Overview
Rabbit Punch (known in Japan as Rabio Lepus) is a comedic side-scrolling shoot-'em-up developed by V-System and released by either V-System (in Japan) or Bally Midway (in North America) for arcades in 1987.
The first non-mahjong game by V-System (who later created the Aero Fighters series as "Video System"), Rabbit Punch follows two rabbit-shaped robots as they fight numerous alien forces invading their planet. The Japanese version builds on the story by having the robots (the royal space combat mecha "USAGI", known as Rabio and Lepus) rescue the King of Bunnyland and his twin Princesses.
The game is known for combining the sci-fi aesthetic of shoot-'em-ups at the time with some comedic and absurdist elements (such as the boss character Tenukie, which resembles a teru teru bōzu doll). It is also known for its health system (where player lives are represented as multiple health gauges, which can take multiple hits before depleting), its melee system (where attacks up-close are more powerful close-ranged punches), its unique rapid-fire system (an optional system where players can hold the fire button down to fire rapidly, with the rate of fire slowing down the longer the button is held), its difficulty selection system (where players can opt for a more-challenging difficulty at double the score), and the robots being able to bump into the environment (including being able to walk along the ground and perform special high jumps).
The game was later ported to the PlayStation 2 in Japan on March 23, 2006 as the part of HAMSTER's Ore-tachi Gēsen-zoku series, then digitally released for both the PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch in Japan on July 7, 2022 as part of their Arcade Archives series.
It also received a remake for the PC Engine in Japan on October 19, 1990, titled Rabio Lepus Special.
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