Arty Farty
Written: Mar 07 '07
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Graphics, Sound
Cons: Gameplay
The Bottom Line: SNK fans may enjoy seeing where Ryo, Robert and co. got their start, it's doubtful they'll enjoy the gameplay.
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| flash-hammer's Full Review: Art of Fighting |
While often dismissed by the ignorant as a company who produce nothing but Metal Slug games and Streetfighter 2 rip-offs, Japanese gaming gurus SNK have created some of the World’s finest fighting games that hardly anyone outwith the hardcore fighting game scene was even seen screenshots of, mainly due to them only appearing on SNK’s own Neo Geo AES machine outwith their arcade cabinets. However, in the early 1990s, with fighting game hysteria at an all-time high, several of SNK’s games were ported to the Sega Megadrive and Super Nintendo Entertainment System, mostly by Takara, to varying degrees of success.
Art of Fighting was one such release, hitting the SNES in 1993, a year after it’s arcade debut. Evidently the game never proved as successful as SNK’s 2 other big Fighting game franchises to hit the SNES, as both Fatal Fury and Samurai Shodown both managed to prove successful enough to warrant their sequels seeing sporadic releases outwith Japan.
The game is, at first glance, your standard 2D fighter. Best out of 3 rounds format, special moves performed by Quarter-Circle D-Pad motions and Directional charges, gi wearing men, bad haircuts… you know the drill. However, where AoF differs is in it’s ‘Spirit Meter’ and Story. The former refers to a bar of energy that sits below each fighter’s Health bar, which depletes when Special Moves are performed, and refills either by taunting or simply through the passing of time. While this was clearly implemented to bring an end to the dire Fireball-fests that plague Capcom’s fighters at lower levels of play, it really could have been implemented better, as you can only usually get off 3 Special Moves tops before having to clown around for a good while before the bar is full enough to let go of even 1 more. In theory this wouldn’t be so bad, but the characters arsenal of normal moves really isn’t substantial enough to hold the player’s attention or make the game enjoyable. I’m all for the idea of stopping cheese-fest projectile slinging matches, but when it comes at the expense of fun, you really start to wonder if Fireball contests were that bad.
That isn’t where the gameplay problems end though I’m afraid. AoF was never known as one of SNK’s better fighters to begin with, really evoking memories of Streetfighter more than it’s famous sequel (that’s not a good thing by the way), most notably for it’s non-responsive Special Moves, incredibly cheap AI and somewhat flaky hit detection. Sadly all of these made the transition from Neo Geo to SNES, and to further insult, the breakable scenery is gone, and King’s shirt no longer rips-off when you defeat her (that’s not a pervy complaint by the way, it’s relevant to the story, though falls victim to Nintendo’s infamous censorship) despite the fact that the Sega port featured both of these. To the game’s credit, the buttons themselves, a punch, a kick, a throw and a taunt, along with the basic D-Pad commands, all respond well enough…meaning in theory it could be playable on 2-Player, where both fighters have the same constrictions.
Earlier on, I mentioned that the game’s story set it apart from other fighters of the time, and while the main crux of the plot (Yuri Sakazaki is kidnapped, her brother Ryo and boyfriend Robert, both masters of Kyokugen Karate, go in search of her) is nothing spectacular, but along with Fatal Fury the game deserves kudos for actually presenting the story in-game. Between fights in single-player mode you actually see the characters converse, and while it’s usually just “she’s not here…you might want to try the docks” or something of the like, it’s still lightyears ahead of anything Capcom has presented in a Streetfighter game to this day. Of course, not even this manages to get away unscathed, as for some reason the ‘cut-scenes’ between fights, usually of Ryo or Robert riding to the next destination on a motorbike, also present on the Sega port, are AWOL. The single player mode also only allows you to choose between Ryo and Robert, much like Fatal Fury‘s limited single-player roster, however, in a somewhat neat touch, ever few fights, you are given 1 of 3 bonus stages to either improve your Strength or Energy, or learn a Super-Fireball. These reminded me of Mortal Kombat‘s famous ‘Test Your Might’ Bonus game, only in AoF they actually have a purpose.
In 2-Player play, you not only have access to Ryo, your standard Gi-wearing Karate Man with a mullet, and Robert, who sports a ponytail only fictional characters, wrestlers or footballers would get away with, both of whom fight like the Shotokan characters (that’s Ryu, Ken, Akuma etc) from Streetfighter, ie a fireball and rising uppercut (performed in the expected manner) also sporting a flying kick attack, but in addition they also have a multi-punch attack and the Super-Fireball, but also all of their Single-Player opponents. If it weren’t for the shaky controls, it would be very easy for anyone who has ever played a Streetfighter title to pick either Ryo or Robert (or Mr. Karate for that matter) up and find a degree of success. What let’s the game down further is that out of the remaining 8 characters, you really wouldn’t want to play as any of them, not as much down to move sets, but due to the series now legendary awful character design. Mr. Karate is a palette swap Ryo in a tengu mask (though this is explained in the plot), Mr. Big is a pimp who wields batons (actually he’s so bad it’s brilliant), Jack is a fat biker. Mickey is…just a guy in skintight shorts and a vest…it’s really hard to believe the company who came up with the Bogards, Geese, Kyo, Iori and Haohmaru came up with these clowns, though with that said, Ryo, Robert, Mr. Karate, Mr. Big, King and Todo have all turned up in some form or another in more respectable series like The King of Fighters and Capcom’s SNK team-up Vs. games.
What makes all these negatives so much harder to stomach is how aesthetically impressive the game is. While the destructible elements of the stages have been removed, the huge, detailed and colourful sprites remain intact from the Neo Geo original, as does the series patented ‘Zoom’ effect that sees the characters get bigger as the camera zooms in the closer together they get. This is probably the most impressive Neo Geo - SNES port visually, and sonically it isn’t at all bad either. While the music in AoF was never astounding, it was catchy enough, and is presented very well by Nintendo’s machine, as are the sound effects and voice samples. It’s pretty much solely down to these qualities the game avoids 1/5.
So while SNK enthusiasts who aren’t financially able enough to afford a Neo Geo will probably be able to take some interest on a curiosity level, to see where some of the KoF cast originated, I wouldn’t recommend anyone went looking for Art of Fighting under the pretence of it being a good, or even decent, game. Sure they may have been a long way off Streetfighter 2: Turbo, the SNES ports of the FF games were a whole lot more playable.
Related Reviews
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King of Fighters: Evolution for Dreamcast
King of Fighters 2000-2001
King of Fighters 2002
King of Fighters: Maximum Impact for PlayStation 2
King of Fighters EX: Neoblood for Gameboy Advance
King of Fighters EX 2: Howling Blood for Gameboy Advance
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