Sprite or 7Up, Pepsi or
Coke, Fanta or Tango, Coffee or Tea, Capcom or SNK?
Capcom or SNK? As we are talking one on one fighting games,
that’s put the lions amongst the gazelles.
I’ve got a sneaking
suspicion that about 15 years ago, if SNK was mentioned in the same breath as
Capcom, many would be sued for obscene insanity.
I’d like to think the
tide has finally changed with SNK Playmore (formerly Playmore and before that
SNK) throwing their weight around in the HD cosmos.
It seems that SNK's legacy, loaded with seminal chars and innovation are finally getting
global recognition.
This is true as KOF 13
tournies are regularly held.
During the 90s, SNK
versed Capcom in a battle and ultimately lost.
Undeterred, SNK licked their wounds and evolved their franchises to make
them not just great, but actually incredible.
Even I will admit that
SNK games weren’t always truly wonderful as looking back, some of the early games
in their most famous franchises left gamers suffering from a mild case of
hypothermia.
SNK listened and got to
work on fixing those ‘problems’, hence cementing their historical
importance. The innovation and gameplay
cogs were suitably oiled and finally hit the soft spot.
While this didn’t make
Capcom sweat buckets, it made them perspire.
While nervous, they had
a solution – churn out a ‘new’ Street Fighter 2 game to keep millions happy as
unfortunately, laziness triumphs over effort.
In most SNK fighters, they came up with a fairly novel, if
obvious route of effectively using six attack buttons. This involved the use of lightly or heavily
tapping a button to achieve a different strength of punch or kick.
So SNK did have six
buttons, just in a slightly hidden way.
Special moves in
fighting games quite obviously mean that they were not regular punches or kick
and saw your char emit some kind of firework show to deal out heavier damage
than traditional fisticuffs.
These were achieved by
performing what can only be described as a ‘motion’ on your D-pad or joystick
and shortly after, pushing a specific button.
The variations were
deliciously varied and famous ones were Hadokens, Hurricane Kicks and Dragon
Punches.
Charge moves also
existed like Sonic Booms and Jack Knifes.
This involved holding your D-pad for a couple of seconds then pushing in
the opposite direction then tapping that button.
Later, charge moves
became more flexible, but back then – trying to skip that time period would
result in the move not working.
Button mashing also
achieved certain special moves or as I like to call it ‘rubber finger’.
Yes, all these came from
Street Fighter, but SNK made their own…
Power Geysers,
Haohshokokens, Deadly Ninja Bees and many more.
To be fair, SNK stole
from Capcom and Capcom stole from SNK.
Many extensions or variations on classic motions all exist.
Many famous Capcom
motions obviously exist in SNK games and if asked “How do you do Terry’s Power
Wave?” I’d reply “Just a Hadoken.”
There are so many others
like backwards yoga flame, backwards hurricane kick with punch etc etc.
Appropriately, Capcom
stole taunts and super moves entirely from their bitterest rival.
A taunt or raz move was
mostly pointless as a simple button combo saw your char make a strange action
or spoken word(s) in a failed attempt to wind your opponent up.
Still, some were cool
and even funny. Joe pulling a moony
always raises a smile…
However, Art of Fighting
made this an important gameplay mechanic.
A super move could only
performed under certain conditions which following a sometimes convoluted
motion, saw a huge energy blast cause huge damage to your enemy.
These were usually
visually spectacular and extremely satisfying to perform.
A classic super move
that Capcom shoplifted from SNK was the classic Art of Fighting super move combo,
first used in one of those Marvel fighting games.
It might have been
Marvel Super Heroes but I know it was called Stars and Stripes and performed by
Captain America. It’s exactly the same.
In the world of SNK,
charging a spirit gauge, power gauge and even your energy meter played an
important part.
Possibly the most insane
unique move that SNK came up with was the doll move in Samurai Shodown 2. Wacky and pointless? Right on both counts.
Another SNK innovation
was screen scaling. As it infers, the
screen ‘scaled’ in and out during the explosive action which meant for some
huge sprites.
Some of the console
ports just couldn’t handle it so sensibly, was omitted entirely.
One thing that
completely separates SNK from Capcom is that all SNK chars perform fireball
attacks using one hand.
Capcom recognised the
importance of their main rival and so created a Street Fighter char called Dan
who performed un-Capcom like one-handed fireball attacks. Dan is the nearest thing you’ll see to an Art
of Fighting char in a Capcom game.
He was basically a
fairly useless and highly underpowered Ryu and is a running joke amongst Capcom
and SNK fans.
The tension between both
sets still remained remarkably intense.
Like Capcom, 2P action
was incredible and ensured many hours of ridicule and rivalry.
I could really wax
lyrical on motions, chars, OTT supers, victory poses, presentation and much
more but I’m just delaying the inevitable.
An entire series will be
dissected and eviscerated; in a fairly expansive and elaborate spiel.
As you’d expect, many
were ported to other systems but never gave the same effect. This was true even when they became available
on the later super systems…
I’m taking you down Lamentable
Lane, Awful Avenue, Decent Drive and Riotous Road. Every door will be banged on and I’m screaming
the neighbourhood down.
If the motion police
come to deplete my energy, I’ll taunt, block, counter with a combo and charge
my gauge to unleash a devastating super desperation move.
That should take care of
them, unless I fumble.
Most were developed by
SNK but others had a crack too with ‘different’ results.
So before getting to the
downright tasty, we have to take a bite on what others released.
Karnov’s Revenge, Data East 1994
I’ll begin with this and the signs are good as it was a Data
East effort. Don’t charge that gauge
just yet, because it was only okay.
Shame really, as Data East made some great games for the Neo
Geo but they struggled with this genre.
This was actually a sequel as some may call this Fighter’s
History Dynamite.
Fighter’s History is probably more famous for being in court
with Capcom over it being a direct rip-off of Street Fighter 2.
The intro was amusing as it saw the bald headed Karnov point
rudely and then unexpectedly, a fist would smash a ‘window’ and the glass would
fall away.
