Rabio Lepus (ラビオレプス) is a horizontally-scrolling shmup released in 1987, five years before Sonic Wings's debut. It set the stage for the Sonic Wings series with its style of gameplay in addition to its quirky cast of characters and bizarre enemies.
Overview[]
Rabio Lepus is a horizontal shooter where players control rabbit-shaped ships. Their main form of attack is to fire energy beams and, in case an enemy is in close range, use a melee punching attack. They also carry limited use missiles which track down enemies, these can be replenished by picking up missile icons dispensed from the floating tomato cans. These cans can also drop health replenishing carrots and score items.
Rabio and Lepus would later appear as secret playable characters in Sonic Wings and in various cameos throughout other Video System games. Komomo and Kotomi also appear in a few later games, and the king returns in the guise of Lord River-n-White in nearly all of the Sonic Wings series as well as many other Video System titles. Two Rabio Lepus bosses also appear in several other games: Fire Master and Tenukie Chaudo, along with his minions the Kame-Chargers.
In 1990, an altered version of Rabio Lepus was released for the PC-Engine console as Rabio Lepus Special. The original game was later rereleased for PlayStation 2 as part of the Oretachi Geasen Zoku Sono series.
Story[]
Translated from the Japanese flyer
In the year 6809 of the space calendar, an alien attack suddenly began on the peaceful kingdom of Bunnyland. The aliens boasted incredible scientific power and magical powers, and extended their evil influence even to the royal palace. An enemy fighter plane invaded the palace and kidnapped the king, the princess, and the princess's younger sister. The royal special combat mecha USAGI was immediately deployed. However, the enemy fighter plane left the atmosphere and headed for the mother ship...
Thus began a fierce battle to rescue the hostages of USAGI. According to information, the alien boss, the Demon King, is a monster that has been alive for 3,000 years. Will USAGI be able to defeat the Demon King and rescue the hostages?
Characters[]
Playable[]
Non-Playable[]
Stages and Bosses[]
Rabio Lepus contains three areas, each with four stages.
| Location | Stage | Boss |
|---|---|---|
| Spaceship | 1 2 3 4 |
Tetsūshi Metal Soldier Metal Panther Moving Core |
| Asteroid | 5 6 7 8 |
Dotama Tenukie Chaudo w/ Kame-Chargers Fire Master Golem Head w/ Tapeworm |
| Planet | 9 10 11 12 |
Black Dragon Skip Elephant boss rush Ghost Golem, Yohmaoh |
Releases[]
Arcade[]
Rabio Lepus was first released for the arcade in Japan, then later released in US arcades under the title Rabbit Punch. A major alteration was made in the US version: Kotomi and Komomo were completely removed from the game. No image of the kidnapped royal family is shown at the beginning, and while the king is rescued from the asteroid (and even though he mentions the princess there), no one is rescued from the spaceship and planet. Komomo's voice is heard saying, "Arigatou, Usagi-chan," at the end of the game, but she is not shown.
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PlayStation 2[]
Rabio Lepus was the fourteenth entry in the Oretachi Geasen Zoku Sono series, which featured many classic arcade games rereleased for the PlayStation 2, along with soundtracks and other extras. The game package included the case, game disc, manual, "Sonic Wings Official Guidebook Special Edition" brochure, replica of the arcade instruction flyer, trading card, soundtrack CD, and a DVD including a promo video, remix from the soundtrack, and partial playthrough of the game with Rabio.
Nintendo Switch & PlayStation 4[]
Rabio Lepus was released digitally for the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 on July 7, 2022, as part of Hamster Corporation's Arcade Archives series.
Soundtracks[]
- Oretachi Geasen Zoku Sono 14: Rabio Lepus Soundtrack
- Rabio Lepus & Turbo Force - Video System Arcade Sound Digital Collection Vol. 2
References[]
| Games | |
|---|---|
| Sonic Wings Series | Sonic Wings · Sonic Wings 2 · Sonic Wings 3 · Sonic Wings Special · Sonic Wings Special for Android · Sonic Wings Limited · Sonic Wings Assault · Sonic Wings Reunion |
| Sonic Wings Related | Gapporin · Karate Blazers · Lethal Crash Race · The Mahjong Touhaiden · Ojanko High School · Power Spikes II · Rabio Lepus · Rabio Lepus Special · Spinal Breakers · SukuSuku Inufuku · SukuSuku Inufuku 2 · Tao Taido · Turbo Force |
| Other Video System Games | 3 On 3 Dunk Madness · F-1 Grand Prix · F-1 Grand Prix Part II · F-1 Grand Prix Part III · Hyper V-Ball · Pipe Dream · Power Spikes · Super Volleyball · Tail to Nose: Great Championship |
| Unreleased Games | Droppers · Metal Rabbit |