Released exclusively in Japan in 1992, CB Chara Wars: Ushinawareta Gag is a vibrant side-scrolling beat ‘em up that serves as a love letter to the legendary works of Go Nagai. Developed by Banpresto, the title shrinks iconic heroes like Devilman, Mazinger Z, and Cutie Honey into "super-deformed" (SD) versions, tasking them with recovering the world’s stolen sense of humor. The game leans heavily into the slapstick aesthetic of the CB Chara Go Nagai World OVAs, blending traditional brawling mechanics with light platforming and a quirky, irreverent tone that sets it apart from the more self-serious licensed games of the era.
Gameplay follows a standard belt-scrolling formula where players can swap between different Go Nagai protagonists, each possessing unique special moves and reach. While it lacks the technical depth found in Capcom’s genre giants, the charm lies in the chaotic animations and the sheer novelty of seeing a tiny Akira Fudo clash with grotesque yet adorable demons. The levels are punctuated by boss encounters that require basic pattern recognition, and though the hit detection can feel slightly floaty, the pacing remains brisk enough to keep fans of the source material engaged throughout its relatively short runtime.
As a Japan-only release, the title highlights the era's regional disparity in software libraries; while European players were distracted by the puzzle-heavy marketing of Zoop in 1995, Japanese Super Famicom owners were enjoying niche crossovers like this. It remains a fascinating relic of the early 90s "SD" craze that dominated Japanese media but rarely translated to Western markets. For collectors, it is an accessible import that requires no Japanese language proficiency to enjoy, standing as a testament to the creative freedom Banpresto wielded with the Dynamic Productions license during the 16-bit generation.