The graphics were decent as the backgrounds went through day
to night transitions a la Fatal Fury.
Of these transitions, the stages could look quite different
per round so that was smart.
The problem was it played pretty awkwardly and moves felt
unsatisfying.
If it was any stiffer, you could take it surfing.
On a lighter note, Karnov as the end boss proved a humorous
challenge.
Fight
Fever, Viccom 1994
I’ve just had word from
the Met Office, there is a storm heading our way and it smells of something so
putrid and foul, I can’t bear to inhale.
This is an extreme
announcement to all aspiring artists, daring developers and pedantic
programmers. If you wish to make a truly
‘excellent’ game, please take heed and follow the advice of Viccom.
I love storms, yer’ know
- those shit storms that occasionally developers shower us gamers with.
Fight fucking Fever is
one of those storms and among the worst fighting game ever made. Its quality even teeters with The Legend of
Success Joe – it’s that stupendous.
It’s a dirty game, a
sleazy and perverted steaming pile of goat shit that even an unfit fly would
find unacceptable due to its whiff.
A true excavation of
foul smelling contamination, I really don’t want to speak about this as it may
warp my mind and judgment but I guess I have no choice….
I pray for my
‘in’sanity.
The only thing that
makes sense is that Viccom was a Korean developer so sensibly, its premise is
based around Taekwondo but the execution was frankly awful.
You can be certain that it
boasted forgettable chars, terrible moves, laughable animation and lamentable
gameplay.
It
would disgrace a terrible Megadrive game and it seems that Viccom were infected
with system confusion.
Either that or they’re just a bunch
of sick bastards.
It even dared to model itself on Art
of Fighting; I can barely contain my anger.
I bet SNK were insulted, rather than flattered.
What we have folks is a game with so many negatives; I’d
swear it was made in a faulty battery factory.
You could say it has appeal, but there again, so does a
mangy orange.
I suppose we should be grateful for small mercies as there
was no sequel and Viccom was never seen again on the Neo Geo. Hoorah!
Breakers and Breakers Revenge, Visco
1996 and 1998
Well after Fight Fever, things had
to improve and I suppose this upped the ante but not by much.
Visco at it with these and I’ll mainly mention the first as
its sequel was, well….
Eight brawlers to choose from and at least they had a go at
looking interesting as these were global and historical fighters (like World
Heroes).
There was an Egyptian, T Hawk wannabe and a scary Amazon
female but there were two chars (Sho and Jin) which must be the laziest sprites
drawn together in fighting game history.
They are EXACTLY the same sprite but with different
moves. To further to take the piss,
their char portraits were the same too.
Before we scream Ken and Ryu, Ryo and Robert et al, at least
Capcom and SNK made sure they looked different.
It’s just absolutely ridiculous.
I must mention the Italian sword swinger known as
Pielle. The constant sound of ‘ohhh’
can’t fail to encourage a giggle, regardless of your sexuality.
The actual game itself featured workable combos, decent
graphics, moves and special effects.
Super moves also made and appearance and it even played reasonably
enough so all in all, it wasn’t too bad.
The sequel, well there’s nothing too much to say about the
sequel because it’s not even a sequel.
In fact, anybody would struggle to make a case for it to qualify as a
terrible update.
One new char and that’s really about it. I’m pretty sure that was it. If Breakers was responsible for the laziest
char sprites ever, how about Revenge been the laziest and worst sequel ever
made?
Shinoken and/or Ragnagard, Saurus
1996
This was a fairly late Neo game and took note of the
graphics used in Pulstar and Blazing Star as all chars were rendered.
You weren’t exactly spoilt for choice with those chars as again,
there were only eight to choose from.
It wasn’t fisticuffs but weapons based fighter and as
rendering was used, the animation was great, but as the old age expression goes
and like so many before, fancy graphics do not necessarily make a good game.
Did this fall under that category? Well I’d say yes and no as while not totally
awful, it wasn’t totally great either.
Of that ‘great’ animation, this only applied to standing
animation as the rest was fairly mediocre.
I also found the backgrounds to be a bit of mess too, with
an odd colour
scheme and a strange mix of inactivity.
The end boss reminded me of Devil Kazuya out of Tekken 2.
Standard stuff here, with the usual throws, dashes and a
power gauge to manually charge. I
wouldn’t blub too much if a rare state of amnesia caused me to forget about
this one.
Well, we’re not doing very well so far are we? So it’s time to dip our toes into the
improvement pool…
Double Dragon, Technos 1995
This did not fall under ‘same title, different game’ because
this is a spin-off from the classic 1987 Technos scrolling brawler.
Anyway, this is more like it.
The graphics were fine but not exactly mind-blowing, the
animation was fairly ordinary but one thing mattered, was its gameplay.
The char roster was ten and saw you choose some of the chars
from the Doub
Drag universe and some unique warriors.
The usual special moves existed and there was a charge meter
which gradually filled on performing regular specials. Once filled, performing the normal specials
with more than button meant a more powerful version of the original.
The two bosses offered some resistance.
I’ll get the worst bit outta the way first and the most un-Neo
like intro you’re ever likely to see.
FMV – can you believe this shit?
What made it worse is that it was so badly pixilated; it was on par with
a very bad Mega CD game. The footage
contained was from the atrocious film of what this was based on.
This is what I really don’t get, why do developers insist on
using a technique that a console just can’t handle or doesn’t even want to be a
part of.
I mean getting the Neo Geo to do perfect FMV is like asking
the C64 to do a smooth 3D game, or a Speccy game not to attribute clash.
The actual game was good, the music was better and it played
very well.
Everything was smooth, it got extremely active and combos
flowed like a hungry cave spring.
I liked the way before you fought each char, they had their
own unique entrance.
Destructible objects also existed in every stage and while
nothing original – cool.
The music sparkled in the limelight and the charge theme,
heard when you powered up Billy or Jimmy was extremely memorable. Duh Duh Duh, Der Der Der etc etc….
It’s no classic but certainly worth a play and although it
sounded like a shower of the proverbial, I am happy for it to rain on me.
