One-on-One Fighting Games #3

Body Blows (1993)
By: Team 17 Genre: Fighting Players: 1-2 Difficulty: Hard
Featured Version: Commodore Amiga First Day Score: Too low to embarrass myself with
Also Available For: Amiga 1200, PC

I don't think there can be too much doubt about the huge impact that Capcom's mighty Street Fighter II had on the gaming world. One of the most obvious examples of this, besides the fact that it shifted a crapload of SNESs, was the arrival of many similar games on virtually every system around at the time. Team 17, already the darlings of the Amiga world, therefore needed little motivation to throw their hat in the ring, and the result was Body Blows. As with a few other Amiga games, however, you could initially be forgiven for thinking that it's little more than a tech demo, for there is virtually no set-up of any kind here. Fighting games are seldom ones to have deep storylines or anything like that but even SFII had a bit of background with the ghastly Shadaloo organisation and resultant world fighting tournament and all that stuff.

Neo Geo Round-Up #1

I've never really been the biggest fan of one-on-one fighting games, I'm sorry to say. I did get drawn in by the Street Fighter II craze like most gamers around that time, but aside from that game and a few other Capcom examples, it's a genre I haven't spent too much time on. This may be because I'm not that good at them. Learning the often-complicated special move commands and performing elaborate combos can be very satisfying but I'm not one of those gamers that it comes naturally to.

Mainly for this reason, most of the examples found on the Neo Geo have been largely neglected here in RKS Land. In an effort to rectify that, however, I have decided to take a look at each fighting game series found on SNK's mighty console in the form of round-ups. I can't promise they will be the most comprehensive evaluations as the finer points of such games are often lost on me, but I shall do my best. These posts, much like all of my posts, are more for my benefit than yours anyway, assuming anyone is even reading this, as they motivate me to play games I've seldom or never played before, but I do of course hope you like them! First up was going to be the Fatal Fury series which was, I believe, the first SNK fighting game series, but there are about a million of them. So instead, I've started with one I'm at least a little familiar with - the Art of Fighting series. Before I get started, however, here's a bit of general info on the series.

Adult Games #7

Strip Fighter II (1993)
By: Games Express  Genre: Maze  Players: 1-5  Difficulty: Medium
Featured Version: NEC PC Engine / TurboGrafx-16  First Day Score: 388,100
Also Available For: X68000

It was only a few weeks past that I finally got around to looking at Street Fighter II properly here at Red Parsley, and not before time. It is of course a true classic which, as mentioned in its review, had an enormous influence on pretty much every other developer around at the time, and soon they were busy releasing similar-looking fighting games of their own. Unsurprisingly, these varied in quality a great deal and even included direct rip-offs and spoofs. Ticking all these boxes is Strip Fighter II. There is no Strip Fighter I - it was named purely to riff on Capcom's most popular and successful instalment in the long-running series, and it does this by injecting a bit of sauciness into proceedings (as if it wasn't obvious from the name!). So, after the worryingly-pornographic content of the last 'adult' game I looked at here, we're back in more familiar territory for this PC Engine release it seems, and that's fine by me.

Arcade Fighting Games #5

Street Fighter II: The World Warrior (1991)
By: Capcom Genre: Fighting Players: 1-2 Difficulty: Medium
Featured Version: Arcade First Day Score: 103,300
Also Available For: SNES, Master System, Game Boy, Amiga, Atari ST, PC, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum (conversions); Saturn, PlayStation, PlayStation 2, PSP, Xbox (as part of compilations)

It has long been my intention here at Red Parsley to feature many more fighting games, but whenever I play one I often find my thoughts wandering back to this game. I therefore figured I might as well give it a quick review and see how it holds up today. It did, after all, directly influence a good few of the many games that came after it (and that's putting it mildly!). For many it's where the genre began, but even those who know better still recognise the enormous contribution it made to the genre. Scrolling fighting games such as Double Dragon had been proving quite popular for years but, despite also being around for a while - probably even longer the scrolling variety, in fact, the one-on-one style of game hadn't caused too much of a stir until this behemoth arrived.

Arcade Fighting Games #4

Violence Fight (1989)
By: Taito Genre: Fighting Players: 1-2 Difficulty: Medium
Featured Version: Arcade First Day Score: 918,620
Also Available For: PlayStation 2, Xbox, PC (all as part of compilations)

Quarrelling is a subject that comes up all too infrequently in the world of video games. As far as fighting games are concerned, relations between combatants have usually already moved far beyond the stage where quarrelling might have an impact, but the fighters in this Taito release are competing for that very reason. As the poorly-translated story tells us, Violence Fight takes place in the 1950's and features "Mafia, reckless drivers, and general businessmen", all of whom are vying for not only a substantial wad of cash, but also the prestigious title of "No.1 Quarreller"! If that doesn't whet your appetite and get you fired up to kick all manner of arses, I fear nothing will, and that's a shame as there is a new fighter on the block called 'Bat' who, along with his manager, 'Blinks', apparently "seek for the money eagerly". Better get ready to help them.

