Kamen Rider Battle: Ganbaride

This article is about a video game in the Kamen Rider Series.

Kamen Rider Battle: Ganbaride (仮面ライダーバトルガンバライド, Kamen Raidā Batoru Ganbaraido, Masked Rider Battle: Ganbaride) is a combination of an arcade game and a collectible card game featuring the protagonists of the Kamen Rider Series. The game was released as part of the 10th anniversary of the Heisei run Kamen Rider Series by Toei, TV Asahi, Ishimori Productions, and Bandai and features heavy tie-ins with the television series Kamen Rider Decade, whose protagonists use cards similar to those used in the game.

It is played in a similar fashion to Sega's Mushiking and Dinosaur King games, and uses special Data Carddass cards released by Bandai. The game's card input resembles and functions similarly to the Decadriver in Decade. As the series progresses, the game controls change to suit the new Kamen Rider. During the airing of Kamen Rider OOO, Ganbaride arcade systems included an OOO Driver interface for the toy Core Medals, and with the broadcast of Kamen Rider Fourze, slots for the Astro Switches become available.

McDonald's restaurants in Japan have released special promotional Ganbaride cards with their Happy Meals to tie in with the various Kamen Riderfilms in Japanese theaters at the time.

A Nintendo DS port of the game subtitled Card Battle War (カードバトル大戦, Kādo Batoru Taisen) was released on July 29, 2010, featuring a modified game system as there is no on-board card reader for the handheld. The player controls a fan of the Ganbaride game who has to use his or her ability at the game to work for the DOLL paranormal research group who have discovered a weird bug in the game system. Meanwhile, an evil organization called "Bug" has come forward to use this dangerous game mechanic to their advantage.

The game cards are divided between the Hero Cards (ヒーローカード, Hīrō Kādo?), colored red, and Special Cards (スペシャルカード, Supesharu Kādo?), colored yellow. Hero Cards are used during normal game play, and the KamenRide (カメンライド, Kamen Raido?) Cards are the first cards played choosing the player's primary and secondary characters. Other Hero Cards include the AttackRide (アタックライド, Atakku Raido?) Cards, used for performing actions such as kicks, slashes, or gunfire, and the FormRide (フォームライド, Fōmu Raido?) Cards, used for switching between different specialized forms (such as for Kamen Riders Kuuga, Den-O and Kiva). For players of Kamen Rider Decade, these Hero Cards work in a similar fashion to the KamenRide, AttackRide, and FormRide Cards used by the character in the television series.

Special Cards are much more powerful versions of the Hero Cards. The Final Ride (ファイナルライド, Fainaru Raido?) Cards are used to transform Heisei Kamen Riders into their most powerful forms. Final AttackRide (ファイナルアタックライド, Fainaru Attaku Raido?) Cards are used to initiate a player character's finishing move. Final FormRide (ファイナルフォームライド, Fainaru Fōmu Raido?) Cards are generally only used by players of Kamen Rider Decade, and are used to transform the secondary character into a form similar to those as found in the television series. There are also other Special Cards that simply add damage during play.

Each card also has an attribute that in a rock-paper-scissors-like system, determines which card has an advantage over the other. Speed (速, Hayasa?) cards have an advantage over Power (力, Chikara?) cards, which have an advantage over Technique (技, Waza?) cards, which have an advantage over Speed cards.

Game Cards

The game uses two different kinds of cards. The red Hero Cards (ヒーローカード, Hīrō Kādo) represent the Kamen Riders (and, more recently, some Imagin) and are used by the player at the start of the game to form their team. Hero Cards are marked by a number of parameters, including Attack, Defense, Power, and a Finishing Move, as well as the slots which represent the character's ability to attack. Each Hero Card also has an attribute that determines advantage and disadvantage using a Rock-paper-scissors system: Speed (速, Hayasa) cards have an advantage over Power (力, Chikara) cards, which have an advantage over Technique (技, Waza) cards, which have an advantage over Speed cards. Though the cards are labeled KamenRide (カメンライド, Kamen Raido), AttackRide (アタックライド, Atakku Raido), and FormRide (フォームライド, Fōmu Raido) as per the Kamen Rider Decade television series, all three function identically within Ganbaride.

The gold-colored Special Cards (スペシャルカード, Supesharu Kādo) come in three different forms. The Final Ride (ファイナルライド, Fainaru Raido) Cards are used to achieve temporary effects, such as increasing one's own parameters or decreasing the opponent's. In later sets, Final Ride cards were introduced that summon a Rider's support vehicles (such as the Auto Vajin or DenLiner) to perform a special attack. Final AttackRide (ファイナルアタックライド, Fainaru Attaku Raido) and Final FormRide (ファイナルフォームライド, Fainaru Fōmu Raido) Cards are used to initiate one of Kamen Rider Decade's special finishing moves using the transformed state of another Rider.

The cards come in five different rarities: Normal, Rare, Special, Super Rare, and Legend Rare. The rarer cards tend to be more powerful, with Super Rare and Legend Rare possessing gold text and holofoil backgrounds.

Gameplay

At the start of the game, the player forms his team by scanning two Hero Cards, the first being his main hero and the second being his support, performing extra attacks or shielding the main Rider from attacks as determined by their Guard trait. Alternately, the player can choose to play as Kamen Rider Decade in the form of one of the nine Heisei Kamen Riders by pressing the Belt Button in lieu of scanning a main Hero Card, then scanning a card representing the hero whose form he wishes Decade to use. Compatibility between the two heroes is also an important factor, as more compatible Riders gain bonuses. Before each round, the player performs a Belt Lamp Roulette, which gives further bonuses. During the Attack Phase, the player team and opposing team use a roulette slot system to determine their attacks, which are divided by type (for example, punches, kicks, and weapon attacks) and power. Whichever team has the highest combined value attacks first; in the event of a tie, a Rider Rush occurs, in which both sides must press the buttons rapidly, with the winner automatically performing a Fierce Attack. The Fierce Attack is the Rider's strongest attack on the roulette slot; if one team performs a strong enough attack, it can stun the opponent temporarily, making them lose their turn (assuming they haven't gone already). If either team gets two of the same type of attack icon (for instance, two kicks), the Riders will perform an extra-powerful Double Attack.

The second round and all subsequent rounds allow the use of Special Cards, as well as Memory Change, an ability unique to Kamen Rider Double that lets him change between his many forms. Only one Special Card and one Memory Change can be used per battle (though using one does not preclude the other). As the battle continues, each team builds up Rider Power, shown on the bottom of the screen as a meter. When the meter is 70% full, the team leader can perform his Finishing Move; at 100%, a Double Rider Finisher can be performed. Usually this takes the form of the secondary Rider attacking their opponent to allow the leader to perform his Finishing Move, though some teams of Riders instead perform a Double Rider Kick. During each Finishing Move's animation, the player is prompted to press the belt button at certain moments to increase the damage dealt; if a player is on the receiving end of a CPU opponent's Finishing Move, these prompts will instead reduce damage taken. Sometimes, thanks to proper support from the secondary Rider, a team may receive Rider Guts when knocked out, restoring some health and allowing them to continue fighting. Play proceeds until one team is defeated; if a battle continues for four or five rounds without a clear winner, the game may declare a Final Round, introducing a Sudden Death element by reducing both teams to 1 Hit Point but filling their Rider Power to 100%, meaning the first team to land a successful attack wins.

Some Riders receive unique bonuses when first used. For example, Decade Complete Form has Complete Scan, wherein the player is prompted to scan as many Hero Cards as possible within ten seconds, receiving a bonus based on how many unique cards were inputted. If the player uses Memory Change to transform into Double CycloneJoker Xtreme, he receives an Xtreme Chance, a roulette bonus similar to the Belt Lamp Roulette with four separate bonuses determined by which Gaia Memories are placed into the Prism Bicker.

In Single Player, a player who performs well may receive a special EX Stage in which he faces a much stronger team. A player who performs exceptionally well may receive a Hyper EX Stage where he faces an incredibly strong team, made up of characters who are not available to players in the current upgrade (but will be included in the next expansion). Unlike normal play, if the player loses during an EX or Hyper EX Stage, there is no option to continue.

As of the change to the Kamen Rider Wizard-based interface, the game system has undergone several changes. First, the rock-paper-scissors aspect has been removed, and Riders are now categorized into types, the current ones being Fire, Water, Wind, Earth, Space, Multi, Thunder, Mecha, and Kiai. It also introduced IC Cards, which allow players to have a game save, and progress through various battle stages. With the IC Cards came a leveling system, wherein winning battles with a rider from the with a specific type will level up that type. The levels not only affect the stats of the riders, but also determine their special attacks, as now Hero Cards have different special attacks depending on what level their type is. Additionally, Special Cards are now only usable at the beginning of the scan phase, rather than during combat. Another new addition are Battle Supporters, characters who can provide an assist attack once per battle.

List of Riders & Forms

Decade/W line

Series 1

Kamen Rider Kiva (Kiva Form/Garulu Form/Basshaa Form/Dogga Form/DoGaBaki Form/Emperor Form)
Kamen Rider IXA (Save Mode/Burst Mode)
Kamen Rider Den-O (Sword Form/Rod Form/Axe Form/Gun Form)
Kamen Rider Zeronos (Altair Form)
Kamen Rider #1 (Shin Ichigo)
Kamen Rider #2 (Shin Nigo)
Kamen Rider V3
Kamen Rider Black
Kamen Rider Nega Den-O (EX Battle only)

Series 2

Kamen Rider Kuuga (Mighty Form/Pegasus Form)
Kamen Rider Ryuki
Kamen Rider Decade
Kamen Rider Stronger
Kamen Rider Nega Den-O
Kamen Rider Knight
Kamen Rider Zeronos (Zero Form)
Shocker Rider #1 & #5
Kamen Rider Ryuga (EX Battle only)

Series 3

Kamen Rider Blade (Ace Form/King Form)
Kamen Rider Faiz
Kamen Rider Agito (Ground Form)
Kamen Rider Ryuga
Kamen Rider Diend (EX Battle only)

Series 4

Kamen Rider Diend
Kamen Rider Hibiki
Kamen Rider Kabuto
Kamen Rider Ouja
Kamen Rider Kaixa

Series 5

Kamen Rider Decade (Complete Form)
Kamen Rider Kuuga (Dragon Form/Titan Form)
Kamen Rider Gatack

Series 6

Kamen Rider Double (CycloneJoker/HeatMetal/LunaTrigger)
Kamen Rider Den-O (Liner Form)
Kamen Rider Agito (Trinity Form)
Kamen Rider G3-X

Series 7

Kamen Rider Double (CycloneMetal/CycloneTrigger/HeatJoker/HeatTrigger/LunaJoker/LunaMetal)
Kamen Rider Kuuga (Rising Ultimate Form)
Kamen Rider Black RX
Shadow Moon
Kamen Rider ZX
Kamen Rider Kuuga (Black-eyed Rising Ultimate Form) (Hyper Battle only)

Series 8

Kamen Rider Double (FangJoker)
Kamen Rider Dark Kabuto
Kamen Rider Faiz (Axel Form)
Kamen Rider Accel
Kamen Rider Kuuga (Black-eyed Rising Ultimate Form)
Kamen Rider New Den-O (Strike Form) (Hyper Battle only)

Series 9

Momotaros
Kamen Rider New Den-O (Strike Form)
Kamen Rider Super-1

Series 10

Kamen Rider Double (CycloneJokerXtreme)
Kamen Rider Accel (Trial)
Kamen Rider Decade (Violent Emotion)
Kamen Rider Skull
Negataros (Hyper Battle only)
Kamen Rider Amazon (Hyper Battle only)

Series 11

Kamen Rider Diend (Complete Form)
Kamen Rider Amazon
Kamen Rider Agito (Burning Form)
Kamen Rider Hibiki (Kurenai)
Negataros
Urataros
Kintaros
Ryutaros

OOO line

Series 1

Kamen Rider OOO Tatoba Combo/Takakiriba Combo/Takatorartar Combo)
Kamen Rider Double (CycloneJokerGoldXtreme)
Kamen Rider Joker
Kamen Rider Eternal
Kamen Rider Faiz (Blaster Form)
Kamen Rider X (Hyper EX Battle only)

Series 2

Kamen Rider OOO (Gatakiriba Combo/Latorartar Combo/Sagohzo Combo)
Kamen Rider Kabuto (Hyper Form)
Kamen Rider Den-O (Wing Form)
Kamen Rider X
Kamen Rider Ryuki (Survive Form) (Hyper EX Stage only)

Series 3

Kamen Rider OOO (Tajadol Combo/Takapanba Combo)
Kamen Rider Birth
Kamen Rider Ryuki (Survive Form)
Kamen Rider Skull (Skull Crystal)
Kamen Rider Garren
Skyrider (Shin Skyrider) (Hyper EX Stage only)

