Tag Archives: Fighting Game

Fatal Fury Special Review

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Fatal Fury is one of those video game series that has done pretty well for itself. It has tons of games and remakes over the years and yet it has always struggled to reach the same heights as Street Fighter and Tekken. It’s tough for any fighting series to match those two though. Street Fighter has decades of legacy among the core fans and Tekken has its legendary story. Fury is sort of stuck in the middle of that and has to share a lot of screentime with King of Fighters. Still, this is a pretty fun game to check out on the Nintendo Switch Online. A true retro title that keeps you on your toes.

I jumped right into Arcade Mode and naturally picked Terry Bogard as my character. That guy is a whole lot of fun to play and he’s also a good all around fighter. So I couldn’t really ask for much more than that. The arcade mode is quite a bit longer than the average one. Usually you have around 8 fights in this mode but this game went closer to 15. Not bad eh? It really makes you work for this and you fight all kinds of secret bosses.

It was a good decision because it does make you feel like you are playing the special version here. The gameplay is very smooth and you will have fun mixing up your combos. The game does a good job of not letting it feel like the villains know all of your moves ahead of time. You can actually “trick” them with a mixup every once in a while which was definitely a good thing. It helps make the whole thing feel more realistic.

Naturally the graphics are fun with the retro sprite look. It will feel like you were playing the game right at the arcade. The soundtrack is also very old school and fast paced to match the action. There are a good amount of levels for the game considering how old it is. There isn’t an abundance of content here so the value is really going to be in the multiplayer. That’s true for most fighting games to be honest. I’d say the ones with a robust story mode are outnumbered by the multiplayer ones, certainly back in these days that was even more true.

So compared to newer games in the series this one won’t be able to compete but if you look at it in a vacuum, this is a good game. It’s very basic but delivers what you are looking for in a fighting game. The characters all have distinct movesets and the combat is executed well. The gameplay is smooth and the game doesn’t seem overly unbalanced. I’m sure it probably would be in the hands of an expert but for the most part on a casual level it feels like the devs did a really good job here.

At this point I own most of the Fatal Fury games. I’m certainly not caught up but I’m always glad to play a fun fighter like this one. The Switch Online has been a great way to play through a lot of retro games so I look forward to seeing which ones come up next. There is certainly still room for quite a lot more titles in the future especially if they keep on adding more consoles.

You probably won’t need rewind a whole lot for this one compared to some of the other old games but of course it can never really hurt. Some of the secret bosses at the end can really hit like a tank and the game’s sped is just fast enough where it can be difficult to react to their attacks at times. You have to absolutely bring your A game at all times and also have to be careful not throwing out too many big hits. They deal a lot of damage but naturally leave you open for quite a while as well.

Overall, Fatal Fury Special is a really good game. It’s one of those titles that reminds you of the fundamentals the whole time. You can’t just close your eyes and start spamming specials. Instead you have to slowly close the gap and win. Also I couldn’t figure out how to use most of the special attacks even if I wanted to do them. So I did a lot of sweeps and throws which is a fun and balanced way to play anyway. I would definitely recommend checking this game out.

Overall 7/10

Killer Instinct Gold Review

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Killer Instinct is a pretty fun fighting game in some respects but it also does feel its age in others. The gameplay could stand to be a whole lot smoother than it currently is. Landing combos is also really difficult due to the way that the combo system is set up. You have to manually find the attacks that line up and go from there. This will vary from character to character of course so if you were thinking about any auto combos, well you can forget about those.

The game mainly revolves around the vs mode and arcade. The vs is about what you would expect as you fight someone and get to see who has really mastered the controls. It’s one of those modes that has endless replay value and it’s why multiplayer games are so good. You know that no matter what, this will still be around for whenever you need it. That said, it also comes down to how much you like the gameplay itself. A fun thing about Arcade mode is it does let you change characters every time you lose so you don’t have to get stuck with anyone. By the end of the Arcade playthrough I had played as every character. I knew that I just had to do it.

They all just feel a bit on the clunky side though. I can tell you that beating arcade mode was incredibly tough and took me many attempts. In fact, I can’t even really say that I completed the game because the final boss has a special gimmick where you can only beat him with a launcher combo. The problem is I couldn’t figure out how to do that so I would defeat him over and over again but he would just regenerate. Really a crazy boss and I can only imagine renting the game from Blockbuster and then trying to take him down.

It just wouldn’t fly. So that’s a bit of an annoying way to finish off the campaign but it’s not like there is a whole lot of story to the title either. At the end of the day it’s a retro fighting game where you can test your fundamentals and have a good time. There’s really not a whole lot more to it beyond that. So just get your game on and then you should be all set.

