Story:
Last Bronx
is set in a alternate version of post-Japanese bubble Tokyo, where crime and
gang warfare is rampant.
Talk about a big
forehead... geeeeez man.
Review:
Last
Bronx, known as Tokyo Bangaichi in Japan, is a 3D fighter
developed by Sega-AM3 on the Sega Model 2 arcade board. Last Bronx was
actually one of the first 3D fighting games to use motion captured animation
(the other was Soul Edge).
Hammer VS stick... Okay!
Last Bronx
uses the same 3-button system used in the Virtua Fighter series,
a punch button, kick button, and guard button. Characters can also using
rolling moves, throws, and attack cancels (by hitting guard while attacking).
Certain button combinations are also used for specials, combinations, and
even taunts. The stages are set in closed areas of Tokyo City, without
any ring outs. However, fighters can jump on the barriers, which can result
in a ring out.
Doesn't look like he's
going to land very softly.
Overall, the
gameplay isn't as deep the other 3D fighters from Sega, Virtua Fighter
2andFighting Vipers. While
there are some decent combos and fun elements about the gameplay, it pales
in comparison to many fighting games out at the time in terms of fun and
actual gameplay. Looking back at it, it seems like an early attempt to
do what Soul Calibur did for the fighting
game genre when it launched.
The animation of Last Bronx was decent
for the time, but clearly had some awkward rough edges; notably some characters' default
stances and certain
priority moves. To seasoned fighting game players in 1996, Last Bronx
most likely felt and looked a bit clunky. There are some cool looking throws and combos,
and something is just kinda "cool" about this game... not really
sure what it is though.
Last Updated:
7/13/2010
Developer(s):
Sega-AM3
Publisher(s):
Sega
Platform(s):
Arcade,
Sega Saturn, Playstation 2, Windows
Release Date(s):
1996 (Arcade),
1997 (Saturn), 1998 (Windows), 2006 (in Sega Ages 2500 Series Vol.24,
PS2)
Last
Bronx was an early 3D weapon based fighting game, and was an honest attempt.
Thus, I'm sure there are quite a few fans of this game out there, and I can
understand why. Some of the characters were pretty cool designs, but unfortunately never
lived up to their potential.
There were also some interesting/innovative weapon
fighting styles introduced as well, even though the roster was a bit lonely... I
mostly played the arcade
version back when it first released in 1996. Neither
the characters or gameplay really held my interest at the time... I wasn't
really impressed, but a put quite a few tokens in. ~F.Yagami,
Webmaster
of TFG
