When it comes to developing a video game, whether being a new property or part of an already existing IP, there are many different places that ideas and inspiration can come from. The developer(s) could make the game from an original idea that they have that they hope will become a mainstay within peoples’ minds and/or the industry. It could be a concept that has already been done before, but the developer(s) wanna try to shake up that concept in some way to create something familiar, yet new at the same time. Or maybe, in the most common case, there is a popular trend that is going around in the industry at the time, and the developer(s) wanna jump on that bandwagon and take complete advantage of it, even if it means completely copying from the product that started this trend. This has been done SO MANY times in the industry, even all the way up to nowadays, and in the case of today’s game, we have a game that tries to do exactly that, but manages to punch itself in the face: World Heroes.

What we have here is yet another fighting game to come from the early 90s trying to capitalize on the popularity of Street Fighter II, this time being developed by the dead company ADK, while also being published by SNK, adding this series to their catalog of fighting series. Although, based on what I have experienced with this game, I’m not sure why they would have wanted to associate themselves with this game. While I wouldn’t say that the game is bad, it really isn’t that good at all, being one of the most “it’s there” fighting games that I have ever played, not really leaving any kind of impact, and just coming off as being extremely mediocre. Not to mention, it is also blatantly uses a lot of elements from other fighters, such as character designs, motives, abilities, and layouts for the game, making it less desirable as a result.

The story is at least somewhat original, with this scientist taking many different figures from all across time to fight it out to see who is the strongest of them all, which is creative, so I will give the game credit for that, the graphics are good, having the look and feel that fighting games of the era usually have, even if it isn’t really that original, the music is pretty good, having some nice tracks to listen to while you beat the shit out of Rasputin, but some of the tracks definitely sound better then others, the controls are pretty much what you would expect from a fighter at this point, but it does lack one button in comparison to other SNK fighters, which does suck, and the gameplay is typical for a fighter of that era, but it does add several elements that other fighters at the time didn’t have.

The game is your typical 2D fighter, where you take control of one of eight fighters based on people from all throughout history, take on many opponents from all around the world, throw plenty of punches, kicks, and special moves onto your opponents to take them down, and climb your way up to becoming the greatest World Hero of them all. So yeah, it is your usual fighting game affair, but again, much like other fighters, there are plenty of elements that make it feel somewhat unique, such as, again, the characters, with some being cyborgs with extending limbs, as well as Jeanne D’Arc, who wields a sword, where most other fighters at the time didn’t carry weapons, so that is neat to see.

In addition to this, for several characters in this game, they have specific abilities that other characters don’t have, such as with Hanzo and Fuuma, who can both double jump, and then there is Rasputin, who can shoot projectiles while they are in the air. While it doesn’t seem like much, using these abilities can be pretty fun to do, but at the same time, it does make these characters somewhat overpowered when compared to the others. Alongside this, this game also has two modes, those being Normal Game and Death Match. