Fighting

Introduction X-Men: Children of the Atom launched on Capcom’s CP System II board in Japan on 8 December 1994, reaching the rest of Asia weeks later and North America during 1995. It was the first fighting game Capcom built around licensed Marvel characters, and the ambition shows in every frame: sprites far larger than those…

Introduction Art of Fighting 3: The Path of the Warrior was developed and published by SNK, released for arcades in 1996 as the third and final entry in the original Art of Fighting trilogy, serving as a prequel exploring Ryo Sakazaki’s father Takuma and the martial arts school’s earlier history. It overhauled the series’ presentation…

Introduction The King of Fighters 2003 was developed and published by SNK Playmore, released for arcades in 2003 as a significant structural overhaul of the series, replacing the traditional fixed three-character teams with a rotating tag system where any of three selected fighters could be swapped in in real time during a match. This tag…

Introduction Crossed Swords was developed by Alpha Denshi and published by SNK, released for arcades in 1991 as a first-person perspective sword-fighting game, an unusual viewpoint choice that put players directly in a knight’s boots rather than viewing combat from the side as most fighting games of the era did. Players guide a young prince…

Introduction The King of Fighters ’96 was developed and published by SNK, released for arcades in 1996 as the third entry in the annual King of Fighters series, continuing its three-on-three team tournament format pulling characters from across SNK’s other fighting franchises. It introduced a reworked dodge system and a faster, more aggressive movement style…

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 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…