Savage Reign, SNK 1995
Alarm bells are starting to excitedly ring because this is
first set we’ve stumbled across to be entirely done by SNK.
This should automatically signal greatness, but it’s one of
the rare occasions that I can’t rave as this series is consigned to just been
decent.
Let’s get our potato masher into the former and definitely totally
inferior original.
(Kizuna is next).
Each char (ten of the blighters) is armed with a weapon and
unlike what you’d think, these can be used separately but not put away. Another variation is the ability to jump to
another plane and use whatever action as a further attack.
Weapons ranged from boomerangs, discus, axe and a gymnast’s
ball.
Yeah, that’s not some kind of sick joke, a gymnast’s ball
will come in really handy when coming up against a lunatic with an axe?
Bit of innovation
then, but nah, this one didn’t light my fire.
So choose one of your 10 chars and off you went to enter
Battle of the Beast God….
It was virtually devoid of any sort of combo system so it
was either use your weapon, fist, foot, stereotypical special or nuke to win a
match.
The innovation of being able to jump to other bits of the
background wore off quicker than an Eyetoy.
The backgrounds could be rather attractive. Chung’s setting was my favourite even if some
will say it’s like a certain hundred kick specialist’s stage.
Eagle, Gordon and Carol also had nice scenery so if that’s
its best aspect, uh oh.
To break up the action, you could break some bells. It certainly was a load of ‘bells’.
My main bees in my bonnet (apart from the combo system) were
animation choppier than a dangerous boating trip and one of the worst SNK
bosses ever.
SNK rarely shit out ‘awful’ end bosses as usually they’re
memorable and become stuff of legend, but everybody has an off day I suppose –
even SNK.
First you got King Lion, then King Leo (Lion was the
impostor). They both wore some kind of
camp Riddler mask (gay), armed with a giant sword (okay) but the deal breaker
was why the fuck did SNK force them to wear boxing gloves?
What sort of bosses are these? Is this some kind of appalling tribute to The
Village People?
It doesn’t stop there.
If memory serves me right, the winning dialogue was something like “I am
King Lion and/or King Leo. Hear me
Gggggguuuuuuurrrrrrrraaaaaarrrrrrrrrrr.”
Pinch me, was this a joke?
Nope!
Was it in homage to Catwoman?
To cap it off, they were practically the same, yes even bordering
on Breakers territory.
It’s okay, but by SNK’s high standards - a mediocre effort.
Kizuna Encounter, SNK 1996
This is the sequel and SNK go some way to redeeming
themselves.
It’s not brilliant, but it’s good.
The intro automatically signals a better game but the
campness of King Lion returns…
The subtitle of Super Tag Battle is not for its health and
as you’d expect, two players are chosen in ‘tagging’ your way to victory.
10 is the magic number and amongst those, two new and far
better chars join the tit for tag fun.
Rosa - a feisty sword wielding female and Kim Young Mok, a
dashing dude with a staff.
I don’t know if this was SNK being unoriginal or trying to
be funny but the char Kim, not only looks like Kim out of Fatal Fury, but seems
to have inherited some of his fairly famous special moves….
I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt.
Eight of the cast return with two dropped from the original
line-up as Carol and Nicola are considered expendable.
After choosing your two chars and your starter, Beat Up.
Yes, instead of Round 1 Fight or whatever, it’s Beat Up.
It becomes immediately apparent that it looks and plays far
better. The original wasn’t exactly ugly
so a welcome positive.
The backgrounds have a nice little intro before each fight
and while this has been done many times before in SNK games, it never becomes
tiresome or boring.
Combos are even possible - great.
Your partner waits impatiently in the background until
tagged. You can only tag within the
tagging zone.
The timing of tagging is pretty important as when one player
is dead, you lose.
There are no rounds, just a strategic single fight to the
finish.
Thankfully, there’s a new end boss too and an odd one at
that. It’s sort of like a stronger and
strange Mezu and Gozu hybrid.
The ending teased a third but that never materialized.
Overall, it’s not a great game but far better than the
original and the tagging idea made it at least interesting.
Kabuki
Klash, Hudson Soft 1995
We
are back with the more than decent trend as we stumble across this wacky and
crazy brawler.
This features colourful graphics, great sprites and OTT
moves. Sprinkle a dose of smooth
animation, nice backgrounds and balanced gameplay, and then you naturally have
a more than mediocre fighting game.
What is fairly interesting is that
it’s actually based on an obscure Japanese RPG series Tengai Makyo, hence why
it has the subtitle Far East of Eden.
Many would see it as a standalone game with a standalone subtitle but
now you know…
Anyway, you need a PC Engine and a lot
of luck finding it to go right back to the beginning of this franchise.
That amount of eight chars exists
again but you needn’t worry as this annoying magic number will eventually get
bored. Remember, even Street Fighter 2
started off with eight chars.
Rest assured though they’re quirky
enough and very Japanese ensuring some crazy shit.
It’s a weapons based fighter and just
like Sam Shodown, losing your weapon is possible. Expect the usual sort of attacks but the
ability to unleash a nuke is always welcome and it’s nice that these are pretty
difficult to miss.
In another nod towards Sam, is that
you can collect power ups that either hinders or assists, ranging from poison
to health ups.
Special attacks are infinite but not
in the traditional sense as the magic gauge gradually decreases as you perform
motions, so it’s best not to use them willy nilly.
The landscapes are varied,
colourful (without being
garish) and mostly great. A highlights
show couldn’t cover it.
In addition to all this goodness, how
about if you throw four crazy bosses in too.
Honestly, there’s not too much not to dislike about this beast.
Providing you accept its zaniness,
great stuff.
Galaxy Fight, Sunsoft 1995
This is another decent slice of fighting pie.
Again, as the title suggests – the fighters infer that they
are not of this earth, and sure enough – they’re not.
Well, it is slightly misleading as it should be called
Planet Fight as they are all from another planet.
A total of eight combatants take part in this tournament and
it seems that eight really is a magic number.
