(LAST UPDATE: 6/23/09)
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Developer(s): SNK
Publisher(s): SNK
Platform(s): Neo Geo, Neo Geo CD, Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis, PC, Wii
Virtual Console, PS2 (Art of Fighting Anthology)
Release: September 24th 1992 (Arcade), October 8th 2007 (Wii Virtual
Console)
Characters:
Ryo,
Robert,
Todo,
Jack,
Lee,
King,
Mickey,
John,
Mr.
Big, Mr. Karate
Related Games:
Art
of Fighting 2, Art of Fighting 3, Street
Fighter 2
Review: Art
of Fighting was well known to be SNK's "answer" to Capcom's smash
hit arcade game, Street Fighter 2. Art of
Fighting offered a similar style of gameplay to SF2, but introduced a new
graphical "scrolling" effect where characters got smaller as they
backed up (which was undoubtedly cool at the time). 
While not nearly as popular as the headline 2D fighter that was SF2, AOF
did manage to ride the coattails of Capcom's success, managing to attract a
small, yet dedicated fan base to the SNK world over time. AOF was indeed one of
the games that launched SNK into the world of fighting games, and also
introduced some characters that eventually became "icons" in the
fighting game world.
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Only two characters (Ryo and Robert) are selectable in the regular arcade / story mode, but in the 2 player VS mode, all 10 are selectable. The character sprites are colorful and big, especially when compared to those from SF2. Although they're "beefier" than the Street Fighter 2 character sprites, they're also a bit more stiff; not only in animation but in actual gameplay as well. This was probably the biggest complaint about AOF, especially from fans of SF2, because this feeling of stiffness really contrasted the smooth gameplay that 2D fighting gamers were getting over in Capcom's side of the arcade... And for that reason alone, many fighting game players neglected this title.
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However, the overall
"look" of the game was definitely very impressive for the time.
Character's faces actually become bruised as the fight progresses, and
backgrounds are large, colorful, and moody... Not to mention the catchy BGMs.
And the most notable aspect of visuals, as characters moved further away from
each other, the screen would "scroll back" giving the player a bigger
view of the arena and making characters smaller. This became one of SNK's
graphical trademarks, as it was used in later games like Samurai
Shodown. Hit effects and fireballs were also memorable in this game,
even though many of them were clearly direct rip-offs of SF2's effects. 
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Overall though, it was an
attractive arcade game for the time, especially when considering what was out in
1992. AOF had a decent story, interesting characters, catchy music, cool super
moves, and clever bonus rounds... All which made this one stand out in the crowded
1992 arcades. It was a worthy arcade game, and unfortunately the home ports
really didn't live up to the arcade version. The SNES and Genesis versions
featured much smaller 2D sprites were much smaller, and lacked a handful of
animations. The scrolling effect also didn't translate over very well.
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- Review is for Arcade version of Art of Fighting - |
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7.5 / 10 |
Closing Comment: Like
many "arcade rats" of 1992, I was a big fan of Street Fighter 2... Art of Fighting
was a great alternative fighting game to play if an arcade didn't have SF2. Many
people might look back at AOF and think it's a pretty lousy game, but for an
arcade 2D fighting game in 1992; this was top stuff... Some of the best
2D sprites around at the time.
I did
get pretty good at the game as a young player and enjoyed
mopping up the "competition" only to get back to where I was in the story mode
(only to lose to the retardedly-tough last boss... stupid Mr. Big!
>.<) Even though I was just
a kid back then, I still knew that SF2 was a much better fighting game in terms
of gameplay, but I liked AOF for it's characters and moody setting.
~F.Yagami,
Webmaster
of TFG