skip it if you need the physical immediacy of a wrestling game.

Graphics

Exploration is conveyed through pictures and text rather than a little on-screen character walking through towns or maps. Battles show static images of the two fighters, with energy losses displayed after hits, so you always know who took the worse exchange even if the action itself is not animated moment to moment.

The visual highlight is the special-move artwork, which fills the screen when an attack is used. That gives big techniques more punch than ordinary turns and lets the game lean on the recognizable look of its anime and manga fighters.

Story

This is not a retelling of one of the series’ existing sagas. The game puts you in control of The Mask, an anonymous character created for this adventure, and sends him against the familiar faces of the Kinnikuman universe.

That setup is functional rather than dramatic: the story exists to get an original challenger into bouts with the license’s cast. Naming The Mask yourself adds a small personal touch, especially for anyone who likes imagining their own place in the roster.

The trade-off is clear. Fans looking for a faithful adaptation of a particular Kinnikuman Nisei storyline will not find that here. Treat it as a detached side adventure and the premise makes more sense: you are building a new fighter through a succession of established opponents.

Overall Experience

Kinnikuman Nisei: Chōjin Seisenshi is a narrow but honest licensed RPG. Its best idea is letting an original masked combatant climb through a sizeable lineup of Kinnikuman fighters, then making each victory feed visible character growth. It knows the draw is the roster and does not bury that under an elaborate overworld or a complicated battle system.

Its limitations are also central to the experience. You navigate through choices rather than freely moving a character, and battles rely on static fighter images and numerical energy loss. That can make a long session feel dry, particularly when you want the license to deliver more active wrestling spectacle.

For Kinnikuman devotees who enjoy old-school turn-based repetition, the payoff is the steady march through 63 opponents and the pleasure of seeing special attacks get their own full-screen moment. Everyone else should be cautious: this is a curious role-playing detour for the franchise, not the fast, hands-on wrestling game its cast might initially suggest.

Retro Replay Score

6/10