A bunny girl and ninja are the only chars that should have
stayed on Earth. She and he really
belong in Kabuki Klash and Samurai Showdown respectively.
Each fight takes place on a different planet and the scenery
is certainly active, colourful and interesting.
Parallax scrolling adds to each planet’s depth.
During the game, a quirky little punching bag dude named
Bonus appears unexpectedly. He is
supposed to be a joke and poses little or no challenge.
The psycho bunny from Monty Python and The Holy Grail also
makes an appearance? For some crazy
reason, it eventually morphs into your clone…
The title is only really explained when you reach the cheap
boss as you travel to a ‘galaxy’.
Nice visuals and decent graphics,
add chars with a difference and playing unlike a dog meant a good game.
Waku
Waku 7, Sunsoft 1996
If Kabuki was the zany, then this is
the truly mental. It’s far more bonkers
than a previous Sunsoft effort - Galaxy Fight.
Similarities are there to see but this
is a far better game.
To understand, you have to snort the
same crack as Sunsoft.
The only reason I can think of to
explain the ‘7’ in its title must be its char roster?
There is a point to the story though
as only the player owning the most balls will be truly victorious.
You must seek more than just the
regular pair.
The stage is set by a great intro and
then be prepared to embrace the craziness.
Fighting mechanics are slightly
different as when hit, you are able to press buttons together to repel an
attack or jump off a wall. You can also
push the stick up to counter attack when knocked down and rubber finger to get
up quicker.
How often these are used is up to you
but while obviously not essential, it’s nice that the option(s) are there and
adds that bit of variety to proceedings.
I’m pretty sure this is the only Neo
game with seven or nine chars. Yes,
that’s right – seven or nine. It’s seven
playing against the CPU or nine during 2P.
On cycling through the chars, it tells
you the motions required for special and nukes.
To spice it up, charge attacks are also available. You can’t fail to notice what drugs Sunsoft
were taking as you get a mutant rabbit thing, a robot and a floating princess?
Video game connoisseurs and those with
a keen eye for Anime will notice a variety of parodies. Amongst others, references to Darkstalkers,
King of Fighters and Dominion: Tank Police exist among the look and play of the
chars.
The ‘off your tree’ routine is
reflected in some special moves.
Nukes are even more OTT than Kabuki as
you definitely can’t miss what happens when these are unleashed.
Stage backgrounds feature more colours
than the rainbow and are suitably vibrant.
Char animation is rather cool and scenery even changes their colour and
appearance.
The music and sound is typically
cheerful without being sickening so it’s definitely not an occasion to mute
your TV. Lyrics can even be heard behind
the melodies.
Hey, the punching bag from Galaxy
Fight makes an appearance once again to lampoon Capcom, together with your evil
clone.
The end boss is encounter is great but
not short of intravenous invention.
It’s a giant black sphere with tiny
wings as ears. You’d expect it to be
more mental than a scene from One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest and true to form,
it didn’t disappoint.
It’s cheaper than a pound shop sale
too.
Battle by it and you’re treated to endings
smarter than a dapperly dressed waiter.
The char roster is tighter than a new
pair of shoes but quality over quantity here.
Great graphics;
perfectly suited sound and fluid gameplay ensure it’s a winner by Sunsoft.
Voltage
Fighter Gowcaizer, 1995 Technos
Well that’s a quite a
mouthful and considering that Double Dragon was good, I had high hopes.
Don your cape as it’s a
superhero themed fighter but before your spider sense begins tingling, this
does not contain chars from the Marvel or DC universe…
Theoretically, this
sounds like a good idea but how about in practice?
Well it’s neither
‘super’ or the proverbial shower.
Before this latest
operation, does anybody remember Sonic Blastman? If you do or don’t, it was indeed a bunch of
shit.
What makes this slightly
different is that when you vanquish an opponent, you have the opportunity to
steal a special move from the defeated char.
Also, I demand you turn
the tables on your foe with a super desperation move – what a ridiculous and
great term.
This was first seen in
Fatal Fury 2 and can only be used under the condition of having little or low
energy.
You have 10 super heroes
to choose from (wow, is that the new magic number?) all capable of dishing out
some decent damage.
The landscapes are
pretty cool and feature some nice detail.
There’s one stage set
against a huge advertisement of Captain Atlantis (surely a parody of Captain
America?).
Others include a colourful
lit up street scene and a disco dance stage (a bit like Duck King’s in Fatal
Fury Special).
The music also
threatened to be decent too.
Some of the special
moves have obvious comparisons with early Fatal Fury games such as Terry’s
Power Wave.
In conclusion, it’s not
great but above average graphics, some innovations and decent gameplay meant
it’s worth a fight or two.
Ninja
Masters, SNK/ADK 1996
This was the final
attempt by ADK at this sort of game and they stored their best until last. It was mostly brilliant and challenged the
look, feel and sound of a high quality SNK game.
SNK were part of this
katana slice but it was mainly the brainchild of ADK.
It’s a shame that:
There wasn’t a sequel;
and more importantly
It was always
overshadowed by the admittedly superior and more famous Samurai Shodown
franchise.
Despite the superiority
of Sam, this was a very useful mammal featuring excellent graphics, perfectly
suited audio, innovative gameplay and two great end bosses.
The animation was impressively smart and boasted some very
nice char portraits too.
As a nice innovation,
during a bout you could draw your unique weapon to decide each fight’s
destiny. So because of this, unarmed or
armed combat meant for some more than interesting fights and attack variations.
After some damage, your
weapon was dropped so you had to scurry to retrieve it.
So in short, it’s
potentially a hybrid of Art of Fighting and Sam Shodown.
The tactics employed
gave you literally the freedom to play two different types of game but no
matter what your preference, it’s obviously can’t be compared in terms of
gameplay.
There are some crazy
chars including the usual ninja types, beefcakes and a pensioner (a striking
resemblance to Nicotine from Sam 2). The
strangest guy could throw crows.
Caw blimey.
The super meter is
present and there were a number of pyrotechnics and devastating attacks
available.