The graphics look pretty good for the game. That part has definitely aged really well. The colors are striking and I like the fact that the levels even seem a bit interactable. The soundtrack is good too so the technical elements are all in order. If the game could have just had a better gameplay style then this would have really been a very solid experience. I think the fix would be a mix of increasing hit stun on all of the attacks and just naturally letting certain blows connect to each other. At that point, once the hits are connected then it’s more fun since the whole game would become more fast paced. It encourages you to really go in and try to do something instead of all the random button mashing.

There’s not a whole lot more I can ask for from such an old game but this is one that I think would be pretty reasonable. Most games have basic combos as the standard after all and this one would have just needed to match that and it would have been all set. I can see why the series never hit it off to the same level as Street Fighter and Tekken. It definitely would have needed that extra gameplay boost.

I can say that the character designs are fun though. The roster will keep you entertained and it’s not even as small as you might have assumed for such an old game. The characters feel like interesting elseworld versions of popular characters like Predator and Sub Zero. Definitely one way to get around all that copyright I suppose.

Overall, Killer Instinct Gold is a good game but it could have been better. The fact that it is a fighting game is really the only thing keeping it afloat. Otherwise there’s just not a whole lot to say about it. If you have the Nintendo Switch Online then you may as well check it out while it’s there but otherwise I’d say you can definitely find way better titles within the genre. No reason to stick with this one for too long.

Overall 6/10

Sand Land Review

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Sand Land is one of the first manga titles that I read back in the day. It’s a fun enough adventure although it ends really quickly. I never watched the new movie/show that came out though so checking out the game was a good way to see what was going on with the new story content. It’s a pretty fun game and while I think it could have used a little more time in the oven to polish some areas, I had a good time.

The story follows the prince of demons Beelzebub as he tries to prove to the world that he is a scary fiend. An army general named Rao shows up asking for his help one day though. The world is ruled by a corrupt government who has taken control of all resources. Now water is a tough commodity to come by and people are dying of thirst. Rao needs Beelzebub’s help in getting access to the water. Beelzebub agrees to help since it sounds fun but he insists on being called a villain. Then the second half of the game involves a new land with another corrupt government who has to be stopped.

The second half is more exciting since it’s all brand new content but the story in general is pretty fun. I like the universe and the characters are likable. Beelzebub makes for a solid lead even if he can be a bit desperate in trying to get people to recognize him as a villain. The guy just acts way too heroic for anybody to buy that. This is another one of those stories where for the most part the humans tend to be the worst people anyway. Demons got nothing on them!

The graphics are pretty solid. There are quite a few fully animated scenes here along with good effects for the battle. It’s a very clear looking game where you don’t have to be squinting. You also have a good soundtrack here. I won’t say that it’s top tier or anything like that but it gets the job done. There is even a lyrical song near the end which helps for that cinematic experience. That’s when you know that you’re truly in the climax.

The game’s overall length is pretty good. It’s around 15 hours or so and there is plenty of replay value. Naturally you can go for the Platinum and in the meantime you’ll be doing a bunch of side quests and beating more opponents. It’s a pretty expansive world and so even though the platinum itself is fairly easy, you can expect to be here for a long while. There is definitely a good amount of value here.

As for the gameplay, I would say the game controls well when playing as Beelzebub. The only complaint you can really have is that it’s just way too easy. You absolutely decimate all of the opponents as your damage is maxed out to start the game. It’s a pretty fun approach compared to the vehicles where you have to be constantly upgrading them the whole time. Nothing wrong with that of course but I do like that you don’t have to worry about that when playing as Beelzebub. It’s just a really welcome change of pace.

Now with the vehicles, I enjoyed them but I also thought there was clear room for improvement. For starters when you’re setting up the loadout, the game doesn’t make it clear what you can equip. You have to actually go into the piece you want to equip and then it’ll slam you in the face with the level requirement. When the required level is higher than you current level, it cannot be equipped. So if you ask me it should be grayed out or something as an easy visual indicator. That would save a lot of time there.

In terms of actually leveling up the materials, at least it is pretty quick. You usually need to buy a few things and then head out to beat enemies for other resources. If you spend a few minutes each batch doing this then you can stay on top. You’ll want to be very well leveled or the final bosses will take a long while. The final boss is easy to dodge but my attacks were so weak that defeating him took quite a long while. In any game it’s better to die fast and try again than to have a super long game that you barely win. It just takes too much time.

By the end of the game I was mainly using the Hovercraft on everybody although the mechsuit definitely had some good moments as well. I don’t want to count that guy out. His cannon and punches did a good amount of damage but the lack of speed meant he was not very reliable in other battles. The tank was also pretty good one although the damage output stayed pretty low by the end. Ultimately because of the level up system I don’t think you will ever be locked for very long but some quality of life updates here would have gone a long way.

