Fighting Road (1988) Famicom

Fighting Road

Fighting Road

Fighting Road

Toei's 1988 entry in the genre, "Fighting Road", is a moderately enjoyable, though extremely difficult fighter. Each button performs an attack and pressing Up makes the character jump. There is even the standard leg sweep move that trips the opponent. Movesets are very small, and, this being a relatively modern fighter, it seems like it would benefit greatly if they were larger. The game does have blocking, which is executed by holding back as a opponent's attack is coming in. Unfortunately, the game lacks multi-player mode. My major complaint with Fighting Road is that certain moves are difficult to figure out the exact commands for. It has a spinning jump kick (A & B at the same time I believe) that doesn't seem to work with any regularity. It also has a jump kick which seems to happen occasionally after tapping kick at about the same time as a forward jump, or tapping up twice followed by kick. There is a uppercut, which I believe is executed by tapping down, up, punch. There is a meter in the middle of your health meter and your opponent's that builds and then starts flashing. I have no clue what that does. To win a match against the computer they must be defeated twice. Your health meter will not be replenished after the first knockout. If you are knocked out it ends the game. The audio is not very good and graphics are gaudy as hell with terrible character designs. In all fairness, though, the aesthetic is unique and makes the game stand out among the countless other fighters. The animations are decent, as there seems to be more frames of animation than in most early fighters. The game was planned to be released in the US for NES though was canceled before it was released.

Fighting Road Fighting Road

Ka Ge Ki - Arcade / Genesis (1988)

Ka Ge Ki (Arcade)

Ka Ge Ki (Arcade)

Ka Ge Ki (Arcade)

Taito's "Ka Ge Ki" is a not-so-hot fighter that merits a nod because it is more well known than most early fighters. It plays pretty much like a less crappy Pit Fighter, although here the characters look like weird punching puppet dolls. There is a light attack button and a strong attack button. Pressing both attacks at the same time executes a duck for avoiding attacks. The simple move set makes for simple gameplay as the player has to time their dodges precisely and then get in a few hits between the enemy's attacks. After an opponent is knocked down, a goofy looking ref will count them out and then a character from the background will hurl their ass down a manhole. Despite repetitive gameplay, Ka Ge Ki is relatively fast paced and it does provide a fair challenge, which are it's best gameplay elements. While it isn't very good, maybe even horrible, it is the best Pit-Fighter style fighter. It has horrible music and is ugly as hell, but I actually find it graphic design interesting and initially hoped it would be better than it actually was. The Genesis port was retitled "Ka Ge Ki - Fists of Steel". It is the same as the arcade game except there are easily defeated enemies to be fought before each boss.

Ka Ge Ki (Genesis) Ka Ge Ki (Genesis)

Track & Field 2 Arcade / NES (1988)

Track & Field 2

Track & Field 2

Track & Field 2

This is a multi-event sports game, but it has a fencing game and a tae kwan do game that each play like fighters. The fencing game is like a faster version of Great Swordsman, but height of attacks is controlled with the directional pad. The second button will execute a block. This is a pretty good game, but not as good as Great Swordsman. The best thing about it is that, as opposed to GS, this game allows simultaneous two player competition. The tae kwan do game is mediocre. It plays sort of like a vastly inferior version of Human Entertainment's fighter Tae Kwan Do. There is a health bar, pressing up executes a jump, and the two buttons are for punching and kicking. It is repetitive, the controls are fairly awkward, hit detection isn't very good, and it seems like it would have benefited from larger movesets. Despite these complaints, it's still playable. It's not a bad game, but also not a very good one.

Track & Field 2

Double Dragon - NES (1988)

Double Dragon (NES)

Double Dragon (NES)

Double Dragon (NES)

After Double Dragon's 1987 release in arcades, it was ported, in modified form, to the NES in 1988. This version lacked the option of playing the beat-em-up with two players at the same time, and in a attempt to make up for this a two player fighter mode was made available exclusively for this version. After choosing Mode B at the title screen you are given six characters from the game to choose from. Strangely, you can only fight mirror matches, regardless of how many people are playing. There is no jumping, and your character specific movesets are small (A punches, B kicks, A & B jumpkicks - Abobo lacks a jumpkick), but they are adequite. If you play as Will, Rowper, or Chin in two player mode, there will be a weapon on the ground that you can pick up and fight with (Knife, billy club, or nunchuks, respectively - A or A & B at the same time to perform weapon attacks - you can't kick while you have a weapon). It's very important to note that tapping forward or back twice while execute a running maneuver, making it the first fighter to include that technique. Gameplay wise, this is definitely a great innovation, however it isn't well executed. Computer opponents have more health than your and it's disappointing that you can't pit different characters against each other. Control responsiveness, game physics, and the general feel of the game are exactly like the beat-em-up mode. You can even move toward and away from the screen like in a beat-em-up. As it is essentially just a two character version of the beat-em-up mode, there really is no reason to play this mode other than for the simultaneous two player option. However, it is definitely worth playing as a curiosity, if only to see a Double Dragon fighter from 1988.

Double Dragon (NES) Double Dragon (NES)

Hissatsu Doujou Yaburi - Famicom (1989)

Hissatsu Doujou Yaburi

Hissatsu Doujou Yaburi

Hissatsu Doujou Yaburi

Ever wish there was a Fighter/RPG hybrid? Well, this is it. Hissatsu Doujou Yaburi was developed by Sigma and released for the Famicom in 1989. It is a very repetitive game, but it is definitely interesting. Keep in mind, I'm not literate in Japanese so I have no clue what's going on in this game. The game starts after you choose any of the three characters. Since this game is an RPG as well as fighter, the game starts off in a village. Attacking is impossible outside of battle mode so these town portions are much like those of any traditional RPG. There are shops, places to save, places to heal, and someone to talk to. If you venture outside of the village you will see enemies inhabiting the environment. Approaching them will initiate a battle mode. During the battle mode, the game plays like a fighter. There is a kick, a punch, down ducks and up jumps. Pressing down while in the air will cause your character to fall back to the ground faster. This jump-then-hit-down-and-kick-before-landing strategy is a good tactic to use against shorter opponents as they are difficult to hit. It is also possible to execute Mortal Kombat style hop kicks against most opponents. While walking through the villages, you will regularly come across rather large buildings where tournaments take place. You will fight a few characters in each tournament and then fight a boss at the end. These tournaments can get rather difficult with the amount of characters you have to fight. Therein lies the biggest problem with the game: its difficulty. Save points aren't plentiful enough given the repetitive nature of the game. The fights are generally easy enough but health isn't restored after a fight. Since you regularly have to replenish your health, the game requires way too much back tracking to healers. In fact, you'll probably be doing it after every other fight. Certain fights, especially bosses, can get more difficult. It's impossible to control your characters as well as computer opponents. While certain opponents will require two knock downs to be defeated, the playable character is finished after his life meter is depleted only once. There really is not much to say about the game. The fights are all the same though they are moderately enjoyable. There is no blocking and really no strategy, other than the afore mentioned jumping tricks. The presentation is nice enough though it is forgettable. Despite these negative points I actually like this game. There really are no gameplay innovations here other than it being an RPG/fighter hybrid, but it is an enjoyable game.

Hissatsu Doujou Yaburi Hissatsu Doujou Yaburi Hissatsu Doujou Yaburi