Combos could be pulled
off with eminent fluidity.
Backgrounds were great
including battlefields, caves, snow covered forests, temples and
waterfalls. Every stage used an area
which scrolled upon movement and I suppose you could say it’s where the
audience would sit if this was a live performance.
If I had a slight
grumble, ten was the magic number….
In short, this was a
fine effort and although its blade was slightly blunter than a certain other
series, I applaud ADK’s effort and endeavour.
Having said that, if
this was given more than one shot then who knows, Haohmuru and co may have
wished they had chosen the path of the Ninja, instead of a Samurai.
World
Heroes series, ADK 1992-1995
This is a cult Neo Geo
favourite amongst fans and while I respect and appreciate its following, I
raise an eyebrow to its popularity.
The basic idea is that
some eccentric scientist perfects time travel and uses his know-how to invent a
machine to bring all historical figures together and organises a fighting
tournament to find the mightiest.
Isn’t that
original? Shame it wasn’t called Time
Heroes to make the title even cornier than its premise.
Anyway, some of the
brawlers are based on actual historical figures while others are not.
For example, Genghis
Khan was known as J Carn.
Those who’ve played
Fuuma from ADK (Aggressors of Dark Kombat) will notice that this is where it
all began.
Despite been inspired by
actual figures, the events, fights, special moves, and general nonsense
contained herein this camp fighting franchise are fictitious and any similarity
to persons (living or dead) is purely coincidental.
The appeal is surely its
theme and because of this, the backgrounds have an international and even
original flavour.
The moves, its variety
of chars and ridiculousness all adds to its cult status.
Eight, is a magic
number…
When considering you had
a char called Muscle Power, this is best enjoyed if you take this as seriously
as the prospect of a sloth out manoeuvring
a cheetah.
An appalling Bruce Lee
char known as Dragon was also available.
FFS.
You could choose between
normal and a death match and the latter meant arenas had lethal consequences
including spiked walls, flame covered boxing rings, mines and electric fences.
The first game was
notoriously famous for Brocken, a robotic Dhalsim with a deadly crouching low
kick.
Apply the rubber finger
and you have a kill more instant than a Manhunt execution.
It was a terrible
oversight by ADK and was virtually an unintended cheat when
favouring the flexible
German.
Bonus stages of carving
a statue and smashing vases were frankly pointless.
The end boss, Gee Gus
would make Robert Patrick seethe in liquid metal rage.
Its true failure was been
more unbalanced than a one-legged flamingo.
This was the first, so
the second would surely iron out various faults.
It did, but before
screaming hooray,
keep that bubbly on ice…
This was a ‘bit’ more
balanced and expanded to fourteen chars.
They got even more camp and stupid.
This time the cast
included a native, American footballer, Viking and pirate. Ho ho!
The death match option
returned and after more stupid bonus stages, the boss replacing the ‘other’ was
Dio and wasn’t too different to Gus but w/o the benefit of morphing.
A sequel it was rather
than an update, but ADK must try harder next time.
So with the iron clearly
getting bored of creases, we get airsick with Jet, yeah it really was called
World Heroes 2 Jet.
So the name suggests an
update to the sequel and would you be right?
I think yes.
A novelty in this one
was being able to play dead at will. If
used subtlety, I suppose this could be to your advantage.
This update got wet and
multiplied to sixteen chars with two new faces.
As a bonus, you have to
stop a rampaging bull. I mean c’mon -
what a stupid bonus stage.
It takes a novel twist
as instead of the usual situation of fighting the same char over a best of
three, each round introduces a different fighter.
Each day is summarized
and even tells you what the decisive blow was.
Fairly pointless, but at least it’s unique.
However, when the final challenge is reached, it reverts back to the classic best of three.
During the ending, the
game then takes a bizarre and comical turn with banter and super deformed
sprites.
New stages, better
graphics, a tweaked premise and a new boss ensured the improvement factor.
It’s definitely the best
of the three and there’s only one left.
This couldn’t fail as it was apparently perfect.
World Heroes Perfect to
be exact.
16 chars again, back to
best of three and a hero gauge.
As tacky as it sounds, the
hero gauge is basically the key to unleashing a nuke. While this is nothing new, it's a
World Heroes first.
It’s built up in the
‘original’ way of performing various attacks and as per usual, special moves
help…
I’ll give it this; it’s
definitely the best looking of all Heroes, but nothing else stands out.
The stages are quite
imaginative as we travel among many different and previously unseen time
periods but the on-looking chars based in
these periods clearly have animation issues.
The main sprites are the
same tired and boring assortment of recycled pixels.
You’d think that three
games later, they’d get off their asses and give the poor bastards a new look,
but oh no, obviously too much effort.
The boss from Jet
reappears and then another dude steps up but don’t get too excited as it’s just
a golden Neo Dio.
All that I can say is
that ADK must be well into the environment....
The final game is hardly
worthy of its title.
I think what’s most
disappointing is that despite recycling the same chars and adding the odd noob,
largely little or nothing changes.
Most fighting game
franchises give returning chars a decent overhaul. It seems that ADK obviously thought that this
would offend fans.
Did anything
change? Well apart from char portraits,
I don’t think so.
A camp and cult franchise but these heroes certainly didn’t
change my world.
Yes, notice the way I didn’t mention ‘classic’.
I’d say that if I had to play one of these, I’d take to the
skies…
SVC Chaos, Playmore 2003
Like many others, call it SNK Vs Capcom Chaos but it was
marketed as the above.
I really wanted to avoid mentioning this but I’m compelled
to do so because unfortunately, it actually exists.
If Viccom and Fight Fever was a bad joke, this on the other
hand is a truly offensive and sickening prank.
I’ll be honest, when I heard about this coming out, I nearly
exploded…. with anticipation and excitement.
After the appalling Capcom vs SNK in 2000 and its sequel in
2001, I really hoped, in fact I demanded that this was going to be more important
than sliced bread.
As SNK was the primary developer and not Capcom, we’d expect
greatness personified.
