Boxing Games Roundup: Round 1

With a large amount of boxing games to take a look at over the next two reviews, I've decided to split them up, with this first review concentrating on the larger than life, cartoon-ish boxing games in the Punchout and Ready 2 Rumble Series, and the second review looking at games which attempted to be more of a sports simulation.

Game: Punch-Out!!
Console: Nintendo Entertainment System
Developer: Nintendo
Release Date: 1990

Punch-Out!! is an NES classic which challenges players to rise through the ranks from minor circuit boxing to the big time, against a variety of racial stereotypes and humourous characters and finally face Mike Tyson himself in a wall-punchingly difficult final fight to beat the game and claim Little Mac's place in boxing history. For every win, the player progresses up the ranks towards a title fight, but for every loss, the last opponent must be faced again to prove your skill.

The controls are simple, with the d-pad used for left and right movement as well as directing punches towards the head or body. The A and B buttons are used for right and left hand punches respectively, and it's through these simple controls that the game justifies its fairly high level of difficulty in the later levels. Each opponent has a different set of moves which must be learned and avoided with the correct timing, in order to counter attack, as this is the only effective way of landing strikes. Once an opponent has been knocked down 3 times in a round, or for 10 seconds at a time, the player wins.

Graphically the game uses basic sprites for its boxers as well as Mario who guest stars as referee. The animations are good and give a clear indication of when to avoid the opponent's strikes in order to land a clean hit. The cardio system works well as Little Mac loses hearts for hits taken and his shots being blocked, and so focuses players on the counter attack. Musically there's a few enjoyable themes included and repeated throughout the game, and that's about all you can ask for in an NES cartridge.

Overall Punch-Out is almost the perfect arcade boxing game for the time; there's strategy in avoiding opponents and waiting for the right moment to connect with a punch, there's a good variety of opponents to beat on the way up through the ranks, a terrifying final boss in Mike Tyson and a guest appearance from Mario. While technology has advanced since the release of the game, the core gameplay and characters appearing the game remain entertaining and fun.

Rating: 84/100
Grade: B

Game: Super Punch-Out!!
Console: Super Nintendo Entertainment System
Developer: Nintendo
Release Date: 1994

As a follow up to Punch-Out!! on the NES, Super Punch-Out!! succeeds in bringing arcade boxing action to the Super Nintendo. The premise of the game remains unchanged; progress to the title of champion through three ever more difficult circuits, learn your opponents moves and how to avoid them, then counter attack until your opponent is down for good. An added feature to this game is special combos; earned by landing punches and avoiding being hit by the opponent, these can rock opponents and provide an advantage to players if landed at the right time.

The controls remain largely the same with the addition of the special combo button, and the difficulty is much the same as the original Punch-Out!! with a tough curve and many hours of practice needed before the fights are truly easy, though the Minor Circuit isn't too hard to get through. The time limit has been brought down to 3 minutes per fight, forcing the action as players lose instantly if the timer reaches 3 minutes, no matter the number of knock downs or the health bars of both boxers.

Graphically the game is far superior to its NES predecessor and its cartoon-ish sprites and animation bring life to the fights as the fighters react far more obviously to each punch. The special meter at the bottom is easy to glance at and it's obvious when players can use their special combo, increasing their chance of successfully using the system. Musically the game features some remixes of songs from Punch-Out!! which are a nice reminder of the series short heritage.

Super Punch-Out!! is superior to the original in most aspects; its gameplay feels better, looks better and has a few more features to help players, but the time limit can be unwelcome at times, with close fights recorded as a loss thanks to there being only a single round. This does have the advantage of making the game feel more arcade-like, as does the scoring system, but it's equally frustrating. Any time put into learning opponent moves is rewarded and progress can be saved once a circuit has been beaten.

Rating: 87/100
Grade: B

Game: Punch-Out!!
Console: Nintendo Wii
Developer: Next Level Games
Release Date: 18th May 2009

Usually when classic franchises are shipped out to third party developers, fans can expect the results to be generally disappointing. While there are some problems with this instalment in the once dormant series, they're mainly with the motion control of the Wii rather than the game itself. Seasoned players will be delighted to find Glass Joe, Von Kaiser and King Hippo waiting for them in the minor circuit of the career mode (though Piston Honda is notably absent, replaced by Disco Kid). For the most part they fight much like their previous versions, though perhaps a little easier overall.

The attacking and defensive options too are very much like those given to players in the first two games; the stamina bar and special move stars make a comeback, and the view is much like that of Super Punch-Out!!. As the game is on the Wii however, two of the three control options involve motion controls; there's the Wiimote and Nunchuk option, a Wiimote, Nunchuk and Balance Board option if you're looking for the optimal amount of excercise, or simply the Wiimote held sideways for a traditional control scheme without motion control.

I opted for the Wiimote and Nunchuk control scheme which worked pretty well, though more than three fights is exhausting, as you're required to thrust the remote forwards for every punch. The difficulty is generally a little easier than the preceding games, while the strategies remain the same, but towards the end of the game things can be just as tough. Graphically the game looks good; nothing truly amazing but it's an update from Super Punch-Out!!'s graphics if nothing else. The music is once again remixes of classic Punch-Out!! tunes and fairly enjoyable.