I liked the occasional stealth missions that were in the game. Those were fun tests to see how quickly you could get around the guards. It let you be very creative with several different ways to approach those levels. It’s definitely the right way to handle a level like that and the quick loading times also meant that dying was not too painful. I’d have definitely been down with more stealth levels here. Maybe some of the side missions go more into that.

The hub world isn’t always very easy to navigate so I wonder if in the post game you would get a plane. That would be awesome, even if perhaps a bit game breaking. It would certainly be worth it though so I don’t mind losing the balance a little bit. After beating the main game I had already purchased almost every power up on the leveling screen so I imagine you’ll have that done pretty early on when working on the postgame.

Overall, Sand Land is pretty fun. It’s clear that a lot of work went into it so even though I say it could use some more polish, I don’t want it to sound like I think this is an incomplete game. There’s a good amount of bang for your buck and the story even lasts a bit longer than I would have expected. It’s pretty impressive in general that this title got a video game like this so I definitely recommend it to all Sand Land fans or to anyone looking for a fun platformer. You just can’t go wrong here.

Overall 7/10

One Punch Man: A Hero Nobody Knows Review

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It’s time for one of those games that looked just enough like a tie in where people had some reservations about it. The good news is that because of that you can get this game for dirt cheap nowadays. I always enjoy some good One Punch Man action so I was definitely eager to see how this one turned out. Fortunately they really held nothing back here. It’s a great title and one that is even carried a bit by the technical aspects. The combat isn’t the most fine tuned 3D title that you’ve ever seen but the menus and layouts are all just really solid and smooth. You’re constantly impressed as just how easy everything is to navigate. This is probably the kind of game I would point to when explaining to people why menus are so important.

The game roughly follows the story of season 1 but has you playing as a brand new hero. You are recruited into the hero’s association and work on rising up the ranks by saving people and crushing monsters. Along the way you run into Saitama and Genos. This results in your constantly showing up to fight off the big villains but typically Saitama is the one who will actually put a stop to the madness. It would be more effective if you actually talked during the cutscenes though. During gameplay your original character talks and even has some great lines so I don’t know why they didn’t keep that energy up.

Either way the story is a pretty reasonable length. It should take you around 6-7 hours to clear it and there is a lot of replay value aside from that. This is a fighting game title after all so you can have fun in multiplayer mode for many hours. Additionally in single player mode you have a ton of bonus missions and level ups to work on. You will want to max out each of the fighting styles for more trophies as well. The platinum trophy looks like it will take a while to unlock but at the same time it looks very achievable. So put in enough effort and you will definitely be able to complete this one.

When you level up you get to choose which stats to increase so I recommend putting everything in attack power. Trust me, that’s what you will be using the most by far. Use two quick hits, a low hit, and then your standard combo. It does a good amount of damage and you can recycle that comb for the entire game. A pretty tempting strategy to use if I do say so myself! You don’t really need to get fancy here. It is good to make sure you have a super attack that breaks through guards though. That is really handy for when they start blocking.

Ultimately I went with the power type for the whole game. Then my super attack was a grab so if the opponent blocked the opening moves of my combo, I would immediately use the grab and would deal the damage. It’s a really good way to cheese the opponent and so I kept up a win rate of over 90%. The tough levels tend to be ones where stage hazards show up. I died once because a meteorite was slamming me into the ground and it did massive amounts of damage. The hazards could probably be dialed back a little to be honest.

I could never figure out how to get up quickly though. This is the toughest part of the game by far as a result since the enemy only has to knock you to the ground once and then after that they can keep comboing you to oblivion. It meant that I would either crush an opponent without getting hit or just barely win because one hit has such a massive effect to it. I’m assuming there is something you can do but I just couldn’t figure it out.

Back to the technical elements, the map is super detailed and has icons for every kind of content around. There is an arrow always pointing you to where you need to go within the story and there is also quick travel. All of the menus have super fast loading times and really look natural. There is really no downside to be found here. Then the graphics are also really good. The game models look sharp and there was just a whole lot of effort put into this one. I have to give the soundtrack props next as the tunes are really good. It felt like everyone was proud to work on this game. It may not be a AAA title by any stretch but the technical elements wouldn’t be out of place in one.

Just touch up the story and gameplay a bit and this could have been the next big thing. Ultimately that wasn’t really part of the plan but it’s still a game that any fighting fan can really enjoy. I always love playing through a great fighting title and this one is really no exception. Anime fighters can get real immersive and I dare say this game feels like it had a much higher budget than even something like Jump Force which is crazy when you think about it.

