This fighting game began the story of the Sakazaki family and Robert Garcia. Yuri Sakazaki has been abducted by Mr. Big to punish her father, Takuma, and her brother, Ryo. To rescue her, Ryo and Robert must take on numerous enemies around South Town, eventually reaching the mysterious Mr. Karate. The passion of the game’s creators is evident in the unique game play elements introduced. These include an energy gauge that is depleted every time a fighter uses a special maneuver, Desperation Attacks that are usable only when a fighter’s health is low, and camera zooming that adjusts on the fly as fighters move around the stage. All these features ensure that players use strategy and tactics, rather than simply mash buttons. Adding to the mix are little touches such as characters showing cuts when they are injured and voice-over samples during cut scenes. Can you perfect the art of fighting and save Yuri?
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The music is decent, the graphics are good looking, the movement is much better Fatal Fury's, and I like how the story is framed as a kung-fu action movie with cutscenes thrown in the mix. I just feel like the gameplay holds AoF back.
This is probably a me problem, but I don't like how sluggish the special moves feel. A Hien Shippuu Kyaku or a Haoh Shoukou Ken takes eons to come out, so don't go using them willy-nilly. Then there's the meter mechanic, the Spirit Gauge. I feel that it's a hindrance.
Not only do you need it to perform special moves which drain a lot of it, but it's difficult to get it charged high enough with the AI being so neurotic. They'll be constantly taunting you to shrink the gauge or outright intercept you, while they constantly charge theirs up. It feels like this picture. Mr. Big is especially guilty of this. Penis-headed bitch. But I'll give SNK some credit, the Spirit Gauge adds another layer of strategy to the game, which did keep things interesting.
I respect this game as one of SNK's legacy titles, but it's not something I'd like to revisit.
Art of Fighting introduced supers/super meters, and taunts. The 2D sprites were ahead of its time, however, the most important part, the gameplay, was still quite clunky. Also, the characters weren't as interesting as other fighting games at the time which held the game back a lot.