But first let's get a little background information. Queen of Heart (QOH) is a fan made title, in all aspects. Just a very talented group of guys (company name Watanabe Seisakujo) who wanted to pay tribute to some of their favorite fighters. And pay tribute they did, as characters borrow moves from King of Fighters, Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, Street Fighter, Vampire Hunters, and Asuka 120%. You may not have heard of that last one, but it's by far the most important influence here. Asuka 120% is a gals fighter made by family soft in japan, which spanned four systems (PC, PC engine, Saturn, PSX), and this is where the main QOH engine comes from. You may wonder why they didn't bother to steal a more popular fighting engine, like that of say, street fighter alpha. Worry not your pretty heads, this is one of the tightest, most balanced and unique engines on which one could base a game.

The character designs are based on designs by Leaf, a Japanese company that largely makes dating sim/text adventure games. They're not nearly as well known in the US as Japan, obviously, but they're quite good at what they do. They've made a few anime as well, and the title "queen of heart" comes from a combo of Leaf's "To Heart" anime, and the King of Fighters series. All 24 characters, including the many you can unlock, are accurate representations of their Leaf counterparts (in looks, anyway). What's more, several characters have hidden alternate versions, along the lines of Samurai Showdown 3's slash/bust.

But on to what's really important here: the gameplay. The game plays incredibly well. While not as tight and precise as the Asuka engine on which it's based, the game has been modified for four player simultaneous play, so I can forgive a few anomalies here and there. However the most notable problem actually stems from the four-player addition itself. At times your character will not face the foe you're trying to attack, if there's another opponent on your opposite side. This is especially frustrating when the person you're being forced to face has already been defeated! With practice you can learn to avoid these situations, but it's a nuisance nonetheless.

The actual fighting in this game is fast and furious, especially in four-player mode. Special moves are executed in a combination of styles, depending on the game the character is 'stolen' from. But you'll always find your quarter circles; dragon punches and things of that nature, in addition to double tap moves taken from Asuka. These can be combined, and almost anything can be chained into anything else if your timing is right. Timing is very key here, almost to the extent that it was in street fighter II CE. You really have to know what you're doing, and I think that's a great thing. There are plenty of moves with which to launch air combos, and lots of flashy ways to end a chain of hits. In this game (especially when playing against three other humans), you'll get the most fun from defeating your opponent in the most humiliating way possible. I should mention - you can hit your downed foe after they're defeated (again if your timing is spot on). It's fantastically brutal.

Countering moves is simple on the surface, but quite difficult at a more professional level. You counter in classic kung-fu style. A hit cancels a hit, if they're both at the same level of priority and same area of the body. One might expect a Marvel vs Capcom-esque button masher as a result, but the moves here are designed to stop at a certain point, so you must know where and how many times a move will hit, and what moves you can link together. It can get quite complex. If you lose the countering match, a simple double-tap in the opposite direction of the impact will get you back to your feet, and reduce the damage you take. It's incredibly crucial to recover from wall slams and knockdowns, because otherwise you'll be tossed around like a rag doll. It's often possible to continue into a second combo after an opponent has hit the ground or the wall, so recovery is one of the most important things you can do.

Graphically this game is very nice. The character shots are all in classic leaf style, though not high res. The characters are similarly low res and look pretty pixilated on a computer monitor, but hook it up to a TV and it looks very, very good. Transparent effects abound, and the moves can be quite impressive (especially level three supers). Not up to the standards of something like Street Fighter 3 or Garou: MoTW, but truly amazing for a fan effort. The music is excellent, and leans pretty heavily towards the old school, with nods to adventure game music (logical, considering the origins of the characters). The only issue I might have here is the slowdown. In four-player mode, when several large moves are done at once the game will lag a bit. The odd thing is, it doesn't matter what kind of machine you play it on. I've tested it on everything from 400 MHZ to 800 MHZ processors, and no difference was to be seen. It could be that this is actually just an extra effect to allow you to get a handle on the situation. When that much is going on at once, it's very easy to get lost, and the slowdown can really help with that. Regardless it doesn't happen that often, and is pretty much absent from the two-player mode.

All in all, if you can find this game and are any manner of fighting game fan, I'd recommend that you get it. Unfortunately it's only available in Japan, or select adventurous importers who bring over PC titles. Remember, this is a fan made game through and through; their distribution is limited even in Japan. But trust me…check the shots, ask your friends - this game is well worth the hunt. Check this link http://www2s.biglobe.ne.jp/%7Ek_wata/ to look up Watanabe Seisakujo and their next project; The Queen of Heart 2001: Party's Breaker. Expect a review of that shortly after it comes out in August.

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