Overall, One Punch Man really delivered with this game. I definitely had a blast here. The whole game definitely goes by real quick but it’s also one that I could feel like picking back up and playing at any time. I left a whole lot of content on the table as well so there would be a lot for me to do when I get back into the game. The fact that the whole game is dubbed and contains a ton of voice acting is also super impressive. It’s something I never take for granted because even nowadays games will come out without voice acting like this. So when it does appear, that’s just really awesome. If they ever come up with a sequel to this one then I can safely say that I will be there day 1. I definitely won’t be missing out on this and I recommend picking up One Punch Man whenever you can. It’s that good.

Overall 8/10

The King of Fighters Collection: The Orochi Saga Review

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It’s time for my last King of Fighters review for a bit and it’s going to end with the game that started it all. The fact that this collection brings 5 whole games is really impressive. Collections like this are a really handy way to really play through each of the games especially the ones that are really old. Since the games are older the casts tended to be a bit smaller so the arcade modes go by pretty fast.

The first game is KOF 94 which has the toughest final boss to date. I could not find any way to actually take Rugal down. That guy is absolutely crazy. When you get close to him you get absolutely demolished. If you stay far away then you get blasted to smithereens. I read online that you gotta try and cheese him but that doesn’t work either with how much he’s always moving. I’m convinced you need exceptional video game reflexes to really keep up here. Without that then it is the end of the road for you. Still, it’s a fun way to kick things off and Rugal is still my favorite King of Fighters villain. The guy just has a whole lot of style. I ended up playing as Terry for quite a few of these games and he always made for a solid MC.

Then the next game was KOF 95. I wouldn’t say you can tell very many differences here compared to the first game. The final boss is also super OP but slightly more manageable than the first one. You just have to move fast because it’s another boss that can basically take out your whole health bar if you get too close. So you want to try and keep some distance at all times. Getting close to the enemy is something to only be done at your own risk and personally I would not recommend it. Again, you can throw this advice out if you have super good reflexes though.

After that was KOF 96. You start to feel the series getting ever so slightly more modern with this one. The sprites look sharp and in general the game looks very solid. You’ll be going back to Arcade Mode here and rolling with Terry’s crew again. The final boss is still super difficult but now the games allow you some help once you have lost and gotten a game over. You can revive and make your boss’ health go down to 1/3. You’d be surprised at how difficult the fight is even at this point. I can’t imagine pulling this off if I had to go up against the full deal. At 1/3 health the boss gains extra durability though to make up for it.

KOF 97 is pretty climactic and keeps up all of the momentum from the previous game. The gameplay is on point, there is a good cast running around here and there’s a lot to do. The story is mainly told through the cutscenes at the end so you can really feel free to pick just about any team and you’ll get the bulk of the story there. The final boss is another really tough one so definitely bring your A game. You may be here a while even with the bonus. So expect to lose a lot but you should pend that time trying to learn as many of his tricks and attacks as you can.

KOF 98 is interesting because it was there at the end but it actually feels a bit older than some of the previous ones. I think perhaps that was done on purpose to further support the whole nostalgia angle that the game was going for. I don’t think that’s a stretch, I think it even makes a lot of sense. Still, I can’t be sure, maybe it’s just a slight art tyle that didn’t age well. Part of what makes it look older to me is the font. It’s very zoomed in and so it gets a lot blurrier than the other games. Maybe they just wanted the game to stick out though.

The games are very old so naturally the graphics aren’t exactly top tier. Still, they work pretty well I would say. Sprites never truly go out of fashion. The combo attacks look really good and all of the backgrounds have good detail to them. I don’t feel like they phoned in any part of the game. Lots of effort and dedication went into the title. The various soundtracks aren’t bad either. I would like some more hard rock type themes to be included into the actual stages but at least the openings tend to go rather hard in that direction.

When it comes to replay value, there is naturally a whole lot here. You can keep on playing through all of the games to look at the changes between each one. It’s nice to play them all back to back to really see how things have updated and evolved over the years. Realistically there’s probably not much reason to keep playing vs mode for a super long time when the sequels are around but you can’t count out the nostalgia effect. To an extent you may just want to have fun seeing how retro the whole thing is and you can’t do that with a newer game.

Combat gameplay is also something that’s fairly timeless. Yes, there may be less special effects but the actual fighting itself will be relatively unchanged even as many years go by. So that part won’t feel dated at all and you can just have a fun time trying to land your favorite combos. Like Terry seems to be mainly unchanged across all of the games but granted, It’s not like I know any of the advanced ones so just going by the bread and butter combos isn’t the most accurate way to go about things.