Overall for a reboot of a classic series on the Wii, Punch-Out!! could have been a lot worse, there's the option not to use motion control which is always appreciated, many nods to the two classic games which came beforehand and a sense of an update on the nostalgia of the series. Although it can be an exhausting experience for those who want to use the motion control, it's a passable reworking of the classic formula.

Rating: 73/100
Grade: C

Game: Ready 2 Rumble Boxing
Console: Sega Dreamcast
Developer: Midway
Release Date: 8th September 1999

Ready 2 Rumble Boxing was released for multiple platforms in 1999; alongside the Dreamcast the game came out for Playstation, Nintendo 64 and the Game Boy Colour. What's interesting about this is that the game was a launch title in the USA and followed soon after in Europe, thus allowing gamers to compare the Playstation, N64 and Dreamcast versions side by side and see the next generation of video gaming for themselves. The Dreamcast version is by far the best, and I'd steer well clear of the Playstation version as it looks ugly and plays horrifically compared to the DC version.

Ready 2 Rumble Boxing features a cast of varied boxing characters with a variety of movesets, catchphrases and taunts, all of whom can be guided through championship and arcade mode to climb the ranks and become the best fighter. Arcade mode features a simple run of 10 fights, from 10th place in the rankings to facing the champion and unlocks fighters if beaten a certain amount of times. Championship mode allows players to take control of 10 of the game's fighters, raise their stats, manage their money and fights in order to make it through Bronze, Silver and Gold classes to claim the championship belt. Controlwise, players can choose from 2 types of high and low punches, assigned to the four buttons of the controller. Dodging is achieved with the L+R triggers, and when a punch lands cleanly enough, players are assigned letters of the word "RUMBLE", until it's spelt out and can be used within the round it's earned to do a near unblockable flurry of punches at their opponent.

Graphically the game looks great on Dreamcast, with some of the best looking modelling of human bodies that had been seen on consoles up until that time. Bruises appear on fighters as they're hit, which is a great bonus feature and there's a wealth of animations and moves for each fighter. The sound is a little average, with grunts and hits sounding somewhat lacklustre, but the taunts and personality of the fighter's dialogue makes up for a lot of this. In contrast to the Dreamcast version, the Playstation version looks less than half as good, with gameplay feeling slow and difficult to control, in contrast.

Overall Ready 2 Rumble Boxing has a great mix of arcade boxing action with huge characters, and actual boxing moves to pull off within the 3D space of the ring. The Championship mode is a nice touch, with control over the chosen boxer's stats and fights, but it's perhaps a little too similar to arcade mode in it's progression, as players will find themselves facing 30 fights to beat Championship mode with a single fighter. Remember to avoid the game on other platforms though, as the Dreamcast version is superior.

Rating: 75/100
Grade: B

Game: Ready 2 Rumble Boxing Round 2
Console: Sega Dreamcast
Developer: Midway
Release Date: 23rd October 2000

Just over a year after the first instalment of the series, Ready 2 Rumble returned with more fighters, celebrity fighters to unlock, an overhauled championship mode and a few other extras. While the core gameplay and concept remain much the same, one nice new addition is tiered RUMBLE attacks. Once the word has been earned once (the maximum in the last game), it can be earned again in red for a stronger flurry attack, or a third time for a silver punch which will knock the opponent out of the ring.

The championship mode is now time based; the next prize fight and title fight have a set date and gym training is free, but must be scheduled on the calendar. Players raise their fighter's stats as normal and attempt to fight for the championship belt from 13th position in the rankings. This is preferable to the bronze, silver and gold classes of the previous game. There are many fighters making their Dreamcast debut in the title, including the previously N64 exclusive J,R Flurry, and these add some imagination to the roster of 23 fighters.

Graphically the game looks great on the Dreamcast and is very similar on the Playstation 2. These two versions are by far the best, and are essentially interchangeable. Fighters have more distinguishing features than in the first game, and those who have been carried over have been given a nice update. The sound still leaves a little to be desired but there's some surprisingly good voice acting, especially considering that Michael Jackson features in the cast.

Overall whilst Ready 2 Rumble Boxing Round 2 brought few significant gameplay improvements to the table, the increased roster and selection of game modes provide more excitement, and the championship mode improvements give a greater sense of progression for those interested in 'completing' the game. As far as arcade boxing games go, you can't do much better for a roster or the amount of action provided by this game.

Rating: 79/100
Grade: B

Game: Ready 2 Rumble Revolution
Console: Nintendo Wii
Developer: 10tacle Studios
Release Date: 17th March 2009

Ready 2 Rumble Revolution was the inevitable Wii cash-in for the series as Midway, the original developers of the game were going bankrupt. Featuring very few characters from the original games, and far less amusing or even impressive replacements, the game almost instantly fails to connect with existing fans of the series. While the game modes remain much the same, there's the option to play the training minigames independently of the Career Mode.

The biggest problem however is that of control; with only the motion controls available to use, and a huge selection of punches and moves to pull off, the technology isn't advanced enough to distinguish between similar movements, leading to player frustration when the wrong move is executed. In addition to this, players are required to keep their hands up in order to defend themselves (which is very tiring), and the experience as a whole is draining, so play sessions tend to last only as long as players can stand.

