Characters in the Game

The game allows you to play and control up to four characters at a time, but you may choose from six characters.  They are Ranma, Akane, Ryouga, Shampoo, Genma, and Mousse.  From time to time, only certain characters will be available to you except for Ranma, who will always be with you.  This is part of the story line.  They get captured or decide to separate from you for a while.  At the end, though, you will be able to choose any character that you want in your party. Other characters that appear in the game include Soun, Kasumi, Nabiki, Kunou, Kodachi, and Happosai.

Story Introduction [Translation p. 4 of the Manual & Intro Sequence] *

One day, a group who called themselves the Red Cat Group showed up at the Tendou house, and forcibly kidnapped Genma.  It seems they were visiting every place and collecting strong people.  Their aim was the Cat Ghost King's revival, and it was up to the Cat Society to implement this.  For that reason, what kind of requests would it grant for them?  It is said that there is a mysterious crystal called the "Star Crystal."  Ranma knew this and in order to obstruct the Red Cat Group's ambition, he must set out to clarify events.  However, falling into the Red Cat Group's trap, Ranma has become lost in a strange world.  Go, Ranma.  Before the "Star Crystal" falls into the Red Cat Group's hands!!
One day, the Jusenkyou Guide walks into the middle of a forest clearing with 5 graves and says,
"Yo, hello! I am the Jusenkyou guide, right?"
"Indeed. It appears I've completely lost my way on the road!!"
Looking around, he continues,
"Here, perhaps old gods and apparitions' tombs lie."
"I have quite a bad feeling. But, it's alright."
"If I don't do bad things, then there won't be any apparation's curses!"
"Well, I should return home!!"
Doing so, he tries to make his way home but accidently trips, falls, and breaks a tombstone.
"Aa!"
"Oh, I've done it now!! I've completely broken an important grave!!"
"What's this ... ? Cat Ghost King's spirit sleeps here ..."
"Aiya!! Terrible!!"
"I've inadvertently caused the Cat Ghost King to be resurrected!! What should I do?"
"That's it. This is all a bad dream, right?!!"
"I'll return to my house and drink sake or something, right?!!"

Goal of the Game

Well, since it's going to take me a long time to translate the whole story, this is what I can tell you right now.  In the introduction, it seems the Jusenkyou guide broke a tombstone and resurrected the Ghost Cat King.  The scene then shifts to the Tendou doujou where Genma gets kidnapped because the Ghost Cat King wants to conquer the world, but he has to depose of the great martial arts masters who are in the way.  When Genma gets kidnapped, Soun and Ranma become upset because they basically say, "What about us?  We're great martial arts masters."  The kidnappers take Genma away, and Ranma and Akane decide to chase after their kidnappers.  Ranma is ahead and runs into Ryouga, and Ryouga attacks Ranma because he thinks Ranma is not treating Akane well.  You get to fight this out, and Akane catches up.  Ryouga learns that Genma has been kidnapped, and he decides to help search for him because Akane is searching for Genma [thus helping Ranma].  Before Akane or Ranma can say anything, Ryouga takes off, and  the encounter with Ryouga leaves the kidnappers out of sight.  Ranma and Akane decide to look around Tokyo, talk
with various people who don't know anything about the kidnappers, and visit Neko Han Ten where they meet Shampoo and Cologne.  Cologne knows the kidnappers, tells them some stuff, and Shampoo joins the party.  Next stop is the school grounds.  I've left some things out of this introduction, but after this, the next stop is Furinken High.  Well, I guess the goal of the game is to defeat the Ghost Cat King and save the world.

Starting the Game

After  you've loaded up the game and pushed start, there should be two menu items.  The first one is to start a new game.  The second one is to load saved games. 

Menus

"Overland" Menu

The first menu you want to know about is the "Overland" menu.  This menu can be accessed anytime [except in battle and reading messages] by pressing the X button.  There are four commands in upper right hand corner, some of which have submenus.  On the left hand side are your character's stats.  Below that, in the lower left hand corner is the amount of money you have.  The four commands in the upper right hand corner are respectively with submenus:

Use Items
        Use an item
        Throw an item away
        Reorder items
Equip Items
        Equip an item
        Unequip an item
Status
Save

"Battle" Menu

The other menu you need to know is the "Battle" menu.  This menu is brought up when you encounter enemies, of course!  ^_^  The commands are on the lower right hand corner of the screen.  Left of that is character stats [hit points and "ki" power].  Above that is a graphic display of the battlefield.  The battle menu commands are, in order:

Regular Attack [delivers a regular attack, i.e. punch] 
Special Attack [see Martial Arts Techniques section] 
Use Items [see "Overland" menu section]
Defend
Run Away [causes the whole party to run away, may be unsuccessful at times]

* This section contains copyrighted material and has been translated by me, Ray Huang, without permission for the purposes of greater fan appreciation of the game.  Therefore, the translation is the property of Rumiko Takashi, Shougakkon, and all respective copyright holders.

Martial Arts Techniques
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