Overall, You can’t really go wrong with a collection that brings 5 games. You’re getting a ton of bang for your buck here. I got the Wii version since it uses the Gamecube controller but note that you have to play it on the Wii in order to use this function. The Wii U adaptor doesn’t support the Gamecube controller although that’s to be expected as it doesn’t for most titles. The game’s controls don’t bother with motion though so it’s really not that bad though. When used traditionally, the Wii remote tends to be downright decent. Either way, no matter what console you get the game for, you should pick it up at some point. The games do have actual stories with cutscenes explored during the fights so you don’t want to miss out on the first arc.

Overall 7/10

The King of Fighters XIII: Global Match Review

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King of Fighters XIII definitely surpassed my expectations here. The instant it had a real story mode and not just throwing cutscenes into arcade mode, I knew it was quite literally built different. This was a game that was putting the story first and I was all here for it. There are even branching paths so you can see different versions of the story and more added context as you play through the game. I ended up getting 60% of the cinematics on my first run.

The story concludes the big saga of the villains trying to revive Orochi and using their cosmic powers to get in everyone’s way. Ash gets a big role in here as he stole Iori’s powers last time and is working on getting Kyo’s now. If the old lead isn’t careful then he is going to be taken down. It’s a really good premise to get you pumped up and I greatly enjoyed the intro. We got to see all of the old leads like K and Kyo and then it ends with the lead being attacked. This game just has the most focus on story by a longshot and it was an excellent idea. I always feel like this is the perfect way to really get you focused up for what is about to happen.

The story definitely doesn’t disappoint. We get a lot of fun illustrations the whole time as the plot moves forward and a ton of dialogue. I didn’t even see all of the paths as I mentioned before so they added a ton of content here. It almost felt like a visual novel at times here. I should also mention that there is another King of Fighters tournament going on here of course. That’s always got to be a factor here of course. Why would there not be a tournament?

It should come as no surprise that the gameplay is great as always. The graphics look really sharp here once again and the movement speed is really good. I felt like the bosses were also designed better so you got to actually play against them. It wasn’t a matter of abusing loopholes or cheesing the opponent out. Instead you were actually fighting them mano a mano the whole time and that was a much better idea. So I was really glad to see that, it’s definitely the way to go.

You feel more of a sense of triumph when you win as opposed to just exhaustion and wondering if the boss is still more skilled than you are. Here, the boss is still rather difficult but it’s nothing crazy. The boss is way aggressive and like a real player will leave openings for you to attack with. I will say that the second to last boss had such long animation cycles though. When he grabbed you, you could basically close your eyes and rest a bit because then he keeps on punching you in the stomach and taking forever to get on with it. He’s a very dramatic fighter to be sure. I feel like it would probably be funny to see anyone using those combos in a competitive tournament assuming that the character has these moves when you play as him.

In terms of the paths in the game, usually you will have a choice for example to see what’s happening at the tournament or what Ash is doing meanwhile. Typically I went with the Ash plot since I figured it would be more intense but you’ll probably want to try them all. When I googled how to get the true ending, there seemed to be quite a few requirements to even get the chance so good luck. Definitely not a pushover by any means but that adds to the ever expansive replay value of the game.

You have the endless vs fights, getting all story mode paths, and of course getting the Platinum trophy in the game. By the time you’re done with that I’m sure you will have spent a ton of time on the game. Additionally, here are a lot of characters to play around with so you’ll want to test them all out and see which character you are best with. I’m actually starting to like the grappler characters in this game. It feels so satisfying when you land a command grab out of nowhere and it deals a ton of damage. A super throw is what won me the final match after all. I was about to lose otherwise.

Overall, King of Fighters XIII is a great game. I dare say that it is easily the best of the early games although calling it an early game is probably misleading. I think XV is probably still the best overall but I’d need to think about it. Either way the latest 3 games are the top 3 overall which is cool because it shows that the series is in its peak right now. They need to bring us some more games but bring back this expansive kind of story mode. It really does help the series go to the next level and doesn’t feel like it should be a giant ask. If there’s any King of Fighters game that you should get, this may even be my first recommendation because of the story.

Overall 8/10

The King of Fighters XII Review

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It’s time for another big King of Fighters game! This time around there’s not really much of a story but to try and make up for that we do have a pretty big cast of characters. The visuals have noticeably improved and so the whole thing works out pretty well. It’s definitely a game that you can’t afford to miss out on if you want to own the whole collection. If you don’t care about owning everything….well then I guess you’ll be okay but it’s still a quality game either way.

