Introduction Sengoku 3 was developed by Noise Factory and published by SNK, released for arcades in 2001 as a return to the Sengoku series after a lengthy gap since Sengoku 2, blending side-scrolling beat ’em up combat with time-travel transformations tied to feudal Japanese mythology. Players fight through waves of enemies with combos and special…
Introduction The Last Blade 2 was developed and published by SNK, released for arcades in 1998 as a refined sequel to The Last Blade, continuing the series’ Bakumatsu-era sword-fighting setting with an expanded roster and smoother animation. Players choose between two fighting styles for each character, Speed for faster, more mobile combat or Power for…
Introduction Samurai Shodown II was developed and published by SNK, released for arcades in 1994 as the sequel to the original Samurai Shodown, refining the series’ weapon-based fighting system with faster movement and a deeper cast of feudal-Japan-inspired warriors. Building on the first game’s emphasis on longer-range weapon strikes and a Rage gauge that unlocks…
Introduction Shock Troopers was developed by Saurus and published by SNK, released for arcades in 1997 as a top-down run-and-gun in the vein of classic overhead shooters, letting up to three players choose from eight mercenary characters with different stats and weapon behavior. Missions branch across multiple possible paths through each stage, meaning a full…
Introduction Waku Waku 7 was developed by Sunsoft, released for the Neo Geo MVS arcade system on November 21, 1996, as a deliberately lighthearted, comedic fighting game built around a cast of seven eccentric main characters rather than a numbered sequel to an earlier title, despite what its name might suggest. Its roster includes a…
Introduction Kizuna Encounter: Super Tag Battle, released in Japan as Fu’un Super Tag Battle, was developed and published by SNK, released for the Neo Geo MVS arcade system on September 20, 1996, as a weapon-based tag-team fighting game. Players select a team of two fighters and can freely swap between them mid-match by tagging in…
Introduction Real Bout Fatal Fury 2: The Newcomers was developed and published by SNK, released for the Neo Geo MVS arcade system in March 1998 as the direct sequel to the previous year’s Real Bout Fatal Fury Special. True to its subtitle, the game introduced several brand-new characters to the series for the first time…
Introduction Real Bout Fatal Fury Special was developed and published by SNK, released for the Neo Geo MVS arcade system on January 28, 1997, as an expanded update to the previous year’s Real Bout Fatal Fury, following the same pattern SNK had used for earlier “Special” revisions of its other fighting series. The game brought…
Introduction Real Bout Fatal Fury was developed and published by SNK, released for the Neo Geo MVS arcade system on December 21, 1995, as a significant course correction from the plane-switching mechanics introduced in Fatal Fury 3. The game replaced that system’s foreground-and-background lanes with a single fighting plane bordered by ring-out edges, letting players…
Introduction Fatal Fury 3: Road to the Final Victory was developed and published by SNK, released for the Neo Geo MVS arcade system on March 27, 1995, as the third mainline entry in the Fatal Fury series. The game introduced a redesigned two-plane fighting system that gave players more freedom to weave between the foreground…
Introduction Garou: Mark of the Wolves was developed and published by SNK, released for the Neo Geo MVS arcade system in 1999 as a spiritual successor to the long-running Fatal Fury series, set roughly a decade after the events of Fatal Fury 3 with an almost entirely new cast of playable fighters. The game introduced…
Introduction The Last Blade, released in Japan as Bakumatsu Roman: Gekka no Kenshi, was developed and published by SNK, released for the Neo Geo MVS arcade system on December 5, 1997, as a weapon-based fighting game set during Japan’s Bakumatsu period, the turbulent final years of the Edo shogunate. Players choose from a roster of…