I got an itch to look up footage for this game for the first time in forever… and I once again asked myself, "Huh, I wonder what series these characters are cosplaying. " So, instead of guessing, I went digging!
Provided in the below comments are timestamps listing each character, as well as what moves they're referencing in their EXs. Not only that, but I also listed some trivia that you may hopefully find interesting.
25:29 — Alpha – Super Robot Wars Alpha; specifically, the Four Gods from the RyūOuKi Denki manga 26:11 — Shin-Z – God Rugal from Capcom vs SNK 2 26:27 — Zaku – Mobile Suit Gundam (more Char goodness!) 26:36 — PAC-Helo – Pac-Man 26:41 — Golf – Mobile Suit Gundam (have all the Char ) 26:46 — Asura – Mazinger Z's Baron Ashura
26:52 — TTRO – My Neighbor Totoro 27:13 — Super Astro Man Z – Astro Boy 27:38 — Rario – Super Mario Bros.' Mario… with moves from Street Fighter's Ryu 27:58 — Yinan – Full Metal Panic! 29:38 — Aya – Final Fantasy
¹ If you thought to yourself, "Huh, that attack seems familiar, " that's because you may know it from another series. It's listed in the manual as "Getter Shin Shining", which was famously referenced much later in Super Metroid.
Yes, Samus Aran's Shinespark is one whole-ass anime reference.
² This actually isn't really an OC. No, Giant is ripped wholesale from the series Doraemon (full name Gōda Takeshi)! As such, he also has some references from his home series.
³ This is another reference to the Doraemon series, the character themselves being Honekawa Suneo. In fact, the name literally means "Girl Suneo".
⁷ The theme that plays in the background when you select Masa is "Char ga Kuru" (i.e. "Here Comes Char"), performed by Kouichiro Hori. It first appeared in the original Mobile Suit Gundam as an insert song, close to the end of episode forty.
You know, speaking of cosplay…
I got an itch to look up footage for this game for the first time in forever… and I once again asked myself, "Huh, I wonder what series these characters are cosplaying.
Enjoy, all.
(Note that if you see the same character in a different idle stance, that indicates that it's an EX version of them.)
00:57¹ — Zoma – Shin Getter Robo
01:27 — Kiki – Magical DoReMi
01:52 — Chang – Naruto; specifically, pre-Shippuden
02:39 — Amiro – Mobile Suit Gundam (Amuro Ray's various mobile suits)
03:53 — Anmc P – Gundam mooks from the Universal Century timeline
04:17 — Giant² – Mazinger Z
06:04 — Yo – Resident Evil
06:28 — Sin – Primarily American horror movies, but also Onimusha
07:34 — Lizard – Neon Genesis Evangelion (the Evas)
08:08 — Kay – Neon Genesis Evangelion (the Angels)
08:45 — Dido – Virtual-ON
09:31 — Sakuya – Sakura Wars
10:18 — Alex⁴ – Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger⁵
12:04 — Hiso – Hunter × Hunter (the Phantom Troupe)
12:37 — Erus – Hunter × Hunter (the heroes)
14:17 — OS Feng – Shaman King
14:51 — Sean – Soul Hunter
15:13 — Gon – Digimon
16:23 — Kate – .hack
16:47 — Remu – Machine Robo
17:35 — Rear – GEAR Fighter Dendoh⁶
18:12 — Gigi – Kamen Rider (Shocker mooks)
20:49 — Ogi – Gundam Wing (OZ mobile suits)
21:49 — Ziro – Gundam Wing (the Endless Waltz mobile suits)
22:48 — Masa – Mobile Suit Gundam (Char Aznable)⁷
23:15 — 3-Times –
[sᴇᴇ ᴀʙᴏᴠᴇ]
23:38 — Zenka – Super Robot Wars (Sanger Zonvolt's various mechs)
24:21 — Z-Mega – Rugal Bernstein from King of Fighters 2002
26:11 — Shin-Z – God Rugal from Capcom vs SNK 2
26:27 — Zaku – Mobile Suit Gundam (more Char goodness!)
26:36 — PAC-Helo – Pac-Man
26:41 — Golf – Mobile Suit Gundam (have all the Char
26:46 — Asura – Mazinger Z's Baron Ashura
27:13 — Super Astro Man Z – Astro Boy
27:38 — Rario – Super Mario Bros.' Mario… with moves from Street Fighter's Ryu
27:58 — Yinan – Full Metal Panic!
29:38 — Aya – Final Fantasy
"Getter Shin Shining"
, which was famously referenced much later in Super Metroid.Yes, Samus Aran's Shinespark is one whole-ass anime reference.
³ This is another reference to the Doraemon series, the character themselves being Honekawa Suneo. In fact, the name literally means "Girl Suneo".
⁵ If these cosplay attacks look familiar, that's because Zyuranger was later adapted to be the first entry of the Power Rangers series.