Graphically the game is less impressive than anything in the series so far for its time of release. The cartoonish figures of the boxers look almost ridiculous, and there's nearly none of the amusing characterisation that was present on the Dreamcast instalments. It's easy to ignore the sounds of the game as the frustration of getting the correct punch to land on screen usually drowns out any in game audio.

Overall Ready 2 Rumble Revolution is an insult to the series, lacking the enjoyable arcade style gameplay of the first two games and replacing it with hit-and-miss controls which overcomplicate the formula. The Wii saw a lot of series revivals and cash-ins on famous games, but this goes down with the worst of those, due to the general lack of effort to make the game anything like its predecessors.

Rating: 42/100
Grade: E

Arcade Collection Review: SNK Arcade Classics Vol. 1 (Part 2)

Now to continue with the SNK arcade goodness; with plenty of enjoyable games in the first part of this review, there's now some more sports titles thrown into the mix alongside the classic SNK fighters and beat 'em ups.

Neo Turf Masters

Game: Neo Turf Masters
Console: Arcade
Developer: SNK
Release Date: 1996

Golf is a difficult genre to make a game from; too technical and no-one will be able to play the game, too easy and those well versed in golf (who are likely your main target market) won't want to touch it. Neo Turf Masters strikes a balance between these two extremes with an easy target aim system, and auto club selection, meaning that players can see where and how hard they're likely to hit the ball. However some of the holes are difficult enough to still give problems to players and it can be very difficult to judge the movement of a putt.

Players begin on the final day of a tournament and must score well enough to move their way up the rankings. At each hole they must judge the best direction in which to hit the ball and then set the strength and timing meters so that the ball lands on the fairway, or green. Putting is a little different and only requires timing, though the aim is much more of a guess than with driving. An arrow indicating the maximum distance the ball could go with the current club would have been a very useful inclusion.

Graphically the game looks great for 1996; though it's not trying any sort of 3D graphics, the 2D effects look far superior as clumsy 3D polygons would have been an insult to an SNK game. The music is funky and almost what you'd expect from this sort of arcade game. The announcer can get a little shrill and tiring at times, but it's bearable.

Overall Neo Turf Masters is the sort of sports arcade game that was nearly spot on, but could have done with being a little easier in places. Since it's an arcade game, the timed shots leave players little time to think about what they're going to do, and it's easy to fall behind on the leaderboards with a few poor shots.

Rating: 68/100
Grade: C

Samurai Shodown

Game: Samurai Shodown
Console: Arcade
Developer: SNK
Release Date: 1993

As I mentioned in the previous part of this review, SNK fighting games are generally very difficult to progress through. This is no problem if you're willing to spend hours practicing, but for those who'd rather have a little fun attempting to outwit some challenging but not over tough AI, there comes a point in the game where continuing would take more practice than it's worth.

Controlwise there are light, medium and heavy slashes and kicks available to players as basic moves as well as various special moves which are pulled off with quarter turn combinations. On the Wii controller it's annoying that there are only 4 viable buttons as heavy slashes and kicks both require awkward combinations of buttons to be pressed. In addition to this, the kicks are rarely particularly damaging or useful so it's best to stick to slashes.

Graphically the game is detailed, interesting and on a par with the other games in the collection; attack animations are varied, as are the character designs and there's action which occurs in the background every now and then, a little like Street Fighter. Musically too the game is on a par with other SNK titles, with fitting but not overly memorable tracks playing behind fights.

Overall Samurai Shodown has a unique selling point in that its fighters are all wielding swords of some sort, but the combat is very similar to many other games and doesn't benefit from the difficulty in progressing through the game. Once players come up against a character they lose to 3 times in a row or more, they're more likely to quit than continue training.

Rating: 55/100
Grade: D

Sengoku

Game: Sengoku
Console: Arcade
Developer: SNK
Release Date: 1991

Sengoku is one of the strangest arcade games I've ever played. Players take on the role of a warrior, attempting to stop the second coming of a powerful warlord who was defeated 400 years ago. Most enemies make reference to Japanese mythology and the game is made unique by the player's ability to transform into a different warrior at any given time until their life bar runs out as that warrior. At random times during the game, players will be transported to another dimension to fight possessed townsfolk.

The action is pretty boring with a just a single attack button, despite the choice of characters to play as. There's various power-ups, though none seem to make the action any more fun, with ranged attacks and weapons simply doing the same job as the regular attack. The random transportations to another dimension are pretty irritating, and overall there's no explanation of anything that's going on.

Graphically the game has interesting colours and enemy designs, though the backgrounds seem to be intentionally vague with strange colours. Despite the clarity of the sprites and decent animations, I'd have preferred for it to be clear what was going on in the game. Musically the game is incredibly weird, with what I can only describe as Japanese folk moaning accompanying the sections in another dimension.

Overall Sengoku is a boring and overly long game with strange elements and themes that just don't seem to work particularly well. There's no investment for players in the quest to vanquish the warlord, switching between characters is temporary and provides no real advantage over enemies, and the random teleportation interrupts the flow of gameplay.