With no story you’ll probably want to start off by clearing an arcade mode. The arcade mode is a lot shorter than usual as it’s only 5 levels long and there are no bonus levels or bosses this time. It’s really just you seeing how fast you can beat all of the opponents. In fact they call it a time trial arcade mode so that really was the intent right from the jump. It definitely does work to make the game stand out there but it’s still no substitute for a full on story. I was really surprised that there wasn’t at least a secret boss at the end. Something to really test your might you know?

I did appreciate the jump in graphics though. Like I mentioned before, the graphics look really sharp this time around. The controls feel a bit different and you really feel like this is the next generation of KOF. There are a whole lot of details thrown in here and so you you can really appreciate all of the super attacks. I also think they did make the special techniques easier to use this time around. I was cranking them out like nobody’s business for a while there while in the old games it was really hard. There was a simple vs technical mode option so I did go with simple which may help with that.

The soundtrack isn’t super noticeable this time around. King of Fighters seems to be on/off in that regard. You’re here for the gameplay first and foremost though and that is solid as always. It’s pretty fast paced and you can really use a whole lot of combos. It’s a game that really pays off your hard work and dedication by letting you deal out more damage. The better your combo skills, the more you are going to absolutely dominate the competition when the going gets tough. It’s a very satisfying circle in that regard.

There is unlimited replay in the vs modes of course and this time you even have trophies that you can earn by playing the game. So if you aim for the Platinum trophy that will add a lot of time into the mix as well since fighting game platinums are always extremely intense. Hopefully none of them are online based though or you could be in a lot of trouble there. I still think they need some kind of fix for games where there are online trophies but you want to get the Platinum. It’ll likely never happen but it’s nice to think about.

I ran with Terry’s crew for the arcade mode but feel free to switch up your teams and try as many characters as you can. They all have very distinct movesets and nobody feels too similar to anyone else. The developers did a good job with all of the characters there. The fact that we have several different fire users at this point and none of them feel like clones of each other is definitely impressive. This game knows how to really craft a moveset that fits every character’s playstyle.

Since there’s no story mode here there’s a little less to talk about compared to the other titles. You sort of get the drift after all since a fighting game is very direct. You either enjoy the combat style or you don’t and whether you like the game or not really comes down to that one trait. Gameplay is mega important for any game obviously but if you’re a fighting game then that rises up even further. If you don’t have fun with the combat then that automatically means the game is no fun either. There’s just no way to get around that after all.

Overall, King of Fighters continues to be a really solid fighting game series. While I miss the story, the gameplay is solid enough to hold its own here. Fans of the franchise will have a good time as always and I can definitely recommend this to any fighting game fan. Sometimes you just want to sit down and have a few matches and in that case this game has you covered. You can explore all of the characters and see which fighting style works the best for you. As always I like playing as Terry Bogard quite a bit and he has the old design back which is great.

Overall 7/10

King of Fighters 2002/2003 Review

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King of Fighters has had many games over the years. There are very few who can say that they have played all of them. Even for me thanks to the elusive 99 I won’t be able to say that but I will have basically played through the whole series so that feels like a rather massive W if you ask me. These two games are pretty fun and continue the game on a rather high note.

First up the 2002 game doesn’t really have a story. So for that game you’re really playing through the arcade mode to have a general sense of the controls and you get to beat up a revived Rugal again which is always intense. Definitely not a boss that you want to mess with. In 2003 you’re mainly playing with Ash as you try to get more power and then get wrapped up into another big villain conspiracy. Looks like the Orochi factions aren’t quite done yet but Ash can hold his own.

At this point King of Fighters has so many different factions and it’s always fun to see all of them being active a the same time. That’s not something that you usually see so that’s pretty different compared to other fighting game titles. You have the Orochi revivers, the NEST remnants, Ash basically counts since he’s trying to absorb more power, Rugal’s kids, etc. The game would really be able to do a whole lot as an RPG with this many characters to play around with.

The gameplay is pretty classic as you would expect. There are different mechanics that get added and removed as the games go on but the classic core of the gameplay is still the same. Use your attacks and special moves to take your opponents down. The arcade mode will take you down the path to taking down the main villains. After playing so many of them in a row, I do think it’s impressive how consistent the games are. They all tend to generally follow the same patterns and schedules.

It’s mainly the story that changes and of course some specifics in the actual gameplay like I mentioned. I wonder if the hardcore fans could immediately tell you which game it is based on the win screens after a match. That would be a fun test for some of the more intense fans. I naturally wouldn’t be able to clear that quite yet but I do think I would be able to put up a decent fight since they’re all really fresh in my mind.

