Retro|Spective 054: Art of Fighting

[Neon Ignition]

Witness the beauty of the fighting art form with...





Mainline Entry 01 - Art of Fighting
Formats: Arcade, Neo Geo, Super NES, Mega Drive, PC, Playstation 2, Wii, Switch etc
A prequel to the popular Fatal Fury series, the game takes place in the early days of both franchise canon as Ryo and Robert set out to rescue Yuri in that popular rescue the damsel trope of the 80's and 90's. Facing down opponents until toppling Mr Big, the fighter only allowed the player to choose from the two in single player, another eight tied to the vs mode. The game left on a cliffhanger that led into the sequel.



Mainline Entry 02 - Art of Fighting 2
Formats: Arcade, Neo Geo, Super NES, Playstation 2, Wii, Switch etc
Releasing two years later, the sequel brought Yuri in as a playable character and also saw the reference to the King of Fighters tournament brought in as various series ties started to come together. Almost every aspect of the sequel was called out as an improvement on the original, only a lack of progression from cheap AI being the aspect most raised as an annoyance.



Mainline Entry 03 - Art of Fighting 3: The Path of the Warrior
Formats: Arcade, Neo Geo, Playstation 2, Wii, Switch etc
The final entry came another two years later and saw a huge visual advancement made to the series. Using stop motion capture for the animation, the third entry focused more on Robert narratively but was called out for poor balancing based around the new Ultra attacks and a failure to be any different from the large number of rivals on the market. As SNK started to struggle, and KoF became a focus, this series ended as a trilogy.




Share your thoughts and memories of the Art of Fighting

[Neon Ignition]

The only entry of the three I have particular memories of is the second game and even then it was a good decade almost after its release from the Neo Geo CD release. In comparison to many other fighters there was something clunky about the series but still a certain level of charm even though it was never a particular go to. The third game didn't make a big impact on me either but there's something appealing about the visuals of the game.

[Dogg Thang]

I think I only ever had one go at one of these back in the day so, by the time I really got to them, it was long after they had been eclipsed by many other fighting games, including SNK's own. So they felt redundant and old when I played them, although I love the big sprites. The third one looks pretty nice though. I don't think I have ever tried that one.

[Asura]

I've played a bunch of the first one, actually quite recently, and I can't get over just how difficult it is. I'm pretty good at 2D fighters and I really struggle with it. People say it's like a boss rush; like you need to learn each opponent and exploit their weaknesses, but that makes it a real coin-sucker.

[S3M]

First two games were pretty terrible, the A.I was so cheap it was impossible to beat unless you fight cheap. Hence why the series was very unpopular in western arcades and disappeared very quickly.

Third game is the Mark of the Wolves of the series it looks and plays brilliantly great gameplay and wonderful animation. It tanked however partly due to the series rep at that point, never once saw it in the arcades. First played it on the PS2 collection and it is just flawless.

[BigDeadFreak]

I love the art style of the games and there's a definite appeal to the series but it's all just ruined by the AI. It's such a shame as there's a good game lurking in there somewhere. They are a bit clunky but I could live with that if it was actually possible to play like a normal fighting game.

[Neon Ignition]

For thread fifty four:

Clue - Godzilla wasn't the only...

[Colin]

The first two were visually impressive for their time but both in forging and inenjoyable due to it in my opinion. Saying that however, despite liking these type of games I’m not great at them. The third however was a massive step up in every department and is one of my favourite Neo fighting games.

And [MENTION=345]Superman Falls[/MENTION], I’m assuming king of the monsters?

[Dogg Thang]

Clue - Godzilla wasn't the only...

...lizard in town. Gex! It has to be Gex.

No wait. Godzilla wasn't the only one ordering a hot coffee. It's the GTA series.

[Neon Ignition]

[samanosuke]

For thread fifty four:

Clue - Godzilla wasn't the only...

...copyright infringement. It’s the Shinobi series!

[_SD_]

I never bothered with the first couple of games as they didn’t score very well in reviews... and after purchasing the AES cart of 3 for a rather princely sum I spent all of about 20 minutes with it Too many games, not enough time and I’d rather play Last Blade 2 anyway.

I’m sure I’m my own worst enemy at times... I drive myself nuts

[monel]

The first time I played the original game I was amazed by the graphics and it reminded me of Fist of the North Star with some of the special moves. They seemed to be trying to be original and not just some SF2 clone but it wasn't as enjoyable or fluid to play as SF2.

I never got to play the sequels until years after they came out. I liked the third game a lot but for some reason I found it getting criticised online a lot so it's nice to see people appreciating it in this thread. Although I'm sure in the past it's not really had much praise.

[Atticus]

There's something asthetically off-putting about the AoF series that I can't quite put my finger on. If an arcade game doesn't draw me in emotionally then it doesn't get any action. Still never played one to this day.