Rating: 44/100
Grade: E

Game: Shock Troopers
Console: Arcade
Developer: Saurus
Release Date: 1997

Shock Troopers is a shooting game in the same style as Metal Slug. Players make their way through a choice of 3 different courses to their objective in the centre, through 6 stages. Within these stages are many enemy soldiers who must be eliminated with the use of guns, power-up weapons or special weapons. The plot is explained through cutscenes after each level and while basic is better than most of the game plots featured in this SNK collection so far.

Gameplaywise there are similarities with Total Carnage, though here movement and aiming direction are one and the same, meaning that at times players must move toward their enemies to shoot at them. The range of guns featured is impressive, and each of the 8 characters have a different special weapon. Some of the bosses can take a huge number of hits to kill, and there's often a lot going on onscreen, but with a generous health bar, health upgrades and unlimited continues it's bearable.

Graphically the game has a cartoon feel to its sprites, with basic but recognisible locations playing host to the combat. In the jungle section there's part of a level which takes place on a motorbike, and another whilst climbing up the side of a structure. These changes of pace are nicely placed so as to give players a break from the relentless combat. Musically the game provides a fitting soundtrack, though there's a lot of noise from the constant shooting and explosions.

Overall Shock Troopers is an enjoyable and fairly replayable experience thanks to its short overall length, choice of paths and characters, and fast active gameplay. While twin stick control would have been nice, the lack of it isn't something that ruins the game, and there's enough power-up weapons and special weapons to explore and cause mayhem with.

Rating: 86/100
Grade: B

Super Sidekicks 3 - The Next Glory

Game: Super Sidekicks 3: The Next Glory
Console: Arcade
Developer: SNK
Release Date: 1995

Super Sidekicks 3: The Next Glory is a football game, where players can choose to play as a wide variety of teams, in many different competitions. With very short games, the emphasis is on creating chances in order to score; most fouls are overlooked with only the most heinous of tackles interrupting play. If the scores are level at the end of a game, the player is given 3 options, a repeat of the game, a sudden death game where the first goal wins or a penalty shootout. If either of the first options are chosen and still result in a draw, they are removed from the choices after the 2nd game, and eventually players would be forced to play penalties.

The controls are simple with buttons for shooting, high and low passing, two types of tackles and swapping players. Play feels very natural and most of the time controlling players and pass directions is intuitive. The only time where play feels a little out of control is in the penalty area of either team, where it's more of a mad scramble to score/defend. Arrows at the edge of the screen to indicate offscreen players would also have been nice, but it's not bad overall.

Graphically the game looks great in the SNK style; there's no attempt at 3D or anything new for the time but the player sprites and effects when goals are scored look very detailed and there's a real sense of quality in the visuals. The menu music featured is fun and upbeat, though games are only accompanied by the sound of the crowd and a few announcements from a commentator.

Overall for 1995 this is a very polished arcade football game; FIFA 95 could have learned from some of the aspects of this game, though the incredibly short game time does somewhat ruin the chance of players actually having enough time to score a goal and win the game. Other than this though, there's a lot to enjoy and it's not particularly difficult, unlike many other SNK games.

Rating: 75/100
Grade: B

Game: The King of Fighters '94
Console: Arcade
Developer: SNK
Release Date: 1994

The King of Fighters '94 combines fighters from The Art of Fighting and Fatal Fury (seen in the last part of this review), and makes teams of three fighters each competing against eachother in various locations around the world to be crowned the king of fighters. The game's unique selling point is that once a fighter has been beaten, the next steps into the ring and so on until all three fighters have lost. The remaining fighter in the ring after one has been beaten gains a health bonus.

The controls are much like other fighting games with heavy and light kicks, an evasive move and a special heavy move as well as quarter turn special moves for ranged attacks. In contrast to The Art of Fighting and Fatal Fury, movement and hitting the opponents seem to be much easier, and the overall difficulty level seems to be far more manageable.

Graphically the game looks great with detailed arenas, fighters, move animations and more. The establishing shot of each arena has a depth effect and really adds to the feel of the fight. The music featured in the game has a high level of energy and makes for a tense atmosphere behind the fights; there's a rock influence to most of the soundtrack, which combines with a slight electronic feel also.

Overall The King of Fighters '94 is by far the best fighting game featured so far on this collection, as the fighting experience is intuitive and enjoyable. Although we now take SNK's high quality visuals for granted, it's important to note that in 1994, there weren't many other games that looked as good as this in both the arcade and home console forms.

Rating: 71/100
Grade: C

Top Hunter

Game: Top Hunter
Console: Arcade
Developer: SNK
Release Date: 1994

Top Hunter is an intriguing Beat 'em Up featuring a quest to save 4 planets from the tyranny of evil rulers before finally defeating their boss. There are 2 stages one each planet before a final boss rush to end the game. Each stage is fairly short, but has 2 planes of play which both the player characters Roddy and Cathy can swap between, as well as most of the enemies featured in the game. This adds an element of strategy as some power-ups, switches and score bonuses require clever plane swapping to collect.