Series 4

Kamen Rider OOO (Shauta Combo)
Kamen Rider Birth (Birth Day)
Kamen Rider Chalice
Kamen Rider Den-O (Super Climax Form)
Shin Skyrider
Riderman (Hyper EX Stage only)

Series 5

Kamen Rider OOO (Putotyra Combo/Tamashii Combo)
Kamen Rider Accel (Booster)
Riderman
Kamen Rider Dark Kiva (Hyper EX Stage only)

Series 6

Kamen Rider OOO (Takagaruba Combo)
Kamen Rider KickHopper
Kamen Rider PunchHopper
Kamen Rider Dark Kiva
Kamen Rider Agito (Shining Form) (Hyper EX Stage only)

Fourze line

Series 1

Kamen Rider Fourze (Base States)
Kamen Rider OOO (Burakawani Combo)
Kamen Rider Agito (Shining Form)
Kamen Rider Zolda (Hyper EX Stage only)

Series 2

Kamen Rider Fourze (Elek States/Fire States)
Kamen Rider Zolda
Kamen Rider Hibiki (Armed) (Hyper EX Stage only)

Series 3

Kamen Rider Meteor
Kamen Rider Fourze (Magnet States/Rocket States)
Kamen Rider Nadeshiko
Kamen Rider Hibiki (Armed)
Kamen Rider Birth Prototype

Series 4

Kamen Rider Meteor (Meteor Storm)

Series 5

Kamen Rider Fourze (Cosmic States/Rocket Drill States)
Kamen Rider Zanki
Kamen Rider Shin
Kamen Rider Todoroki (Hyper EX Stage only)

Series 6

Kamen Rider Stronger (Charge Up)
Kamen Rider Todoroki

Wizard line

Series 1

Kamen Rider Wizard (Flame Style/Water Style/Hurricane Style/Land Style)
Kamen Rider ZO
Kamen Rider Kuuga (Rising Mighty Form)
Kamen Rider Leangle (EX Battle only)
Kamen Rider Fourze (Meteor Fusion States) (Wizard Ring only)

Series 2

Kamen Rider Wizard (Flame Dragon Style/Hurricane Dragon Style)
Kamen Rider Leangle
Kamen Rider Ibuki (EX Battle only)

Series 3

Kamen Rider Wizard (Water Dragon Style/Land Dragon Style)
Kamen Rider Beast
Kamen Rider Ibuki
Kamen Rider OOO (Super Tatoba Combo) (EX Stage only)
Kamen Rider Fourze (Meteor Fusion States)
Kamen Rider Den-O (Climax Form) (Wizard Ring only)
Kamen Rider Fourze (Meteor Nadeshiko Fusion States) (Wizard Ring only)

Series 4

Kamen Rider Beast (Hyper)
Kamen Rider OOO (Super Tatoba)
Kamen Rider TheBee

Series 5

Kamen Rider Wizard (Infinity)
Kamen Rider IXA (Rising)
Kamen Rider J

Gallery

KAMEN RIDER SERIES

	Kamen Rider J (13)
	Kamen Rider ZO (12)
	Shin Kamen Rider: Prologue (11)
	Kamen Rider Black RX (10)
	Kamen Rider Black (09)
	Kamen Rider ZX (08)
	Kamen Rider Super-1 (07)
	Kamen Rider (Skyrider) (06)
	Kamen Rider Stronger (05)
	Kamen Rider Amazon (04)
	Kamen Rider X (03)
	Kamen Rider V3 (02)
	Kamen Rider (01)

	Kamen Rider Zi-O (33)
	Kamen Rider Build (32)
	Kamen Rider Ex-Aid (31)
	Kamen Rider Ghost (30)
	Kamen Rider Drive (29)
	Kamen Rider Gaim (28)
	Kamen Rider Wizard (27)
	Kamen Rider Fourze (26)
	Kamen Rider OOO (25)
	Kamen Rider W (24)
	Kamen Rider Decade (23)
	Kamen Rider Kiva (22)
	Kamen Rider Den-O (21)
	Kamen Rider Kabuto (20)
	Kamen Rider Hibiki (19)
	Kamen Rider Blade (18)
	Kamen Rider 555 (17)
	Kamen Rider Ryuki (16)
	Kamen Rider Agito (15)
	Kamen Rider Kuuga (14)