Art of Fighting 3
(LAST UPDATE: 8/20/08)

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General: The third, and last installment to the AOF series, brings back and highlights all of the aspects and features that made AOF stand out since it's debut. Character sprites are bigger then ever, and now move with very fluid animation, even during the fight (for once). AOF3 definitely wins the title of "the biggest AND most fluid 2D character animation" in any game... Still to this day. Although "big" doesn't necessarily mean better. Capcom later showed us this with SFIII... Definitely "one-upping" AOF3's animation.

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   Still, the game's visuals are something to behold. The new high-res backgrounds look excellent, and the scrolling effect used in the first two games is back and also looks smoother. The gameplay was tweaked with brand new combo system, which is the best gameplay to come from the series thus far. Combos and such work well, and although many of the moves look great, I noticed some of the "hit effects" actually don't make much sense. For example, Robert's spinning backfist actually "launches." That's a technique that should simply knock down or stagger your opponent, not send them flying 10 feet into the air... 

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   Disappointing to some, including myself, the only two returning AOF characters are (you guessed it) Ryo and Robert, as they are joined by an all new cast of colorful characters, which are supposed to "take the place" of some of the classics; but definitely don't have the awe or lasting appeal as the originals. This is probably the biggest downside of AOF3, and the cast has a rather "lonely" feeling. Where's Yuri? Is she dead? Where's Takuma... Hell, it would be great to even see Jack, the drunk from AOF1. And what about finally bringing back Todoh? *sniffle*

   AOF3 seems to be concentrated more on good animations and new characters, and it would appear that SNK "ran out of room" on the good ol' Neo Geo cartridge from all of that data. Perhaps they simply didn't have any room for any more characters... And the one's that were stuck with have much to be desired. I truly think this game would have been better had more classic AOF characters returned... Or maybe if they threw in a KOF character or two!

Manufacturer: SNK
Platforms: Neo Geo
Release: 1996
Characters: Ryo, Robert, Rody, Kasumi, Wang, Lenny, Karman, Jin Fuha, Sinclair, Wyler
Related Games: Art of Fighting, Art of Fighting 2
 
Gameplay Engine
6.5 / 10
Story / Theme
6 / 10
Overall Graphics
7.5 / 10
Animation
7.5 / 10
Music / Sound Effects
8 / 10
Innovation / Creativity
7.5 / 10
Customization / Options
 4 / 10
Intro / Presentation
8.5 / 10
Replayability / Fun
 6 / 10
"Ouch" Factor
6 / 10
Characters
4.5 / 10
Overall Score
7.5 / 10

Closing Comment: A step in the right direction for the series... Somewhat. For fans of the series, that clunky feeling gameplay is still evident, at least one trait that has been loyal to the series. But for some reason I'd still prefer going back to AOF or AOF2 for the characters alone, even if the gameplay engine is older and... slllooowwweeer. ~F.Yagami, Webmaster of TFG