Roddy and Cathy have basic punching moves, throws, jumping attacks and quarterturn special moves as their moveset, with the ability to command a giant robotic body if taken from an enemy in various parts of the game. This variety of moves allows players a choice of attack, and though there's no defensive option, the action is generally fast enough for this not to be an issue. The bosses featured in the game are fairly varied, and only the final boss seems to be a little difficult, in contrast to many of SNK's other titles.

Graphically the game looks beautiful with detailed backgrounds and a good sense of which plane is which in terms of the foreground and mid plane. Characters and enemies have large sprites and are animated well. The overall difficulty level is entirely manageable and players shouldn't struggle to beat the game, especially with unlimited credits. The music is pretty average, and gets a little lost behind all the action, but there's some enjoyable tunes for each section of the game for those who listen out.

Overall Top Hunter is a great arcade game, providing a unique twist on the Beat 'em Up genre with it's dual plane approach, and combining this with great graphics, short but engaging levels and a perfectly matched difficulty level. If I had to recommend a single game from this entire SNK collection, it'd probably be this.

Rating: 86/100
Grade: B

World Heroes

Game: World Heroes
Console: Arcade
Developer: Alpha Denshi
Release Date: 1992

Throughout this SNK collection, medals are available for beating games and completing various tasks. By earning 10 medals from the past 15 games, World Heroes is unlocked for play and completes the 16 games available on the disc. While I'm not a fan of locking away content for players to complete objectives to release, it is at least fairly simple to acquire the necessary number of medals to play this game.

World Heroes is a fighting game featuring fighters from all around the globe in a very similar style to Street Fighter II. So similar in fact that there's even a few lookalikes in the game's cast, and it plays rather similarly too. While many fighting games took their inspiration from Street Fighter II, it's important to have a unique selling point for your fighting game which this unfortunately lacks. The action is clunky and somewhat slow, and each fighter has a couple of moves which are clearly more effective than any of the others, leading to repetitive button mashing rather than true strategy.

Graphically the game looks great; better than Street Fighter II in any of its console releases at least, with many frames of animation for each character and interesting locations in which to battle. The soundtrack is a little lacking, with generic music for this type of game, and the era in which it was released. There are some fun special moves, but nothing mirroring the excitement of fatalities in Mortal Kombat.

Overall World Heroes is an incredibly average fighting game released in the boom after Street Fighter II's impact on the world, and as such it suffers somewhat from trying to copy the successful formula. It's fighters are forgettable and it's really just another fighting game to put on the pile. It's a shame that this was the game which trying to hard to gain medals unlocked, as Metal Slug or something of that sort would have been more of a reward.

Rating: 60/100
Grade: D

So that brings us to the end of the SNK arcade collection, and there's been a wealth of choice for fans of fighting, beat 'em up and sports games. There's no doubt that graphically, SNK's games were impressive and generally fairly difficult to beat, but none of the games featured on the collection were genuinely horrible, and 4 of the 16 games even made it into my arcade top 30.

With a collection of Metal Slug games released on the PSP shortly before the release of this collection, it'd have been silly to put more than a single version of the game on here. There's a good variety of the type of games that players have come to expect from SNK, and it's fairly representative of arcade games in the 90s as a whole.

The extras included with the collection are mainly unlockable, and there's a great deal of art, videos and music to unlock for those who actually check on those sort of features. Overall this is a solid collection of gaming history from a company whose games are pretty difficult to play in their original arcade format without a lot of money and searching for Neo Geo consoles.

Collection Rating: 79/100
Grade: B

Arcade Collection Review: SNK Arcade Classics Vol. 1 (Part 1)

SNK's arcade output is often somewhat forgotten about, with Taito, Namco and Capcom to name a few publishing many giant games of the arcade era. SNK's Arcade Collection on the Wii looks to remedy this by presenting 16 games for the Neo Geo AES. In addition to the games, there are unlockables such as Art, Music and Videos for players to discover more about the games featured on the collection. Although it's name would imply that a second volume was also in the works, the sequel turned out to be Vol. 0, featuring games which predated the Neo Geo AES, and was released only in Japan. I'll be playing the games in alphabetical order, with a summary of what I think of each game individually before rounding up my notes on the collection as a whole.

Art of Fighting

Game: Art of Fighting
Console: Arcade
Developer: SNK
Release Date: 24th September 1992

Art of Fighting is a fairly derivative fighting game which brings little to the table, considering the time of its release. With Street Fighter II in arcades a year prior, even its bonus stages don't feel quite as fresh as they might. The story is your standard fighting game fare, and gets pretty boring at times; you're trying to get information out of various people and apparently none of them feel that non-violence is even an option.

Punches and kicks are the main attacks, with a throw option and some difficult to execute special moves. Most of the time I was trying to execute special moves, nothing would happen but every now and then in regular combat a special move would occur without any effort being put into a button combination. The fighting action felt passable, but not much better or worse than many of the other fighting games of the time.

Graphically the game is very similar to the style of Street Fighter II, with cartoon like sprites and attacks. The characters are huge on screen and give off a sense of being zoomed right into the action. The game's music is tense but not overly memorable, and with the rate of striking and voice clips in the game, it's often buried under other sound effects.

Overall Art of Fighting is a pretty mediocre fighting game which isn't helped by its high difficulty level and linear progression through the fights. Since 6 of the 8 characters are locked at the start of the game, there's also little variety in available fighters. I'm sure SNK fighting game fans will look past the glaring issues with the game, but I just can't.

