Game Card
Art of Fighting Anthology (PS2)
- Publisher:
- SNK Playmore
- Developer:
- SNK Playmore
- US Release:
- 08.02.2008
- EU Release:
- n/a
- Number of players:
- n/a
- Type:
- Beat-'Em-Up
- Extra:
- Streets
Review
We play Art of Fighting Anthology...
In the early nineties,
the fighting game genre was rising to new heights, with the charge led
by Capcom’s Street Fighter II. In the aftermath of the aforementioned
title, many companies released fighting games of their own in an effort
to emulate Capcom’s success. Some of these games were absolute tosh,
but a handful stood out on their own. SNK in particular had a good run
of fighting games on its Neo Geo hardware, producing titles such as
Fatal Fury, Samurai Shodown and Art of Fighting. There’s been a bit of
a trend in recent times of releasing compilations of such titles
(though it is declining with the advent of digital distribution), the
latest of which is Art of Fighting Anthology for the PlayStation 2.
Given that past arcade compilation titles have had considerable amounts of extras, it’s only fair that one can start to expect that sort of treatment for each one that hits store shelves. Unfortunately, Art of Fighting Anthology is completely barren – not a single morsel of extra content in sight, merely selectable difficulties and arranged soundtracks for each game. On the other hand, the cost of the compilation is slightly over a tenner on the high street – roughly the same as what you’d pay for a similar game on Live Arcade or Virtual Console. In all honesty, it would have been a lot nicer had there been some sort of extra features on the disc, regardless of the cheap price.
The Art of Fighting story slots into the Fatal Fury continuity, roughly 20 years before the Bogards take on Geese Howard. It’s interesting to note that while the characters do appear in the King of Fighters series at roughly the same ages/appearances they do in Art of Fighting despite being with the Bogards and such, the King of Fighters series is treated by SNK as being in its own continuity. The series follows the exploits of two characters; Ryo Sakazaki, the son of the Kyokugen Karate founder Takuma Sakazaki, and Robert Garcia, the wayward son of a billionaire family from Italy. Together they train at the Kyokugen Karate Dojo.
The first game deals with the kidnapping of Ryo’s sister Yuki by the gangster Mr. Big. Big’s goons had kidnapped the girl in order to entice Takuma into working for him after Ryo had refused a similar offer. The story mode only allows players to take control of either Ryo or Robert – disappointing at the time given the wide array of characters available in similar fighting games. This in combination with the game’s wretched translation, stiff animation and limited move set make the first in the series seem very archaic. That said, the quality of the art in Art of Fighting was actually pretty impressive at the time; the character’s appearance during and at the end of a fight would actually reflect how much damage he/she had taken – something that was not seen in many games at that time.
Art of Fighting attempted to differentiate itself from the competition back in 1992 by offering innovation over solid gameplay. The game features a particularly cool sprite scaling technique which will pan the camera out when the fighters get too far away from each other. Measures were also taken to prevent the abuse of special moves by equipping each fighter with a spirit bar, which would be depleted when too many special moves were utilized, or when a fighter was taunted. In spite of these innovations at the time, Art of Fighting felt really clunky when compared to Street Fighter, and even SNK’s other fighting games – and the same rings true today. Emulation in the first game is of a reasonably good quality – the graphics and sound come across intact, and you can even choose between the original and arranged version of the soundtracks.
Art of Fighting 2 sticks pretty close to the formula established by the original game. The story takes place a year after the original, with a young Geese Howard (the boss from Fatal Fury) calling various fighters to the city for a new tournament called The King of Fighters. Art of Fighting 2 features an expanded roster and replaces the spirit gauge with a rage meter, and adds a sort of desperation boost when your player falls below 25% health. Otherwise the game is pretty much the same as the original, with slightly upgraded sprites and a different soundtrack. That means it suffers from largely the same problems such as stiff animation, poor translation and a limited moves set. Art of Fighting 2 also features the most difficult AI to ever grace a fighting game – players will have to make use of cheap exploits in order to see their way through to the end.
Art of Fighting 3: The Path of the Warrior is sort of like a lost entry in the series. It came out in 1996, when most folks were moving on to 3D fighters and the arcades were falling into their steepest decline. It also never saw a port to a home console. It’s a real shame, because Art of Fighting 3 is by far and away the best game in the series – almost making this compilation worth a purchase on its own. Art of Fighting 3 focuses mostly on Robert and his quest to find a young girl named Freia, who has been kidnapped by a man named Wyler to force her father into creating a drug that will have a sort of Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde effect on its users. Outside of Robert and Ryo, Art of Fighting 3 features an entirely new cast of fighters, including many which went on to become King of Fighters favourites.
The third game does away with many of the features established in the first two Art of Fighting titles, instead opting for a focus on combo strings and juggling attacks. The game also employs a low-mid-high attack system not unlike that which you’d expect to see in a 3D fighter, yet the game is still very much ingrained in its 2D roots. While the fighting system has a stiff learning curve, it is far more interesting to play and watch matches due to this added depth, especially when one considers just how smooth the game’s animation is and how detailed the sprites are. Art of Fighting 3 is easily one of the most detailed 2D fighters around. The soundtrack also impresses with a nice mix of jazz, salsa, blues and rock tracks in its arranged soundtrack. Once again, the emulation is extremely tight with no noticeable glitches or differences from the MVS version.
Art of Fighting Anthology is a tough sell largely due to the lack of bonus content on the disc and the fact that two of the three games on the collection are not particularly good. On the other hand, the collection is cheap, and Art of Fighting 3 is one of the best 2D fighters we’ve played – and the only other way you can find it is by shelling out hundreds for a copy of the original MVS or AES cart. 2D fighter fans and the retro obsessive should be easily pleased with the collection, but everyone else should probably keep their distance.
