Street Fighter 2: The Rivals
Street Fighter 2 was the biggest fighting game series ever, and was a huge success, and its no susprise that many a company tried to get a peice of the action. i want to see some of you old skool heads share your memories on classic games. If theres a game which isn't on this list which you think should be, then post it up with reasons why it should, i don't want you guys just making random lists of games.
Anyway heres some of the best:
Fatal Fury Special(SNK):
One of SNK's answers to Sf2. Following suite with SF2 champion edition, Fatal Fury Special is essentially Fatal Fury 2 but with more characters. If you overlook its controversial plane switching you'll find a deep fighting game. the air game is not as rich as SF2, but on the ground, i think zoning, poking and espeically block pressure strings are even more important than that in SF2. Added bonus is that game is pretty balanced and would make a great competitive fighter.
Samurai Shodown 2 (SNK):
Now i don't know if Samurai Shodown was the first weapon based fighter, but if it wasn't it was certiantly the first one to do it right. Samsho 2 simply improved on what was already there, adding more characters, better visuals, etc. The characters all very original and the game visually is amazing. But what you'll notice about samsho 1 and 2 is that it doesn't play like SF2 at all. The action is alot slower and combos aren't necessary at all (although they are in there and very powerful too). The emphasis in this game is your ability to out zone and poke your opponent, captilising on any mistakes.
Mortal Kombat 2 (Midway)
Mortal Kombat exploded into the scene with its fancy digitised graphics, simple easy to play system and gory falaties. All that was missing was good gameplay. Mortal Kombat 2 gave us better gameplay. The game was never gonna be as deep as Street Fighter 2, but it wasn't meant to be. Its easier to play, has a block button and every character has the same moves(although slighty different properties depending on the character) other than specials. Its great fun and always gives you a nice feeling when you perform a fatalitiy on someone. Main problem with the game is that its too shallow at higher levels of play and becomes abit of a turtle fest, with whoever attacks first often losing the round.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters (Konami)
Basically if you like Street Fighter 2 and like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, you'll love this. Only the Snes version however, the Mega Drive version is horrid in comparison and any game with Evil versions of the turtles in them, need to dead in my opinion. Anyway back to the Snes version. Its really cheap SF2 style fun, all the turtles are there aswell as shreddar and other villians like the Rat King. However there are a few characters which only made appearances in the comics, when most of us where probably hoping for more characters from the cartoon. This is my only real problem with the game (very minor one at that), other than that its probably the best console only SF2 clone ever.
World Heroes Perfect (ADK)
The world heroes series has a susprising amount of games in the series, 4 in total, WH1, WH2, WH2 Jet and WHP. The first 3 WH games are memorable for their unique controls at the time. Only 3 buttons, 1 for punch, kick and throw, but what was really interesting is that the longer you held one of the attack buttons the more damage it did. WHP dropped this for a more traditional 4 button layout. Its a solid game, with a large slection of characters with a few interesting game mechanics such as deflecting projectiles (simple parry) and blow defense (gaurd break attack). The combos can get quite silly though.
Power Instinct 2 (Atlus)
Another Rival to SF2, and one of the few series which still survives today. This version of game obviously takes alot from SF2, but it did add something new. All the stages have destructable walls at either end, and once they have been knocked down the stage expands. Power instinct all introduced the double jump afaik. And finally some of the characters had the ability to transform. The game is also quite hilarious (theres a move called Teeth Throw, what more can i say), especially the granny characters.
Fighter History Dynamite (Data East):
The Fighters History Series is quite famous for being a complete rip off of Street Fighter 2. Capcom even tried to sue Data East, but lost the case. Fighters History gets alot of stick for this, but if you think about it logically you will see that theres a pretty good game underneath. Sure it copied SF2, but SF2 is awesome, so Fighters History is awesome too. The only real differences in gameplay is that you can hop back and theres a more flexible combo system. Its extremely fun and a good laugh, too bad the game is ruined by Karnov who pretty much destroys every other character in the game.[size=12][/size]
Killer Instinct (Rare)
Killer Instinct is probably the most original SF2 rival since Mortal kombat appeared on the scene. Only thing that is similar to SF2 is that it has a 6 button layout. The first thing which sticks out about KI is the grahpics. Pre-rendered animated backgrounds and sprites gave the game a great 3D feel to it. The system is also completely different such as winning player of the first round keeps what health they have. Also automatic combos with combo finishers which can get to insane levels. But what makes this interesting is that the opponent can break combos if they can guess and time thier combobreakers right. This keeps the combos extremely varied as no one wants to be become predictable and have thier combos broken.
Art of Fighting 2 (SNK)
Yet another attempt by SNK to compete with Street Fighter 2. The first thing you'll about the game is the huge sprites for the characters. They were extremely detailed for time, and what was particularly awesome is that damage would show on the characters, like bruises and thier clothing getting torn. Also i nice bonus is that when the opponents move far away their sprites getting smaller and much larger when close up. Gives the game nice ccinematic feel to it, this was later put into the Samurai shodown games. Gameplay wise Aof2 is not all that, but if can be a fun game nonetheless.
King of Fighters 94 (SNK)
SNK's longest running and most successful series started with KOF94. A game that brang the fatal fury series and art of fighting series into one game, plus loads of new characters. What set this game apart was that you have to select a team of 3 fighters to play with. The also introduced Kyo, the hero of KOF, and now one of most popular SNK characters. The gameplay also changed alot from previous SNK titles, the action was alot faster and was more combo oriented, with many flashy special and super moves.