The graphics are good as always. I definitely have no problem with them. I do miss Terry’s old design with the cap but since he gave it to a girl at the end of one of the games, it makes sense that he no longer has it. It was so iconic though. I forget if he ever gets it back in the newer games but hopefully he does. He still has it in all of the spinoffs after all. The soundtrack is also good. I felt like we got some more memorable tracks this time around although it might be difficult to find them. I suppose I’d just have to listen to the full soundtrack to pick it out.

As always there is no limit to the replay value here. Just keep on playing with a friend and you could do that all day. If you’re only playing by yourself then that might not be quite as fun but that’s always been the case historically. So it’s not unique to King of Fighters or anything like that. These games were made to be enjoyed by everyone and that way you can also learn how to fight the right way. In a lot of ways fighting the computer teaches you the wrong things since you are focused on exploiting the AI and your moves may not be optimal. Like overusing the jump kick to sweep kick combo may work on the computers but if you keep on doing that against a real opponent then you’re going to be countered real hard.

As always get ready for some real crazy final bosses. These aren’t the craziest to be sure but you’ll likely still die a few times an need the bonus. It’s still very impressive that the bosses are always this tough though. It’s like a point of pride for the series and it is definitely well earned. That kind of difficulty doesn’t just appear on its own. The developers had to work really hard on that one.

Overall, These two games were fun as expected. They had some fun tunes and the gameplay was good as always. You really get to test your limits in these games as well as your reaction times. You’re not going to go down very easily that’s for sure. I’ll be having more King of Fighters reviews up pretty soon so get ready for that. It is definitely a really fun franchise and if the developers were willing to go just a bit harder with it on the next big title, it could really start to make waves on the fighting game scene. Give us a story like Street Fighter V or what Tekken always has. The characters in KoF and their backstories are definitely detailed and expansive enough to support this.

Overall 7/10

King of Fighters 2000 & 2001 Review

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It’s time for some King of Fighters hype! It’s pretty fun to be playing through all of the games in the series. These two start to feel a bit more modern on the PS2 but you’ve still got enough retro elements in the game to make it feel nostalgic. You’ve also got some real stories going on here which is always fun. It would be nice if there was a longer story for everybody but I’m still satisfied. There is basically always a cliffhanger here as well to keep things moving.

In 2000, we get to play as K who is fighting for his memories and to take down the villains like NEST. He enters the King of Fighters tournament to deal some serious damage and along the way the villains make their move as well. Kula also gets involved which is fun because for me she’s one of the more nostalgic characters. I played as her a lot in one of the spinoff games. So to see her with more of a starring role was definitely a lot of fun, her ice abilities also work pretty well in the gameplay.

The game has the striker system active so you can summon assists like in Marvel vs Capcom. It’s pretty fun although it never really works on the bosses all that much. This is the only game where the final boss isn’t too crazy though. You can actually fight him like a normal boss and eventually win as opposed to just being cheesy the whole time and staying in the corner. Hey, you have to win whatever it takes right? So no shame there, you just look forward to actually rushing in and fighting so this was a fun change of pace. Part of King of Fighters’ whole appeal is the insane difficulty though. These final bosses are really made to make you work to find whatever exploit you can in order to win.

2001 adds another extra mechanic to the striker system. This time you can have up to 3 strikers. So you can use all 4 fighters to attack the enemy or only have one. The balance is up to you but one thing to keep in mind is that the final boss will have more health if you opt to go with 4 fighters. I didn’t even realize that so for a while there he was dominating me and had tons of health. Fortunately every time you die you can readjust your team so after a bunch of losses I put everyone into being a striker except my main guy and then I used him to win the day. It was still extremely difficult to be sure and I just barely pulled it off but that does seem like the play. You are basically banking on RNG here to be able to beat the final boss.

You need him to make the wrong choices just a few times on 2001 and then you will be able to finish him off with minimal difficulty. I suppose the one drawback is you will be getting sent to the game over screen a lot quicker this way as your one fighter will keep on going down quickly but at the end of the day it’s still worth it. I still advise going through this way. Also, make sure you do not use your summons. They will never land a hit anyway and only exist to get in your way. Activating them is basically ensuring your own defeat. So definitely make sure that you don’t do that. In the split second it takes to call them out the boss will inevitably use a wide energy wave to take down both of you.

The final boss is also able to use super attacks without using up any magical energy. This means that blocking forever is only worth it if you are aiming for a timeout but otherwise it’s not like you’re going to tire this guy out. So definitely just keep an eye out on that. For most battles you still want to go with the tried and true tactic of an aerial kick into a sweeping kick but you never want to approach these final bosses. Let them come to you and you just stick to punishing their mistakes. Each small hit will eventually add up and then you’re good.