Well who knows, we might have done if it was SNK but because
the poor souls went bankrupt in 2001, it was left up to Playmore.
The premise and mechanics is set out and tries to play like
King of Fighters (w/o the three on three matches) so even with that omission,
it could still work and be brilliant.
The prospect of Terry and Kyo mixing it with Ryu and Ken,
Mai vs Chunners etc etc left opposing fans salivating at such match ups.
On one side you have SNK and on t’other, Capcom. It seemed a win/win and a no lose situation,
but deary me…
It starts so well because the intro is pretty good. Kyo and Ryu being interrupted by Akuma, Mr.
Karate displaying proudness on the tip of Ryu’s house?
Apart from the ‘music’, it sets the scene and teases us into
thinking; yep this is going to be awesome.
Actually that music was an early warning.
Unfortunately at the end of this rainbow, instead of a pot
of gold, we find a pot of shit.
The char roster is impressive as 24 chars from the SNK and
Capcom universe step up to the plate but the choice made by Capcom was odd.
The SNK line-up is widespread and ambitious with chars from
King of Fighters, Fatal Fury, Samurai Shodown and Art of Fighting all featuring
but the Capcom line-up is basically Street Fighter 2.
I can only think that Capcom weren’t prepared to give
Playmore permission for chars from other franchises.
They might as well have called this crock of shit, SNK vs
Street Fighter 2.
SNK sprites are mostly recycled so look fine, Mr.
Karate is a new sprite and Playmore did a good job with Samurai Shodown as
Genjuro and Earthquake looked particularly cool, but with the Capcom sprites,
this really was Uncharted.
It’s like Naughty Dog redrawing Drake for the 360.
It would have been nice for every SNK sprite to be redesigned. Like what Capcom did with Street Fighter Alpha....
To be fair, most are passable but what the fuck is going on with
Guile’s face and hair? What’s with the
expression and why has he got a peculiarly shaped heavy duty brush on his head?
I know Guile always had an eccentric barber but c’mon,
this is taking the proverbial piss.
Weird shit Playmore!
Sagat just looks perverted but Bison, Vega and Dhalsim at
least looked rather good.
Why is Hugo bigger than Earthquake?
Why was this game ever made?
This is shit, of the worst kind and I’m finally gonna spread
the slurry…
There are many rather important reasons why this insults
excrement.
Firstly, if you’re a SNK char – it’s okay but when batting
for the other side – it’s horseshit man.
As it’s a novelty seeing a Capcom char in a Neo game, you’re
probably going to choose a novelty and wow; the novelty soon wears off before
it’s even been given a chance to grow on you.
It plays like an absolute canine and the balance of power is
ultimately imbalanced. Choose a classic
SNK char over a Capcom char and SNK is going to win.
Their classic moves smelt bad too.
Genjuro and Earthquake obviously have weapons and therefore, surely it's pretty important to ensure that it
works against unarmed combatants?
No, no, yippee aye no.
I briefly mentioned the ‘music’ and that's been generous as it’s just a scrambled 8 bit mess
of torture and bullshit.
Why is there no tune to any composition?
Why is it sometimes so fucking high-pitched, muted and repetitive?
Why does it screech louder than a cat’s chorus?
It sounds so bad, it’s painful to play.
A eunuch has more balls.
The backgrounds are awful, I mean truly atrocious. The colour scheme is appallingly bland and
usually consists of a couple of colours, yeah I’m really not jesting.
Not content with been virtually monochrome, they have about
as much style as a well dressed vagrant.
The only one that raises a slight smile is a forest with a
waterfall and that only borders on mediocrity.
Never mind, because even if it was the most amazing stage
ever, its soul would be sucked dry due to that fucking terrible mess Playmore
dare to describe as music.
I guess when drawing these banal states of inanimate excitement,
they drew inspiration from watching paint dry.
The only other things worth mentioning, apart from the intro
are the ‘other’ hidden and/or boss chars.
These include a new-look Athena, Demitri, Mars People, Geese
and Red Arremer.
The running joke of Dan makes an appearance and I suppose it’s
funny that an SNK char confuses him with Robert.
Some chars were only selectable in the ports like on the PS2 and
Xbox.
As you can gather, I really liked this and why didn't it go platinum due to its magnificence.
Shudder at the awesome glory, be overwhelmed by its power
and feel the wrath of SVC Chaos.
If I was writing a letter describing my delight, it’d be
something like:
“Cheers Playmore, you took some of the greatest fighting chars
of all time, dropped them in a meat grinder and served up the worst ‘vs’ games
of all time.”
Marvellous!
Rage of the Dragons, Evoga/Noise
Factory 2002
It’s necessary to mention this first, as the next game on my
list explains why that nicks some chars and elements from this.
As SNK went bankrupt in 2001, Playmore took a firm hold of the Neo Geo reins and published a few efforts in an attempt
to revive the fortunes of the Neo Geo and with it, keep it alive.
This act of resuscitation would ultimately prove fruitless…
Removing that lump from my throat, it’s supposed to be in
homage to Double Dragon as two chars also share the first names of Billy and
Jimmy from the Technos classic.
It would also make sense that this was supposed to be a
sequel to the previously mentioned spin-off.
Whatever, it’s surprisingly good.
This was another tag team effort (as already seen in Kizuna)
but with unseen gameplay mechanics.
I did like the sequence combo which saw you start it off and
then it was up to you to finish it off (following a button ‘sequence’).
Imagine doing a DIY combo, then adding a sequence
combo? The result should be a combo in
double figures…
Unlike Kizuna, the game told you when you could tag, as
opposed to just being in a particular area.
You could also surrender a char and this was another nice
idea.
Basically, imagine the situation if you felt one of your chars
was suffering a beating, simply surrender he/she and that char’s remaining
energy would be transferred to the other and give you a better chance of
winning, even though you’re now down to one.
Or some may choose to surrender for shits and giggles.
Whatever, it’s a good idea.
14 sets of attitude and machismo entered the foray and all
had a good enough reason to be chose.
