Fatal Fury Wild Ambition

Description

10 charactersReview Due to the ease of compatibility of its hardware (the hardware's cartridge format made game swapping a breeze), SNK has long been entrenched as the arcade kings of bowling alleys, Laundromats, and roadside diners. SNK has made a substantial name for itself with its 2D Neo Geo games. Because these games are much cheaper to produce and distribute than their competition, and they fit into the same convenient cabinet, you could go to the most remote regions of the country and still expect to find a Samurai Shodown, King of Fighters, or Fatal Fury game hidden somewhere in the town. Conversely, you would be hard-pressed to find even the smallest minority of gamers with a Neo Geo cartridge, CD, or CDZ system in their homes, due to the cost, limited amount of games, and extremely limited supply. As a result, SNK has made a habit of porting its games to "competing" consoles like the Saturn and PlayStation. While the Saturn has had the benefit of the better ports, due to RAM cartridge enhancements, the PlayStation has suffered from hacked-up conversions (due to lack of RAM mainly) that could not hope to duplicate arcade quality. When SNK announced its Hyper Neo Geo 64 arcade hardware, fighting fans across the globe drooled in anticipation of all those great SNK fighting games (among others) making the leap into full 3D. Unfortunately, the first fruit of that effort, Samurai Spirits 64, was not what you would call an unmitigated success. The gameplay was slow, the graphics looked no more spectacular than your average PlayStation game, and it suffered from severe slowdown. Lost in the fray were some well-designed characters. Part 2 corrected much of these problems, but not enough to turn the world on its ear. No wonder SNK decided to keep the King of Fighters franchise in 2D for the foreseeable future. SNK's second attempt to transform a 2D franchise into a 3D powerhouse, however, came with the arrival of Fatal Fury: Wild Ambition. Opening the game is a good and lengthy CG-rendered introduction that reveals the origin of Terry Bogard's hate for the Fatal Fury boss-man, Geese Howard. After the intro fades, the joy momentarily grinds to a halt as you load up a fighting game packed to the gills with irony. The gameplay in Wild Ambition is actually as responsive as you might expect from an SNK title. While the animation might seem choppier than its 2D counterparts, and the response times feel different, the control is actually very good. For the first time you can battle with Fatal Fury favorites Terry, Andy, Mai Shiranui, Joe Higashi, Billy Kane and the rest of the FF crew in full 3D. Even Duck King and Mr. Karate appear as hidden characters. While the game is in 2D, primarily, Wild Ambition does make concessions to the 3D environment. Unlike Fatal Fury's past, the option to sidestep into the foreground and background is handled differently here. Defaulted to the triangle button is a "shift" command that lets your character roll into or out of the background, allowing players to dodge attacks. While nothing revolutionary, this actually can be effective and isn't some useless add-on like it was in Koei's Dynasty Warriors. In the matter of offense, there is plenty to use in the course of pummeling your opponent. The key to your success in Wild Ambition is watching your heat gauge. With each successful attack your heat gauge rises. When the gauge is full you can unleash a heat blow, which does a bit more damage than the usual attacks. If you successfully land the heat blow, your opponent will be momentarily stunned, giving you an opportunity to tack on a couple extra smacks. You may also execute a "super special skill" or an overdrive attack, which are even more powerful than the heat blows. Should your heat gauge reduce to zero because of too many hits received, your character will become stunned. Also added are air recoveries and easier counterattacks. It's a good thing the gameplay is competent because the graphics are a huge let

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UPC Number: 01848471001

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