Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax



is a 2D-crossover arcade fighting game released as part of ASCII Media Works's Dengeki Bunko's 20th-anniversary celebration.

The game made its initial 2014 release in Japanese amusement arcades, and it was later released for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita. In 2015, it was available in China and North America for retail and digital download and in Europe for digital download only. Games pre-ordered in North America included the soundtrack CD.

In 2015, the game was followed by the sequel Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax Ignition. Ignition was introduced to Japanese arcades on July 28, 2015, and a home console version, for PS3, PS4, and PS Vita, was released December 17, 2015. A mobile version of the game, produced by Sega and the Chinese game developers 91Act and available exclusively in China, was showcased at ChinaJoy 2017 and released that year in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan.

Gameplay
The game involves two players forming teams to battle each other. Teams consist of a main, fully playable character and an assist character. Assist characters are not fully playable and their abilities are more restricted than those of main characters. Players can attack and guard with moves taken from characters' respective series.

The home version of the game features pre- and post-match dialogue. It also features online multiplayer functionality and saving between PS3 and PS Vita versions. Replay Mode is available to replay fight scenes and the Galley is where players can buy artwork and characters' voices with points. In music mode, some of the game's official soundtrack is also available for listening.

The game was praised by several critics for being easy to learn and enjoyable for anime and Sega fans. It features backgrounds from Dengeki Bunko series as well as Sega games, including Sonic the Hedgehog.

Game Mechanics
Seen in the image on the right, character icons identify the main and assist characters on each team. An assist character can be called out when the assist icon is colored. When grey, the assist character is either in play or charging after a move. The charge time is roughly five seconds.

The timer in the top center counts the round and time remaining. Each round begins with 99 seconds, and when time runs out, the character with the most health wins. The bars on either side are the characters' health gauge. Yellow bars identify stable health. When full, the bars are blue-green, and when low, the health gauge is red.

Underneath the health gauge are two hexagonal victory counters that display a V when a team has won a victory. Two victories will win a match. Next to the character icons, boxes read BLAST OK, meaning that each team can use a blast attack to 1) break combos and take less damage, 2) boost the character's ability, or 3) use during a combo attack to send the opponent flying into the air. Blast attacks cannot be used when the box says WAIT. They take time to charge after use.

At the bottom of the screen, climax meters fill with time and are boosted with attacking and defending. Five climax gauges can be filled and are used in special moves. An EX special move uses one bar of the climax gauge to execute an enhanced special move. Climax arts are powerful moves that will use up to two bars. In the image on the right, Shizuo is filling bar four, and Shana is filling bar three. The lightning symbols above the climax gauges are trump card icons, and using one allows the character to use a powerful counterattack or finishing move. There is a maximum of two trump card icons, and in the event of a loss, one is regained in the next round.