With it been tag based, like it or lump it, two chars had to
be chosen.
The char line-up was pretty comical and colourful. Two dudes that stood out were a Shaft afro
wearing suit and a pot bellied beast.
You could see the ‘SNK’ in them though.
As another variation to Kizuna, it wasn’t one char strike
and you’re out.
Like King of Fighters, the super gauge could go beyond
filling up once meaning for a better and more devastating motion attack.
Not satisfied with looking the bees, the light shows
employed on the successful execution of each certainly ensured a pretty
explosive effect and thus, giving you the knees.
Nicely, there were quite a few variations too.
The backgrounds had a vibrant and quality look to them and all
chars boasted certain smoothness to their movement. It can be pretty fast paced so it’s given
thumbs up from me.
The boss was rather smart and I liken him as a cross between
Yamazaki and Rugal.
A selection of nice up to you combos (excluding the sequence
types), fluid gameplay, a very decent selection of moves and nukes ensured that
this solitary effort was a return to form for the ailing Neo Geo.
So overall, it’s a nice chunk of cheddar.
Power Instinct Matrimelee, Noise
Factory 2003
Many may know this as just Matrimelee and was linked to
Dragons because this was also made a Noise.
It was one of the last games released on the Neo.
Originally created by Atlus, this was obviously just another
sequel and nicked some elements from Rage of the Dragons. Chars from the latter can make an
‘unlockable’ appearance.
Putting Princess Sissy and her accursed treasure chest in
her place is your aim.
This wasn’t as good as Dragons, but certainly not the
rottenest of eggs.
Fifteen in the char roster, a similar look and style to Rage
of the Dragons and all in all, surely we can’t go far wrong.
Like Dragons, it had a couple of gimmicks to make fights a
bit different.
The Enabler gimmick allows you to throw the Kuroko lookalike
referee at your opponent and allows counters during blocking.
Bloodline Battles sounds a lot more exciting than it
actually was as this was just a variation on Dragons’ sequence combo.
Many stages were set in a ring against an audience with only
some slight variations separating them from been the same, so a bit lazy.
There are quite a few unique in look so that’s a blessing.
The most frustrating stage is rather shy in its appearance
as for whatever reason, seeing it is just pure pot luck. On the rare occasion it pops up, it’s a
mystical forest with spirits floating about and is really good.
I have to ask, why in the name of motion’s headache a
developer would do their damndest to ‘hide’ their most attractive stage is
beyond reason.
As this was related to Dragons, it plays well and allows a
variety of combos.
It must an Atlus or indeed Power Instinct thing as when the
victory screen and smug waffle appeared, the defeated weren’t bloodied and battered;
their face was just slapped with graffiti.
What is surprising is that some stages feature full
lyrics. Okay, most of us can’t
understand it but that’s irrelevant.
Apart from these, the audio is one of its best aspects as
the beeps and bleeps have, pardon the pun, a very distinct sound.
So you find and fight the Princess and wow, what an
experience.
I’m not going to mislead you as ‘that’ experience is sadomasochistic
and soul-churning.
Before an explanation, a trippy and cool remix of Mendelssohn’s
Wedding March is played. It does get
annoying, considering you’ll be potentially hearing it, frequently (again,
again and again).
Again, again, again, again and again….
As with any cheap boss, there’s a technique to be learnt but
until you educate yourself, it’s impossible not to scream various expletives at
the screen.
Have trust, you’ll never want to see a nurses uniform ever
again…
Okay, that’s the frustration talking.
I really fucking hate that creation of pixels….
Aaaaarrrrrrggggggghhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!
If you win, congratulations and you deserve a pint!
Art of Fighting series, SNK 1992, 1994 and 1996
Well after some showers, storms and a healthy dollop of sunshine we
have now climbed onto a magical rainbow.
Let’s not beat around a certain bush, Art of Fighting is a classic and kick-ass creation.
While not brilliant, it’s very good and certainly a very important
factor to the SNK universe.
It also introduced another gauge of particular significance
which was essential for necessary progress.
This is when we really appreciate the novelty of one-handed fireball
attacks with Ryo and Robert et al happily dishing out all manner of punches,
kicks and special effects.
The household screen scaling, huge sprites, facial bruising, spirit
gauge, famous chars and classic moves are all showcased with abundance
It would be churlish to call this anything other than important.
Before screen scaling became a pertinent regular, this is where it all
began.
Round 1 - Fight
The original boasted the most appalling choice of playable chars of
any SNK game and possibly, any game of this type. In the 1P game, you only had the choice
between Ryo and Robert, with all others being CPU only.
Yes, it’s true.
Clearly a decision made by SNK whilst truly hungover.
So accepting a decision that can’t be fought, gamers were forced to
make the best of it.
Below your energy gauge was your spirit gauge, which was basically
your special move gauge. Upon every
special move performed, this gauge depleted and when nearly spent, the effect
of a special move was virtually nil.
Of course, resorting to normal moves was an option but the most
sensible was to charge it back up using a simple button combo. There was a downside as this left you
completely vulnerable but of course, it was the same for the other player.
Like the Neo Geo CD loading time, you got used to it.
Fortunately, you weren’t forced to remain in this state, as you could
pick and choose how much you retrieved and go back to it later, and frequently
repeat as necessary.
On taunting a char, this demoralised them and reduced their spirit
gauge.
SNK came up with some good shit.
However, you needed a full gauge to perform a hidden nuke.
For once, the ‘bonus’ stages weren’t pointless as rewards were reaped
for been successful. The rewards could
be increasing your spirit or strength gauge meter and learning a nuke. At the time, they looked excellent.
Playing against the CPU saw a story develop for the journey to rescue
Ryo’s kidnapped sister. After each
fight, a pointless clue was given to the location of Yuri but it all added to
the intrigue. Seven Southtown brawlers
later and you reach the big cheese.
Some would become extremely recognisable in another very famous
franchise…
The char graphics were huge and largely detailed. This was the first time I’d ever seen facial
bruising and actual damage caused to a char and nicely, their posture and demeanour even took its toll as
upon taking a beating as they looked slightly less upright than before.
