 |
Review: Fatal Fury Special [Super Nintendo] |
What can I say. I’m a completist. If I start a collection I like to finish it. This applies to my collection of video games as well, as it keeps expanding, much to the pleading cries of my thin, anorexic wallet. But alas, whilst in the throes of passion (and what passion!) I found a little game, ignored by other consumers and collectors alike, there for my taking. Much like a botched kidnapping, I hastily purchased Fatal Fury Special to add to my Super Nintendo’s library.
Surprisingly, the familiar Dolby Surround Sound logo graces this game’s menu background, as if the little mono television my SNES is hooked up to actually gave a rat’s ass. I was about to connect my SNES to my trusty flatscreen Toshiba for the purposes of this review, when I remembered that none of you would want to do that once this review is over. Very much less pay for the bloody cartridge.
Now, by not setting up my SNES to the better TV, I wasn’t missing out on much. I sometimes forget how badly these games age, and it makes me bitter for admitting it. But in all honesty, this game still stands somewhat erect in comparison to others. What you get in Fatal Fury Special are typical 3 layered backgrounds, with the stock on-lookers rooting on the match. It’s however an impressive effort, since the backdrops are colorful, with personality leaping off the screen. Kim Kaphwan’s stage for example, features his wife and kids in the background, with the Korean flag soaring high. The backgrounds also change from round to round, but ultimately it’s nothing to get excited and jump around about.
The characters themselves feature decent animation, meaning you get the gist of their movements, but what bothers me here is definitely the characters, and their role in the game itself. Now children, try and act interested, because this is where I tear the game’s fighting engine apart and blow it all to hell.
First off, the game’s gimmick consists of moving between two lanes, either the upper lane or lower lane. Attacks can be made while jumping from one lane to another, but this is a feature that feels gimmicky, for lack of a better word. It’s all too easy to keep abusing the switching or use of a special attack that forces the opponent into the opposite lane. It sometimes degenerates into a cat and mouse chase, where everyone is whizzing about the place, forgetting they’re supposed to hit each other to make the madness end. The blocking adds insult to injury here, because it’s for the most part easier to break than other games. Still, blocking projectiles can done if you’re patient enough with the loose controls in this title. It should be noted as well, that the matches are very short due to the amount of damage absorbed by each blow, it’s not adjustable unfortunately.
The game features the staples of a fighter, the one player mode, the versus mode and the countdown challenge which consists of you beating as many opponents as you can within 3 minutes. It doesn’t matter what difficulty you’ve set it to, because even the lame characters such as Duck King give you a hard time. The AI in this game – or lack of it – is of the typical hellspawned kind. You get your ass kicked and there’s nothing you can do about it, so pucker up and take it like man.
The deranged, constipated yelling in the game can be called voice samples, but I just call it crap. A few of the musical tracks however, prove somewhat interesting and bearable.
It was made as an upgrade of sorts for Fatal Fury 2, so I won’t blame them for this lame concoction, its apparent that it was for cashing in the FF name. But once the true sequel rolled around, the Fatal Fury name was once again aflame with the ol’ SNK spirit.