Top game moment: Watching the glorious smooth animation of Art of Fighting 3 in action, knowing it ran on exactly the same hardware as the original game.
Given that past arcade compilation titles have had considerable amounts of extras, it’s only fair that one can start to expect that sort of treatment for each one that hits store shelves. Unfortunately, Art of Fighting Anthology is completely barren – not a single morsel of extra content in sight, merely selectable difficulties and arranged soundtracks for each game. On the other hand, the cost of the compilation is slightly over a tenner on the high street – roughly the same as what you’d pay for a similar game on Live Arcade or Virtual Console. In all honesty, it would have been a lot nicer had there been some sort of extra features on the disc, regardless of the cheap price.
 |
 |
|
| There’s your standard early 90’s fire ball attack |
Test your might! |
The Art of Fighting story slots into the Fatal Fury continuity, roughly 20 years before the Bogards take on Geese Howard. It’s interesting to note that while the characters do appear in the King of Fighters series at roughly the same ages/appearances they do in Art of Fighting despite being with the Bogards and such, the King of Fighters series is treated by SNK as being in its own continuity. The series follows the exploits of two characters; Ryo Sakazaki, the son of the Kyokugen Karate founder Takuma Sakazaki, and Robert Garcia, the wayward son of a billionaire family from Italy. Together they train at the Kyokugen Karate Dojo.
The first game deals with the kidnapping of Ryo’s sister Yuki by the gangster Mr. Big. Big’s goons had kidnapped the girl in order to entice Takuma into working for him after Ryo had refused a similar offer. The story mode only allows players to take control of either Ryo or Robert – disappointing at the time given the wide array of characters available in similar fighting games. This in combination with the game’s wretched translation, stiff animation and limited move set make the first in the series seem very archaic. That said, the quality of the art in Art of Fighting was actually pretty impressive at the time; the character’s appearance during and at the end of a fight would actually reflect how much damage he/she had taken – something that was not seen in many games at that time.
Art of Fighting attempted to differentiate itself from the competition back in 1992 by offering innovation over solid gameplay. The game features a particularly cool sprite scaling technique which will pan the camera out when the fighters get too far away from each other. Measures were also taken to prevent the abuse of special moves by equipping each fighter with a spirit bar, which would be depleted when too many special moves were utilized, or when a fighter was taunted. In spite of these innovations at the time, Art of Fighting felt really clunky when compared to Street Fighter, and even SNK’s other fighting games – and the same rings true today. Emulation in the first game is of a reasonably good quality – the graphics and sound come across intact, and you can even choose between the original and arranged version of the soundtracks.
 |
 |
|
| Did we ever figure out whether King was a guy or a girl? |
New characters ahoy! |
Art of Fighting 2 sticks pretty close to the formula established by the original game. The story takes place a year after the original, with a young Geese Howard (the boss from Fatal Fury) calling various fighters to the city for a new tournament called The King of Fighters. Art of Fighting 2 features an expanded roster and replaces the spirit gauge with a rage meter, and adds a sort of desperation boost when your player falls below 25% health. Otherwise the game is pretty much the same as the original, with slightly upgraded sprites and a different soundtrack. That means it suffers from largely the same problems such as stiff animation, poor translation and a limited moves set. Art of Fighting 2 also features the most difficult AI to ever grace a fighting game – players will have to make use of cheap exploits in order to see their way through to the end.
Art of Fighting 3: The Path of the Warrior is sort of like a lost entry in the series. It came out in 1996, when most folks were moving on to 3D fighters and the arcades were falling into their steepest decline. It also never saw a port to a home console. It’s a real shame, because Art of Fighting 3 is by far and away the best game in the series – almost making this compilation worth a purchase on its own. Art of Fighting 3 focuses mostly on Robert and his quest to find a young girl named Freia, who has been kidnapped by a man named Wyler to force her father into creating a drug that will have a sort of Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde effect on its users. Outside of Robert and Ryo, Art of Fighting 3 features an entirely new cast of fighters, including many which went on to become King of Fighters favourites.
The third game does away with many of the features established in the first two Art of Fighting titles, instead opting for a focus on combo strings and juggling attacks. The game also employs a low-mid-high attack system not unlike that which you’d expect to see in a 3D fighter, yet the game is still very much ingrained in its 2D roots. While the fighting system has a stiff learning curve, it is far more interesting to play and watch matches due to this added depth, especially when one considers just how smooth the game’s animation is and how detailed the sprites are. Art of Fighting 3 is easily one of the most detailed 2D fighters around. The soundtrack also impresses with a nice mix of jazz, salsa, blues and rock tracks in its arranged soundtrack. Once again, the emulation is extremely tight with no noticeable glitches or differences from the MVS version.
 |
 |
|
| The third game is in a league of its own |
Jin always felt better when fighting together with Tonic |
Art of Fighting Anthology is a tough sell largely due to the lack of bonus content on the disc and the fact that two of the three games on the collection are not particularly good. On the other hand, the collection is cheap, and Art of Fighting 3 is one of the best 2D fighters we’ve played – and the only other way you can find it is by shelling out hundreds for a copy of the original MVS or AES cart. 2D fighter fans and the retro obsessive should be easily pleased with the collection, but everyone else should probably keep their distance.
Top game moment: Watching the glorious smooth animation of Art of Fighting 3 in action, knowing it ran on exactly the same hardware as the original game.