As you would expect the graphics for both games are pretty good. In general you can see the graphics improving s the games go on but it still will take some time before they’re completely up to PS5 level or anything like that. The sprites are very colorful though and that’s why I recommend them as an artstyle. They will never get out of date and will always look very pleasant no matter how many years go by. The soundtrack is another okay one as well. The themes match the stages but aren’t something you would necessarily be looking up on Youtube.

That’s good enough though, at the end of the day this is a fighting game and one that is a lot of fun. I enjoy all of the combos and the big character roster. It’s a game that really never has to stop giving you entertainment since you can have endless vs battles. The replay value is there and since the gameplay itself is really solid, that’s all you need. It’s certainly possible that you won’t need to play this one if you have the sequels but at least this will still work out. Terry is still my favorite character even if I’ve had to play as the other characters lately for the story.

Overall, King of Fighters is a solid series that has certainly had a lot of games. This collection does a good job of bringing two of the games in and they work really well together. I’ve certainly improved my King of Fighter fundamentals even if I would not exactly be tournament ready just yet. I would really need to stud the games for that and get used to the combos. In the meantime, going through story mode is definitely the right amount of investment for me. I don’t really need anything more. Of course if we ever do get a massive cinematic story mode then I would have to really learn the controls because I would not want to miss that!

Overall 7/10

Blazblue: Calamity Trigger Review

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After all these years it feels good to finally be playing the Blazblue series. I always knew it as a super cool anime fighting game with nice cutscenes and great gameplay. It definitely lives up to the hype and the story is even more convoluted than you may expect. It makes for a great time all around and I’m definitely looking forward to seeing how the sequels go.

The general plot is that Ragna is trying to destroy all of the Library installations for some reason. This group is corrupt to downright evil, but what if that’s not the case? Their best operatives will be doing their best to stop Ragna, but commander Jin seems rather crazy himself. Meanwhile a bunch of other characters are running around trying to fulfill their own destinies and they’re all in the same area so they keep on meeting up. The game has a unique gimmick where the only way to get each character’s story to 100% is to win and lose each fight. This would mean a lot of restarts so I didn’t bother with that. Fortunately you still unlock the true ending by playing everyone’s stories which is cool.

It does feel like a bit of a forced way to add replay value though since you have to play so many stories. Additionally the true story is mainly a mix of Ragna and Noel’s stories except this time we’re seeing what really happened so in some ways you were playing some fake stories before. I suppose to an extent this is usually true for games with a lot of stories as most of them end up being fake but I think the game could have handled this in a bit of a more straight forward manner. The convoluted part was really intentional but granted, it was still very engaging the whole time.

This is a game where you either love the crazy aspect of it or you just think it’s trying a bit too hard. The series is always famous for its top tier soundtracks and this game definitely had that all the way. Each of the themes sounded fantastic and the game never lost any of its steam. It just kept on going with no end in sight. That’s absolutely what I like to see. I enjoyed almost all of the themes. Then the graphics look really good. Obviously it’s super impressive that we had fully hand drawn cutscenes right from the jump but in game the graphics were also really good. Lots of vibrant colors for the special attacks and all of the costumes were good. The stages had great backgrounds as well.

This is one of those games that was really ahead of its time. The sci-fi type menus and visuals were really excellent all the way through. Blazblue definitely did not disappoint me in any way. Then the gameplay is very fast paced. It can be difficult to really get the hang of though. I never figured out how to use any of the special moves but granted, I didn’t exactly check out any of the training/tutorial modes. For the most part the game isn’t very difficult but there is one boss fight near the end that really ramps up the difficulty all of a sudden. Now that is an absolutely insane boss fight that took me a whole lot of tries to complete. Don’t expect to defeat it too easily.

As a small quality of life update, it would be nice if you could directly replay a fight. When you lose you have to go back to the main menu and then manually load your previous save file. It’s a bit much if you ask me. It’s not like this takes a very long time but it’s an odd approach since most games would just let you directly retry the match. It makes more sense to retry directly because why would you just give up after one try right? That’s really my only slight issue. Beyond that the gameplay is really a lot of fun and the game really has enough content to keep you busy the whole time.

Overall, Blazblue: Calamity Trigger is a really fun game. I definitely had a blast with it. The character roster may be a tad small for a PS3 game but I may be a little spoiled by Super Smash Bros. Regardless, all of the characters have very distinct gameplay styles which work well with the game. You will have a lot of fun choosing who your main is going to be. There is a ton of replay value here in terms of getting trophies and of course endless replay value with the multiplayer mode. This is the kind of game that just keeps on giving. I highly recommend checking it out as soon as possible.

Overall 8/10