Sega Model 1 Games #2

Virtua Fighter (1993)
By: Sega AM2 Genre: Fighting Players: 1-8 (via machine link-up) Difficulty: Easy-Medium
Featured Version: Arcade
Also Available For: MegaDrive, 32X, Saturn, PC, PlayStation 2

Though polygon graphics had been around for some years already, it was Sega’s seminal Virtua Racing that really kickstarted the gaming industry’s obsession with them. Though it may have merely been a glorified tech demo, it still proved to be a mighty enjoyable game as well. If the new technology was to evolve and achieve any sustained success, though, it needed to be proven by more than one game, so Sega soon cooked up another, and wisely went for a totally different kind of game too. The result was Virtua Fighter, a one-on-one fighting game born partly out of this need to show off the Model 1 board some more, but also no doubt due to the ongoing popularity of the genre prompted by Street Fighter II a few years before. Capcom’s game is a rather cartoony and unrealistic affair, of course, but Sega were aiming for more realism with their game to go with the more realistic graphics too.

Top Five Street Fighter Characters

While it's certainly not a genre I dislike, one-on-one fighting games have never really been my favourite genre either. Many of my preferred examples, however, are made by Capcom and feature the words 'Street Fighter' somewhere in the title. It's a series I first encountered in its very earliest form - the original Street Fighter in the arcades, and the version with the big puffy pressure-sensitive buttons too! I've since played most other games in the series (though not the fourth game... yet) and have enjoyed them all. Well, except for Street Fighter: The Movie, obviously.

Obviously the games are all very well made, catering for novice and expert players alike, but I think one of the most appealing things about the series is the variety of characters. There are few I really dislike but those below are the ones I've spent most time playing as. That just leaves the question: who is your favourite?

5... Sakura

Cynics might suggest that this energetic young lady was introduced to the series purely for fanservice reasons, being a schoolgirl with a very short skirt and all, and perhaps they're right, but she quickly became a fan favourite anyway. She debuted in Street Fighter Alpha 2 as a squawking teenager, having been inspired by Ryu's victory in the first World Warrior tournament. She therefore plays a little like him, having her own less powerful variations of some of his moves, but she's much more nimble. She might flash her panties now and then as she leaps all over the place but she'll have you for lunch if you get caught gawping!

Arcade Fighting Games #3

Karate Champ a.k.a. Karate Dou (1984)
By: Technos / Data East Genre: Fighting Players: 1-2 Difficulty: Medium
Featured Version: Arcade First Day Score: 26,100
Also Available For: NES, Commodore 64, Apple II
Download For: Wii Virtual Console

Not quite sure why a bull is here...

Considering how popular video games have been since... pretty much always, it's surprising they haven't featured in more movies. Perhaps it's a copyright or royalties issue or something but a few do make appearances here and there. One of the most memorable examples for me was Karate Champ which was featured in a favourite film of mine as a teenager - Bloodsport (1988) - where Frank Dux (Jean Claude Van Damme) was invited to challenge Ray Jackson (Donald Gibb) to a digital bout. It was a short sequence but it's always stuck in my mind, perhaps due to its similarities with the film itself. Both consist of a series of one-on-one contests, both employ fairly technical martial arts, and neither feature much in the way of story or exposition.

One-on-One Fighting Games #2

King of the Monsters (1991)
By: SNK Genre: Fighting Players: 1-2 Difficulty: Medium
Featured Version: SNK Neo Geo MVS First Day Score: 47,640
Also Available For: Neo Geo AES, MegaDrive, SNES
Download For: Wii Virtual Console

The Neo Geo has gained a great deal of fame and adulation over the years for a variety of reasons but much of this has come from fans of its many one-on-one fighting games. The flagship series must surely be King of Fighters, but fighters are not the only thing it's possible to be king of! All these human-based games are all very well but even the most creative minds can only do so much with our soft, fleshy, watery bodies. What we need is for someone to open their mind to the possibilities that other beings could bring to the genre. No, I'm not talking about robots, I think we've had just about enough of those metallic buffoons clanging into each other (eeek!). Something with the unpredictability of nature is still required I think, but a good helping of muscles, fangs, and a bit of primeval ferocity wouldn't hurt either. Sounds like a job for the Japanese...

