Play Rakugaki Showtime Online

Summary

Rakugaki Showtime (sometimes just "Showtime") is a wildly eccentric 3D arena fighter that feels like a multiplayer dodgeball made of crayon sketches. Players grab whatever they can toss—books, fish, even household junk—to knock opponents out of the ring, and the chaos supports up to four people at once. The roster includes 17 quirky characters, among them Marina Liteyears from the obscure Mis​chief Makers, all rendered in wobbly hand‑drawn style. Treasure’s first original PlayStation venture, it features a soundtrack by Kenta Watanabe, whose retro‑rock past includes Panzer Bandit.

A bitter legal tug‑of‑war between Treasure and Enix forced the game into an ultra‑limited Japanese launch, turning it into a collector’s treasure that once sold for ¥15,000. It resurfaced on the PlayStation Network’s Game Archives in 2008 for a modest ¥600. Critics loved its frantic gameplay, awarding it solid scores like 7.4 from GameSpot and an 87 from GameFan.

Storyline

Rakugaki Showtime drops you into a hand‑drawn universe where every backdrop and creature is sketched by the mysterious “God Hand.” This God Hand literally pencils the world into existence, turning blank paper into a living stage.

The story follows the four Heroes Team members—Yukiwo, Sasami, Pitan, and Tsubohachi—who are summoned by the God Hand to defend the realm. Opposing them is Daddy, the shadowy commander of the Enemy forces, who rallies an army of bizarre, pencil‑crafted foes.

Both sides are bound to their creator’s script, labeled simply as the “Heroes and Enemies,” and they march toward an inevitable showdown. The game’s narrative is a nonstop battle to the very end, with each sketch‑born combatant fighting out its predetermined fate.