Clothes could be ripped and glasses could even fall off. Brutal stuff.
Backgrounds could be decent and the general audio wasn’t antique
either. The background chars seemed to
suffer from rigor mortis.
Okay, although playable, it wasn’t brilliant and a very limited char
base could potentially cause it to be fairly awful. This was thankfully not enough to damage a
good game.
Round 2 – Fight
This is when SNK really ironed out those creases and corrected
everything that was wrong with the first game.
The result was a franchise, evolved.
You’ll find that the end boss from the first was Takuma, who turned
out to be Ryo and Yuri’s father.
The char roster was drastically improved to twelve and many returned
from the first, along with a few new faces including Takuma, Eiji, Yuri and
Temjin.
Of the returning cast, SNK improved their look as they were far more
attractive looking sprites.
This is where an SNK sequel shows its gloss…
For returning chars, the backgrounds were totally redone and had a
completely different change of scenery.
Suffice to say, it was a vast improvement over the original. Robert’s stylish red Porsche and John’s
whirring aeroplane are
highlights.
The overall colour style
received a new lick of paint and substantially superior.
New bonus stages returned, but the purposes remained as before. Actually, they were inferior and lacked the
impressive factor.
As a strange choice, you’ll be brainwashed into thinking there’s only
one winning stance and you’d be right, unless a perfect was achieved and that
reaps a secret winning pose.
A certain Geese struts his tough stuff as the boss and it’s the only
time you’ll see him with a pony tail….
Assuming you win, you are treated to a genuinely funny and comical
credit roll.
It sees chars in a lighthearted way and it’s certainly an amusing
watch.
So an excellent sequel and there’s a third game….
I really did think this would be the big one and it is, but lending a
sword from a friendly ninja shows a double-edged situation.
Final Round - Fight
The big hype around this was that the animation is motion captured and
in my opinion, that’s far more exciting than rendering.
The Invincible Dragon and The Raging Tiger, Ryo and Robert
respectively will treat us to animation we’d never seen before.
To say it was silky smooth and more fluent than a beautiful waterfall
would be an understatement.
The story shifts focus from Ryo to Robert, some shit about searching
for a friend that leads him and Ryo to Mexico.
Oh, an elixir is pertinent to the shenanigans too.
The char roster was more controversial than a BBFC classification
decision as it only boasted ten and w/o favourites such as Yuri and Takuma. WTF right?
Ryo, Robert and eight other motion captured creations would take us to
unknown territory; and with such production value, surely SNK couldn’t fuck
this up?
Of Ryo and Robert, they looked akin in spirit but were slightly
redesigned. The result was awesome.
The sprites are even bigger than before so that’s an OMG moment in
itself.
The other chars were okay to decent, but they fell a long way short of
replacing favourites and their signature moves.
Like Fuuma from World Heroes, this is where it began for Kasumi from
King of Fighters.
Yuri teases, but only appears as a side char.
This was a peculiar beast to play as the motion capture forces it to
play differently. To understand, you’ve
just have to of had the pleasure of playing it and no video in the world will
allow you to appreciate it.
This is a unique SNK experience as it plays like no other. It is marmite.
If you tried to play it like any other 2D fighter, your efforts will
rightfully go unrewarded.
It did feel at times, slightly unnatural.
Due to the motion capture, the animation in theory can’t be bettered
but you could also say it’s a technique that automatically grants brilliance
and unlike others, not as handmade.
I’m saying yes… and a tentative no.
I think I prefer handmade animation as that requires so much
more effort. I hope and think that makes
sense.
Whatever, the animation is fantastic.
This is odder than a multi-eyed Cyclops but SNK departed from facial
bruising. This was the series that made
virtual fighting an actual injury but decided to discard it like an old
newspaper. I can’t ever question SNK,
but this is one question that demanded an answer.
The actual backgrounds remain classic and were largely excellent.
The waterfall, a bustling Mexican street scene and sunset dust are
great examples and a nice audio touch was during a night parade as the parade’s
music lights the stage up, almost as much as the travelling parade itself.
There are some excellent intricacies such as puddles rippling and a
tree providing shade for chars in the previously mentioned street scene.
These are such great effects; you could be forgiven for noticing them.
If there’s a trick, SNK rarely misses it.
The colour scheme is noticeably more vibrant with SNK really
exploiting the Neo Geo palette.
The sound is cool and while not classic, the music is distinctly
jazzy.
More controversy rains heavier than a torrential downpour is the Ultimate
K.O. Under very limited energy
conditions, performing a nuke can end a match in one round, yes one round and
not the final round.
I’m not sure about that one but together with decent combo potential, this
was a different Art of Fighting.
The end boss was Wyler and gets a sudden muscle expansion after drinking
an elixir.
Suffice to say, I’m not a fan.
The strangest trick ever exists in AOF 3 with the birthday
feature. It kicks in if your machine’s
internal clock is set to a char’s birthday and the result is an automatically
powered up brawler who is able to unleash a nuke, w/o needing to meet the
minimal energy condition.
Art of Fighting certainly had a go at been different and
remains a very playable and seminal fighting franchise.
The introduction of screen scaling, spirit gauge, famous
chars and huge sprites is archetypical of SNK.
I also feel the actual blows are suitably crunching. When a punch
or a kick connects, it never felt more satisfying.
It rightly deserves its status of been a celebrated
series and while some may love it, like it or hate it, nobody can deny its importance.
Well that’s it. I can
talk no further about the games available for SNK’s wonder machine as I’ve
scoured every motion, plunged every depth and searched every corner.
Hold the phone, what are those voices faintly echoing in my
hearing tackle, “Power Geyser”, “Hurricane Upper”, “Ippon”, “Plasma Blade”, “Rising Tackle” and “Okay”…?
It’s getting even scarier….
I now have visions of three on three battles, Geese, feudal
Japan, pointed blades, blood and a Bakumatsu Romance?
It seems this battle is not yet over.