Rating: 43/100
Grade: E

Baseball Stars 2

Game: Baseball Stars 2
Console: Arcade
Developer: SNK
Release Date: 28th April 1992

Baseball Stars 2 is a sports game featuring one of my least favourite sports to play inside of a videogame. This isn't to say that all baseball games are inherantly flawed, but the slow pace of the 9 inning match coupled with a generally low scoring rate doesn't seem to make for the best video game experience. Unfortunately this is the case with the game also, as though its possible to score home runs, they're few and far between (I managed 2 in 18 innings), and pitching/fielding is literally willing the other team to get out as fast as possible in most cases.

There's an interesting element to the game if players choose to stick with it, with management options, training players up, limited power-up bonuses and a league to win. It'd take a long time to play the full number of matches to win the game overall, though by that time overall mastery of hitting home runs might have been achieved. It's a difficult balance though because hitting constant home runs is boring, but not being able to hit any is frustrating.

Graphically the game looks great, in the classic SNK cartoon style which makes it all the more exasperating that the gameplay could be far better. The animations are smooth and the style is fitting for the arcade experience. The music featured in the game is repetitive but enjoyable enough. There's some commentary of sorts, but it's nothing astounding.

Overall Baseball Stars 2 could have been better in many aspects, but making a video game about baseball is fairly tough. With slightly easier home run hitting, a faster pace of play and exaggerated scores and actions, perhaps it could have been the arcade baseball experience which I feel would suit the game best.

Rating: 45/100
Grade: D

Burning Fight

Game: Burning Fight
Console: Arcade
Developer: SNK
Release Date: 20th May 1991

There are many similarities between Burning Fight and the Streets of Rage series as a whole, as well as many other beat 'em ups of the time. While its difficult to say who had which ideas first, it's fairly clear which game did them better. Burning Fight has 5 stages, each of which has a boss and some of which have mid bosses. At the end of the game there's a boss rush before the final boss, so it's perfectly reasonable to expect to fight the bosses two or three times within a single run of the game.

The enemies too are fairly generic with a few different types of look and attack, but none who require much strategy to mow down. In fact hammering the punch button seems to be the only real mode of defence in the game; players are often ganged up on, and forced to fight three or more enemies at a time, making it almost impossible not to take damage of some sort. The lanes are somewhat iffy and the overall feel is that of frustration and lack of control.

Graphically there's some great destructible scenery and some nice bonus levels where the gameplay is changed up somewhat. The characters look pretty good and the animation is smooth. Musically the game has some interesting parts but overall it's one of the weaker aspects. The levels feel like long slogs of enemies and the difficulty levels leaves players blasting through their credits; despite their infinite nature, it's still a pain to reset every 2 minutes. The game knows how difficult it is, since there's an achievement for beating it in under 30 lives!

Overall Burning Fight seems to play like a poor man's version of Streets of Rage 2; the sprites are big, there's guys on motorbikes, a lift scene, three characters to choose from and a range of moves to pull off, but only punches and sometimes kicks are effective, hitting and beating opponents is clunky and sometimes it's impossible to get a hit in with many of them fighting either side, and the story is literally lifted from the original Streets Of Rage. Not so good.

Rating: 51/100
Grade: D

Fatal Fury

Game: Fatal Fury: King of Fighters
Console: Arcade
Developer: SNK
Release Date: 1991

The games so far on this SNK collection have been fairly difficult; Art of Fighting was a difficult arcade fighting game, as is Fatal Fury: King of Fighters. The action feels better than Art of Fighting by a long way; there's clearly executable special moves, and the movement flows nicely, but in terms of difficulty it's perhaps even worse. After the third fight, things become almost unwinnable with the opponent spamming his special attacks, predicting any incoming blows and generally winning.

After a great deal of trying to beat the fight I gave up, as I assume many on an arcade machine would do. It's fine to have difficult arcade games, or even video games in general, but where people have a choice to give up and move on, 9 out of 10 times, they will instead of trying to perfect their skills against a game which is trying to hide its lack of actual content and grab as many quarters as possible. I'm sure a large amount of practice would yield its rewards, as it doesn't seem like a bad game in many other respects, but there's just no incentive for me to spend a disproportionate amount of time on a single game.

Graphically the game looks great, very much like it was influenced by Street Fighter II. There's some fun locations and special attacks features, and as with all SNK games on the collection the animations are smooth and enjoyable. Musically the game stood out as a little better than the previous few games, but nothing remarkable in the grand scheme of things.

Overall Fatal Fury's fatal flaw is its difficulty, preventing players from getting much further than the start, though the game looked fairly short anyway. I'm aware that many arcade fighting games are pretty difficult, but this game feels unfairly so, and very much more frustrating. Hopefully the SNES version that I own will be better!

Rating: 56/100
Grade: D

King of the Monsters

Game: King of the Monsters
Console: Arcade
Developer: SNK
Release Date: 1st July 1991

King of the Monsters is a fighting game based on the kaiju film genre, of which Godzilla is perhaps the best known example. Players take control of gigantic beasts and settle their differences in several cities across Japan. There are 6 monsters and 12 rounds in total, meaning that players fight each monster twice, including a palette swapped version of themselves. The choice and variety of monsters featured in the game is good and seems to have taken inspiration from many films of the kaiju genre.

