SNK Fighting Essentials?

[Mr Needlemouse]

Like many Saturn owners, I'm a bit of a Capcom fighting fanboy. However, I fancy branching out into a different stable of 2D fighters. I was wondering what people's opinions are of the different SNK fighters available for the Saturn. I've a modded Saturn, so importing isn't a problem, but I'd like to start with the PAL games for the sake of building my collection.

Thanks in advance. :-)

[sych]

Well I can only speak of the SNK ones I own which are ace. So far I'd recommend.

Real Bout Fatal Fury Special
Samurai Showdown 4: A'S Revenge
King Of Fighters 97'
Waku Waku 7 (Although not sure if that is by SNK)

Also you MAY like Astra Superstars by Sunsoft. I have it. Its an okay game but don't expect too much from it if your used to the technicalities and gameplay of Capcom fighters.

[superdeadite]

Jan 6, 2010 12:32:58 GMT sych said:

Well I can only speak of the SNK ones I own which are ace. So far I'd recommend.

Real Bout Fatal Fury Special
Samurai Showdown 4: A'S Revenge
King Of Fighters 97'
Waku Waku 7 (Although not sure if that is by SNK)

Also you MAY like Astra Superstars by Sunsoft. I have it. Its an okay game but don't expect too much from it if your used to the technicalities and gameplay of Capcom fighters.

Well he asked for PAL releases. In which case Kof'95 is probably the best, though I haven't played the PAL version myself.

Astra Superstars is an ST-V game. Nothing to do with SNK nor the Neogeo at all.

Honestly though I can't recommend any of the SNK/NeoGeo Saturn fighters. Galaxy Fight is the only one that's perfect, and GF kinda sucks as a game.....

All of the rest have issues from missing frames to slowdown. This was acceptable during their time of release, but there really isn't any reason to play the Saturn ports today. Either play them on real NeoGeo hardware, or emulate them.

[Mr Needlemouse]

It looks like only KoF '95 was released in PAL land. So that narrows it down. What's the difference in the systems and play-style between Fatal Fury, and Samurai Showdown from KoF? Which Saturn KoF, including the ones available on import, are the best?

Cheers for the help. I know virtually nothing about SNK's fighting games (despite owning a Neo Geo Pocket Colour).

[superdeadite]

The Samurai Shodown games on Saturn aren't good ports. Seriously you'd be cheating yourself playing either of them. Though if you are just comparing SamSho3 and SamSho4 on Saturn, 4 is generally seen as the better game.

Fatal Fury is a weird series. Just about every game in the series is different. Real Bout FF Special is my favorite that you'll find on Saturn. But again, the Saturn port is kinda of a let down.

For the KoF's 95,96,97 are all on Saturn. Personally I like 96 the best because the music is amazing. Though 97 has a bigger cast. In regards to port quality 95 is the closest to the arcade as it uses an actual ROM Cart which stores data.

Gameplay wise? Well Fatal Fury games are all over the place. FF3 has a "3 lines of fighting" system. RBFF has ringouts. RBFFS is a remake of the old FFS. Really they all play differently.

SamSho's are weapon fighters. 3 has very short matches (you usually lose in 3 solid hits), and it's a very intense game between experienced players. 4 is a lot easier to get into, but it's lasting appeal is lacking, mainly because of a much shorter movelist, and a really bizarre dial-a-combo system that feels very tacked on. So 3 is for the hardcore, 4 is more for the casuals.

KoF is team fighting (3vs3) with characters from other SNK games (Fatal Fury, Art of Fighting, Ikari, Psycho Soldier, etc) Every KoF has something a little different, most are worth playing. Though some of them are quite broken.

[Yart]

Also, Waku Waku 7 must be played on the Neo Geo. Don't get the Saturn port. Seriously.

Huge framerate issues, missing frames, and the backgrounds are scaled down to like 25%... which makes them look worse than an old Sierra quest game like Police or Space Quest... 1.

And of course, the game is available in English on the Neo Geo. The dialog is funny and enjoyable. It's one of the few fighting games that I get attached to the characters.

[mrvengeance]

Jan 6, 2010 17:48:54 GMT Mr Needlemouse said:

It looks like only KoF '95 was released in PAL land. So that narrows it down. What's the difference in the systems and play-style between Fatal Fury, and Samurai Showdown from KoF? Which Saturn KoF, including the ones available on import, are the best?

Cheers for the help. I know virtually nothing about SNK's fighting games (despite owning a Neo Geo Pocket Colour).

Kof games aren't all that combo-tastic unlike many other fighters. The games have a "heavier" feel than Capcom's efforts, they are generally a bit nore grittier in appearance than Capcom's games too. Very satisfying to play with great feedback in terms of sound effects and visuals and the moves connect. There are similarities to Capcom's fighters in terms of controls and super moves. Very deep games too. I think the best ones in the series are '95, 2000, 2002, 2003 and XI. NeoWave is excellent too. The only ones on the Saturn are '95, '96 and '97. Pick of those is '95 I reckon, though that is entirely subjective - you can't go wrong with any of them. I would suggest though playing on the AES or MVS though if at all possible....

Fatal Fury games are less serious than the Kofs - a lot more potential for combos, particularly the Real Bout sub series. Big bright colourful graphics, loads of super moves and excellent characterisation.

Samurai Shodown? Not a huge fan myself, prefer the Last Blades, but they aren't on the Saturn unfortunately.....