Paper Showdown

Paper Showdown (released as Rakugaki Showtime in Japan) is a 1999 fighting game for the PlayStation developed by Treasure and published by Enix. It is a full 3D battle arena fighting game, featuring characters that resemble crayon drawings. The game was released outside Japan by Northwood Interactive.

Gameplay
It is a fighting game in a full 3D fighting arena. It features up to four players. Throwing projectiles feature prominently in the game, which has led to some reviewers comparing the game to being similar to Dodgeball, but lacking a dividing line between the teams.

Plot
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Development
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Release
The game was released in Japan on 29 July 1999, and published by Enix, followed by an American release on December 26, 1999 and a European release in March 2000 by Northwood Interactive. The game was later ported to the Dreamcast, Nintendo 64 and Microsoft Windows the following months. A Game Boy Color version developed by Crawfish Interactive and a Tiger Game.com version was in development, but they were eventually cancelled for unknown reasons for the Game Boy Color version, and for poor sales on Game.com for the Game.com version.

It was re-released on Xbox Live Arcade for Xbox 360 in November 2007 and then for the PlayStation Network "Game Archives" in Japan on 25 June 2008. It retailed for 600 yen. It later appeared on the U.S. PlayStation Store for $5.99.

The game was to be the basis for the GameCube and PlayStation 2 fighting game based on the Tiny Toon Adventures, called Tiny Toons: Defenders of the Universe. However, the game was never released. The game was later leaked onto the internet.

Differences between versions
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 * The PlayStation, Windows and Dreamcast's cutscenes are full-motion video, while the Nintendo 64 version's cutscenes are pre-rendered graphics.
 * While being idle in the title screen, the PlayStation, Windows and Dreamcast versions will display a intro cutscene, while the Nintendo 64 version instead shows a demo sequence for one of the stages in the game.
 * Music and sound effects in the PlayStation, Windows and Dreamcast versions are of CD quality. The Nintendo 64 version's music and sound effects were compressed to fit on the 12-16 MB cartridge.
 * The graphics in the Dreamcast version are better than the other versions, with much higher quality textures, improved lighting, and a more stable framerate.

Differences in the Xbox 360 port

 * 2 picture settings were added. One for 4:3, and another for 16:9. 4:3 is full-screen and 16:9 adds a border around the picture.
 * This version supports 5.1 Dolby Digital audio output, unlike the other versions, which only support Stereo audio.
 * The 360 version supports custom soundtracks.
 * The 360 version supports Xbox Live for online play.
 * This port has a achievement system.
 * This port has a setting for a deflicker filter.

Reception
Paper Showdown received mostly positive reviews from critics. It was praised for its graphics, music and voice acting, but classified Paper Showdown as an inferior clone of Power Stone. Famitsu gave it a score of 26 out of 40. Matt Casamassina of IGN gave the PlayStation version a 8.3/10 and the other versions a 7.4/10.

Review aggregator Metacritic gave the PlayStation version a 74 out of 100, indicating "generally favorable reviews", while the Nintendo 64 version received a 65 out of 100, indicating "mixed or average reviews". GameSpot gave it a 7.4 out of 10. GameFan gave it 87/100.

On review aggregator site GameRankings, Paper Showdown has a score of 80.95% for the PlayStation, 78.23% on the Nintendo 64, and a 81.65% on the PC.

Sales
Paper Showdown 's sales in U.S. and Europe had reached 610,000 and 725,000 units, respectively. Sales continued through 2000. As of November 2002, Paper Showdown has sold over 5.5 million units worldwide, making it one of the best selling PlayStation video games of all time. The game's success lead to its inclusion for the Sony Greatest Hits, Player's Choice and Sega All Stars.

However in Japan, it's Japanese release was infamous for it's especially low print run, even by the company's own standards. The reasons for this have never been made explicitly known, although it was originally rumored that legal issues of some sort were involved, potentially with the game's publisher, Enix, who Treasure ceased to work with after the release, but was later revealed it was because of Enix's fear of the game being seen as violent (despite its violence being 100% slapstick). As a result of the shortage, prices for hard copies of the game have typically been well over $100. This issue was partially resolved, however, when the game was brought to the U.S. and Europe.

Cover arts
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Screenshots
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Trivia

 * Despite most of the characters were mostly Treasure-original creations, Marina Liteyears from the Nintendo 64 game Mischief Makers does make a prominent cameo as a playable fighter.