The Retrospective 06.14.07: Art of Fighting (Ryuko No Ken)
Posted by Sean McCabe on 06.14.2007
If fighting is art, then I’m its Vincent Van Gogh...
Well, things have been quiet so far. Frankly I'm in trouble though. If I'm to keep the flow of new games up in my household, I need a job, stat. Shame that the local economy around here is falling faster than Sony's credibility at E3 2006. As such, I doubt there'll be many more reviews from me in the near future.
The Introspective
Oh well. I spent the last of my dwindling funds on Manhunt, to see if it actually is any good or not. And currently the answer is, meh. So I just hope it picks up like so many have told me, because right now, I'm regretting buying it.
Also this week, the Church of England responded to the discovery of a near photo-realistic rendering of Manchester Cathedral in Resistance: Fall of Man by first claiming the game is more violent than anything else on the market, assuming that a cathedral would never, ever be fought in, in a land invasion situation of the UK because it's "holy", and demanded donations from Sony… very generous donations. Whilst I think it would be nice of Sony to make those donations of their own volition, this is tantamount to blackmail. The simple fact is that the Cathedral is a public place and it's religious status no more protects it from being featured in a game than say, Nelson's Column or Mount Rushmore. Nor is any of this going to degrade the notion that a Church is a sanctuary from Violence. After all, no holy place has ever been bombed in a war…
Yeah, that was sarcasm.
Stella Deus: The Gate of Eternity
Now this is a nice little curio from RPG stalwarts Atlus. I consider their games to be a nice antidote to the more popular games of Squeenix, and in this case, also to the Disgaea games. Stella Deus is a turn based strategy game that is not afraid to take itself quite seriously, offers some of that nice character design associated with the Shin Megami Tensei and Persona games, and a nice gameplay system that is unashamedly simply yet tough to excel at. Definitely a game to look into if you like obscure Japanese RPGs.
VG Babe of the Week: Reiko Hinamoto
She's the star of Konami's Rumble Roses, employs a nasty high impact Puro style, and does a 450 splash in reverse. Amiable talents for sure.
The Breakdown
Art of Fighting/Ryuko No Ken
Developer: SNK
Format: Neo Geo/SNES/Genesis
Release: 1992
Notes: Art of Fighting was actually developed by the co creator of Streetfighter 2, Hiroshi Matsumoto
Art of Fighting, or "Fist of the Dragon and the Tiger" As it's Japanese title translates to is SNK's second major fighting game series, and the other half of the combination which resulted in the dynasty of King of Fighters. It also takes place in the same universe as Fatal Fury, albeit ten times prior, a continuity that was ignored in the King of Fighters storylines. The story is about the kidnapping of the darling of the Kyokougenryu Karate school, Yuri Sakazaki, and the efforts of her brother Ryo, and his friend, Robert Garcia, to locate her and rescue her from crime boss Mr. Big. Much like Fatal Fury, the story mode adopted a "You only get to play as the main protagonists" approach. Eventually, Ryo discovers that the whole thing was a ruse to lure out his father, the legendary Mr Karate, Takuma Sakazaki. Ryo earns Yuri's safety by defeating Mr Big, and then the right to be Takuma's successor by defeating him.
For the time, Art of Fighting offered exception graphics in the arcades, and a scaling system that allowed for the players to face each other across a battlefield with no limit other than the outer boundaries. A spirit gauge, which limited the use of special moves and thus giving them a more tactical edge, was introduced in this game. I've actually played all the ports of this game, and the Genesis and SNES version left much to be desired. It is however a pretty decent game on the Neo Geo, and an important piece of SNK's history.
In Retrospect: The first game in the Art of Fighting trilogy proved itself a tidy distraction, if being one of many games caught in the long shadow cast by Streetfighter 2 at the time.
Art of Fighting 2/Ryuko No Ken 2
Developer: SNK
Format: Neo Geo/SNES
Release: 1994
Notes: Art of Fighting 2 offers heavy allusion to its direct continuity to Fatal Fury, by featuring a younger version of a very familiar boss…
One of the notable things about AoF 2 is the introduction of Yuri Sakazaki as a playable character. With that, much of the AoF roster that would become regulars in King of Fighters had been introduced, Ryo, Robert, Takuma, King and Yuri. This game also introduced a rival for Ryo in Eiji Kisaragi, a ninja who fights with a style that directly opposes Kyokougenryu, and he would also turn up in a few KoF games. As for Art of Fighting 2 itself, it was improved in the usual ways over it's predecessor, still had the same faults, mainly being somewhat slow, and the SNES port again wasn't all that great, but the story introduced was very interesting, because it documents the first King of Fighters tournament ever held in the SNK universe chronologically (if you ignore the KoF continuity anyway) and it would be called by none other than the corrupt police commissioner of Southtown… Geese Howard. Not only that, but in playing as Takuma, it is revealed that an old friend of his was murdered by Geese, a Jeff Bogard. So certainly, if nothing else, AoF 2 offered some interesting connections with Fatal Fury and some interesting new characters to play as.
In Retrospect: I actually enjoy this game, it's a pretty solid improvement over it's predecessor. Still, in the grand scheme of things, Art of Fighting would only really come to matter as being a part of creating King of Fighters more than by it's own qualities, which were, like so many games, inferior to Streetfighter 2. Damn I feel good that SNK did eventually start pumping out games that were actually better than Capcom's games, if only to show that if you keep trying, you can do anything.
Art of Fighting 3: Path of the Warrior/ Ryuko No Ken Gaiden
Developer: SNK
Format: Neo Geo
Release: 1996
Notes: Art of Fighting 3 transposed the action from Southtown to Mexico, and focuses more on Robert Garcia's battles than the Sakazaki clan.
Art of Fighting 3 was like Garou and Streetfighter 3, released later, an attempt to create a new generation of fighters within itself. As such the only returning characters for this iteration were Ryo and Robert. The only other character in the game that would ultimately have much impact was Kasumi Todoh, daughter of Ryuhaku Todoh, a character from the first two games, and rival to the Kyokougenryu school of Karate. All the other characters introduced were mostly unmemorable and constituted the games biggest fault. It was actually a leap above 2 in terms of quality of gameplay, and the graphics were excellent for the time, but the characters, and the story, which revolved around a friend of Robert's being kidnapped involving some kind of scientific experiment was pretty unspectacular, especially considering how interesting Art of Fighting 2 was in that department.
In Retrospect: A fun game, but generally forgotten thanks to a rare moment of weak SNK character design. Kasumi was a great character though, and as a result, pops up in King of Fighters regularly.
Okay, well next week the SNK Season continues with a period Weapons fighter set in Feudal Japan, and to date one of their most critically lauded series, Samurai Spirits, or as they are known in the west, Samurai Showdown. Keep things in perspective, and I'll be back next week with more fighter goodness.