Anyway heres some of the best:
Fatal Fury Special(SNK):
One of SNK's answers to Sf2. Following suite with SF2 champion edition, Fatal Fury Special is essentially Fatal Fury 2 but with more characters. If you overlook its controversial plane switching you'll find a deep fighting game. the air game is not as rich as SF2, but on the ground, i think zoning, poking and espeically block pressure strings are even more important than that in SF2. Added bonus is that game is pretty balanced and would make a great competitive fighter.
Samurai Shodown 2 (SNK):
Now i don't know if Samurai Shodown was the first weapon based fighter, but if it wasn't it was certiantly the first one to do it right. Samsho 2 simply improved on what was already there, adding more characters, better visuals, etc. The characters all very original and the game visually is amazing. But what you'll notice about samsho 1 and 2 is that it doesn't play like SF2 at all. The action is alot slower and combos aren't necessary at all (although they are in there and very powerful too). The emphasis in this game is your ability to out zone and poke your opponent, captilising on any mistakes.
Mortal Kombat 2 (Midway)
Mortal Kombat exploded into the scene with its fancy digitised graphics, simple easy to play system and gory falaties. All that was missing was good gameplay. Mortal Kombat 2 gave us better gameplay. The game was never gonna be as deep as Street Fighter 2, but it wasn't meant to be. Its easier to play, has a block button and every character has the same moves(although slighty different properties depending on the character) other than specials. Its great fun and always gives you a nice feeling when you perform a fatalitiy on someone. Main problem with the game is that its too shallow at higher levels of play and becomes abit of a turtle fest, with whoever attacks first often losing the round.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters (Konami)
Basically if you like Street Fighter 2 and like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, you'll love this. Only the Snes version however, the Mega Drive version is horrid in comparison and any game with Evil versions of the turtles in them, need to dead in my opinion. Anyway back to the Snes version. Its really cheap SF2 style fun, all the turtles are there aswell as shreddar and other villians like the Rat King. However there are a few characters which only made appearances in the comics, when most of us where probably hoping for more characters from the cartoon. This is my only real problem with the game (very minor one at that), other than that its probably the best console only SF2 clone ever.
World Heroes Perfect (ADK)
The world heroes series has a susprising amount of games in the series, 4 in total, WH1, WH2, WH2 Jet and WHP. The first 3 WH games are memorable for their unique controls at the time. Only 3 buttons, 1 for punch, kick and throw, but what was really interesting is that the longer you held one of the attack buttons the more damage it did. WHP dropped this for a more traditional 4 button layout. Its a solid game, with a large slection of characters with a few interesting game mechanics such as deflecting projectiles (simple parry) and blow defense (gaurd break attack). The combos can get quite silly though.
Power Instinct 2 (Atlus)
Another Rival to SF2, and one of the few series which still survives today. This version of game obviously takes alot from SF2, but it did add something new. All the stages have destructable walls at either end, and once they have been knocked down the stage expands. Power instinct all introduced the double jump afaik. And finally some of the characters had the ability to transform. The game is also quite hilarious (theres a move called Teeth Throw, what more can i say), especially the granny characters.
Fighter History Dynamite (Data East):
The Fighters History Series is quite famous for being a complete rip off of Street Fighter 2. Capcom even tried to sue Data East, but lost the case. Fighters History gets alot of stick for this, but if you think about it logically you will see that theres a pretty good game underneath. Sure it copied SF2, but SF2 is awesome, so Fighters History is awesome too. The only real differences in gameplay is that you can hop back and theres a more flexible combo system. Its extremely fun and a good laugh, too bad the game is ruined by Karnov who pretty much destroys every other character in the game.[size=12][/size]
Killer Instinct (Rare)
Killer Instinct is probably the most original SF2 rival since Mortal kombat appeared on the scene. Only thing that is similar to SF2 is that it has a 6 button layout. The first thing which sticks out about KI is the grahpics. Pre-rendered animated backgrounds and sprites gave the game a great 3D feel to it. The system is also completely different such as winning player of the first round keeps what health they have. Also automatic combos with combo finishers which can get to insane levels. But what makes this interesting is that the opponent can break combos if they can guess and time thier combobreakers right. This keeps the combos extremely varied as no one wants to be become predictable and have thier combos broken.
Art of Fighting 2 (SNK)
Yet another attempt by SNK to compete with Street Fighter 2. The first thing you'll about the game is the huge sprites for the characters. They were extremely detailed for time, and what was particularly awesome is that damage would show on the characters, like bruises and thier clothing getting torn. Also i nice bonus is that when the opponents move far away their sprites getting smaller and much larger when close up. Gives the game nice ccinematic feel to it, this was later put into the Samurai shodown games. Gameplay wise Aof2 is not all that, but if can be a fun game nonetheless.
King of Fighters 94 (SNK)
SNK's longest running and most successful series started with KOF94. A game that brang the fatal fury series and art of fighting series into one game, plus loads of new characters. What set this game apart was that you have to select a team of 3 fighters to play with. The also introduced Kyo, the hero of KOF, and now one of most popular SNK characters. The gameplay also changed alot from previous SNK titles, the action was alot faster and was more combo oriented, with many flashy special and super moves.
posted by r3ko at 1:21 pm
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