One-on-One Fighting Games #1

Budokan: The Martial Spirit (1990)
By: Electronic Arts Genre: Fighting Players: 1-2 Difficulty: Medium-Hard
Featured Version: Sega MegaDrive / Genesis
Also Available For: Amiga, PC, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum

Whilst born in the arcades and probably always most successful there, the immediate popularity of one-on-one fighting games meant that original titles were soon appearing on the home machines as well. I've already started looking at some of the arcade offerings, so in this new feature here at Red Parsley I'll start taking a look at some of the many computer and console exclusive ones as well. Most of these are clones, or ‘inspired by’, the arcade titles as well but some are wholly original, even creative. The first one that popped in my head for some reason was Budokan, released by EA back before they started sucking. It's been a while since I played it but I remember it being pretty good, if rather tough. This was before I got drawn into Capcom's brash, over-the-top world of Street Fighter derivatives though, so I wonder how well EA's game holds up today.

Arcade Fighting Games #2

Street Fighter (1987)
By: Capcom Genre: Fighting Players: 1-2 Difficulty: Medium
Featured Version: Arcade First Day Score: 55,500
Also Available For: PC Engine CD, Amiga, Atari ST, PC, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum (also available on compilations for PS2, Xbox, etc)
Download For: Wii Virtual Console

Unusual to see the logo without numbers after it...

It's hard to believe there's now been over twenty distinct games released bearing the legendary 'Street Fighter' name, not even counting the dozens of related titles, but we often forget that the series started right here with this 1987 release and, unusually for me, not only is it a game that I've played, but it's one I had spent quite a bit of time with before Capcom even unveiled its sequel! Although I managed to play the game to completion on my Speccy, my first encounter was with this version in my local arcade and it was the first one-on-one fighting game I'd played there. It was also one of the first times I'd seen a game with a 'special' control method (not counting racing and lightgun games, of course). More on that later though. For now, I'll take a more detailed look at the game that started it all, propelling Capcom's name into the stratosphere in the process, and it'll be my first look at the game since all those years ago too.

Arcade Fighting Games #1

Yie Ar Kung-Fu (1985)
By: Konami Genre: Fighting Players: 1 Difficulty: Medium
Featured Version: Arcade First Day Score: 70,400
Also Available For: NES, MSX, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, Acorn Electron

It's quite remarkable to think that I've been babbling on about retro games and stuff here for over two years now and I've still not taken a detailed look at a single one-on-one fighting game! Well, I think it's time to change that and what better place to start than with the first game of this type I ever got into. Konami's mid-80's classic was converted to quite a few systems of the day - it was the Spectrum version I played to death (and I was actually quite good at it too!) as it came on the ultra-spiffing Magnificent Seven compilation - but as was so often the case, I never got a chance to try the arcade original despite living in a coastal city which is (or was) the natural habitat of amusement arcades! Boo hoo! :( Oh well, never mind, and at least it gives me the pleasure of experiencing the original now, but will it be a pleasure, or was the good old Speccy conversion a good port of a smelly game?

Top Five Saturn Fighting Games

After revitalising the fighting game genre with Street Fighter 2, the mid-90's saw a huge influx of titles. The 16-bit consoles got a lot of good (and not so good) ones and this continued with the 32-bit systems with the added bonus of some fancy new 3D ones too. Many franchises popular today were born during this period, with the Saturn as well as the PlayStation getting some top titles. Given the unfortunate lack of success for the Saturn outside its native territory, many of its best games never left Japan including a lot of fighting games. Consequently there's still a lot I haven't played, but of the ones I have played, these are my favourites:

Games-Related Top Fives Disclaimer: I've traditionally stuck to the games I know and love so far, and these game-related top fives reflect that. One of the purposes of this blog is diversify my gaming experiences, to play games I haven't played before, so I will do new game-related top fives in a few years to see how different they are!

5. Vampire Saviour (1998)

This third (and so far, final) entry in the Darkstalkers series from the awesome Capcom was only released in Japan so I wasn't really able to play it until I finally got my lovely Skeleton Saturn. My copy of the game unfortunately came without any instructions too, so I had to try and work out most of the moves myself, but it was worth the effort! This highly creative series never really seems to get the plaudits that Capcom's other franchises do which is strange as its horror/monster themed character roster gives it huge potential which is largely realised with some outrageous combatants and special moves. The graphics and music are also of the usual Capcom high quality and there's really no bad points to be found here. Another one please, Capcom!