The gameplay is good and features many different fighting moves, executed with combinations of the punch/kick/jump/run buttons. The aim of each fight is to drain the opponent's health meter and pin them for a 3 count. Players can collect power orbs to power themselves up, but there appears to be very little effect when doing so. As the rounds progress players do less and less damage with their attacks while enemies gain ever more health, leaving the final rounds as an undeniable slog compared to the first few. It's not so much difficult as repetitive, though continues will be needed to complete the game.

Graphically the game is reminiscent of the Rampage series which had a similar idea though the goal was solely destruction rather than combat. In terms of graphical quality, King of the Monsters is one of the less impressive SNK games, but it was also released earlier than many of the other games on this collection. The music is noticeably action orientated and works well to set the mood for the game.

Overall while there's little replayability, and fighting each monster twice to beat arcade mode isn't ideal, pitting huge monsters against one another in a city setting is always going to create epic battles. The controls are responsive enough for the most part, and it's only later fights which can frustrate players by stacking the deck in the AI's favour.

Rating: 70/100
Grade: C

Last Resort

Game: Last Resort
Console: Arcade
Developer: SNK
Release Date: 1992

Last Resort is a shoot 'em up with various powerups and bosses, without any real originality or storyline. While it looks very nice, the colour chosen for the player's ship and the upgrade spheres that fly around it make it almost impossible to keep track of against the backgrounds and with other enemies moving around, making the game itself far harder than it needs to be.

Players can choose from the ship's regular shots, as well as those of any power-ups they've collected and a charged shot from the upgrade sphere once it's been collected. The charged shot seems particularly hard to aim, as the upgrade sphere moves in the opposite direction that of the direction input on the controller for the main ship, and as such most of the time its best to use the regular shot with any upgrades that have been gained.

Graphically the game has a vivid colour scheme and memorable bosses and backgrounds. It's a shame that the player ship and all allied vessels aren't more clearly marked though as the lack of contrast makes playing the game far harder than in needs to be. Added to this, there are many explosions and small objects flying around which are of no consequence to the game, further confusing the visuals. The music is rock based and fits well with the game, providing a tense feel to the battle.

Overall Last Resort isn't a bad game, but rather one which could have been far more enjoyable with a clearer sight of the player ship, as most of the other aspects are good. If you've got the patience to endure a few silly deaths from losing track of your own position then this is a game worth trying.

Rating: 62/100
Grade: C

Magician Lord

Game: Magician Lord
Console: Arcade
Developer: SNK
Release Date: 1990

Magician Lord is a strange game both in terms of its genre; SNK usually stick to fighters, Beat 'em Ups and sports games, and its content; there are many instances of religious imagery and words. Players take control of a character who can shoot powerful magic from a staff, and transform into different beings with the aid of power-ups. Each level must be explored and the boss room found, before a fight with a mini boss, and then the level boss themselves.

There's some good variation between levels and the scenery and enemies presented are interesting and fairly unique. The controls are simple, allowing players to shoot, jump and move around only. While most bosses require a little strategy to beat, many of the other enemies can simply be defeated with a shot from the staff, or other attack if powered up.

Graphically the game is bright and easy to understand; sometimes enemies are placed in frustrating locations, and some ceiling attacks occur without much warning, but there's not a lot to complain about overall. The music has a fantasy adventure feel and definitely goes well alongside the gameplay, completing the audiovisual experience.

Overall Magician Lord is a fun platform style game, and is only really spoiled by its lack of real variety in bosses and level design. Past a certain point, the game becomes a little monotonous, and it's not likely to hold players attention for the hour or so needed to make a full run through the game. Other than this though, there's a lot to enjoy and for an arcade game of 1990 it's definitely above many of its contemporaries.

Rating: 73/100
Grade: C
 
Metal Slug

Game: Metal Slug
Console: Arcade
Developer: SNK
Release Date: 18th April 1996

Metal Slug is a running and shooting style combat game where the aim is to take out your enemies an survive through six stages whilst freeing hostages, downing planes and destroying tanks. At points in the game you're provided with your own tank (and a boat at one point), which can be useful, and there's plenty of power-ups such as a shotgun, flamethrower and heavy machine gun with which to neutralise enemies with.

In terms of difficulty there's a lot happening onscreen and it can be difficult to keep track of all threats. SNK were also renowned for their difficult arcade games; it took me 32 continues to beat the game, which at 5 lives per continue is around 160 deaths. I could probably have done a little better, but this should illustrate just what a bullet hell players will face, even on normal difficulty level.

Graphically the game looks great, with cartoon style animation and character sprites. It's incredibly smooth and all characters and objects have interesting motions when they are killed. Stylistically this is one of the best games of its kind, as the style doesn't impact at all on the feel of control and destruction that players get from the game. There's some exciting and action orientated music behind the game, though it's mostly obscured by the sound of gunshots.

Overall Metal Slug is a great example of its genre and offers a lot of fun to players who don't mind either learning its ins and outs, or keeping one finger on the continue button. It's perhaps a little difficult to be truly replayable but there's definitely an enjoyment factor. The variety in level design is good, though a few more enemy types might have helped the game to feel like there was more content.

Rating: 85/100
Grade: B

So that's half the games on the collection; you may have noticed the theme of graphically beautiful, but fairly difficult games coming from SNK. With 8 more games in the next part of this review, that's sure to continue, but hopefully the level of playability will remain high as it was with Metal Slug and King of the Monsters.

Game Review: Nights: Journey Of Dreams

Game: Nights: Journey Of Dreams
Console: Nintendo Wii
Developer: Sonic Team
Release Date: 18th January 2008

As the first game in the Nights series for 11 years, Nights: Journey of Dreams had no real obligation to keep the gameplay or ideas of the game particularly similar to Nights Into Dreams. Luckily though, the core concept stayed much the same, with flying being the main focus of most levels, interspersed with sections where Nights takes a different form, or the two main characters must continue onfoot in order to complete the level.

The story follows two kids; Will and Helen, both experiencing worry and transferring it into their dreams, where it manifests in certain ways which influence the world around them. Nights and the two main characters must save Nightopia, the dreamworld in order for things to go right in the children's waking lives. While their stories are played separately, the overall plot intertwines their experiences and features a secret ending, as long as players get a C rank or above on every stage in the game.

The gameplay is unique to the Nights series, as players control a dualized form of Nights, who has merged with one of the main characters. The goal of flying levels is to fly through rings and collect blue orbs, to catch up with another character, or solve a puzzle. There are a few types of recurring levels; chase levels see Nights imprisoned at the start, needing to chase down enemies with keys to set himself free, Octopaw levels have combo goals where flying through an amount of rings is necessary to pass the level. Usually there's a level which involves saving Nightopians from danger, and there's also some levels where Nights must transform, or the kids must progress on foot.

The problem is that in the game's 4 worlds, each level appears once, with two forms of its boss fight. Over the course of the two stories this means that each type of level is played 8 times at least, which can get pretty repetitive, especially with the similarity between the two children's stories, and the fact that the game repeats its tutorial levels and explanations for things already unlocked in the other character's dream.

Graphically the game looks very nice in its cutscenes, and nearly as good in its gameplay. The characters might look a little strangely designed, but the world has some nice details, and is impressive for a Wii title. The music featured is good at times, but didn't impress me as much as any Sonic soundtrack or other Sonic Team creation.

Overall Nights: Journey of Dreams is definitely a fun game initially, avoiding excessive use of motion controls as long as you have a nunchuk or Gamecube controller handy, but depending on how quickly you tire of its repetition, concept, or slight design flaws, it may be a shortlived sense of enjoyment.

Rating: 62/100
Grade: C

Game Review: Need For Speed Nitro

Game: Need for Speed: Nitro
Console: Nintendo Wii
Developer: EA
Release Date: 6th November 2009

A Nintendo exclusive Need for Speed game was always going to mean a couple of things. Firstly on the Wii, there was the inevitable inclusion of motion control, no HD graphics and probable cartoon style and kiddification of the series. Luckily the Gamecube or classic controller can be used with the game, negating the awful effects of having to use motion controls in a racing game, but the other issues still manage to hold the game back.

The main career mode features sets of races in 5 different locations, where players must perform well to earn stars for finishing 1st, lap times and style points. The more stars earned, the more things unlock, so they're needed past a certain point for progression. There are 3 cups in career mode, Bronze, Silver and Gold, and these refer to the 3 featured classes of car; A, B and C. Players start with class C cars, and as usual in Need For Speed, they're hardly race cars at all, with the Volkswagen Type 2 being one of the starting options.

Players can earn nitrous whilst racing by drifting, catching air or doing anything really; it's not difficult. At the start of races there's a minigame of sorts which allows players to perform a nitrous start by revving correctly. Driving whilst under the effects of a nitro boost is difficult if there are any turns at all, and the courses on the whole are pretty badly designed, some with hidden obstacles that are blocked from sight which players are almost certain to hit on their first time around a course.

The career mode is pretty short, and there's little incentive to progress through the cups or unlock all of the cars, despite there being a few nice ones available. The driving overall isn't great, but is bearable and possibly better than I thought it was going to be. I didn't attempt the game with motion control because it'd have inevitably made it worse. The police featured in the game are fairly aggressive and can at times unfairly hinder players.

Graphically the game is a little better than I had expected although obviously not in HD. The cars are fairly accurate cartoon-style representations of themselves and the motion blur effect can get pretty annoying after a while. The songs featured in the game range from 'down with the kids' style rap music to some whiny rock stuff, but mostly it's unenjoyable. The AI featured rubberband increasingly hard as the game continues, which is also a bit disappointing but perhaps expected from a Need For Speed title.

Overall it's definitely not the worst thing that could have been produced, but I wonder whether it really needed the Need For Speed series to be associated with it, as it lacks much of the street racing vibe given off by other titles. Due to the cynical cash in on the series name, people's expectations of the game were likely raised (or lowered, like mine) and this means that either way people won't get the true experience of the game as a singular entity.

Rating:
Grade: D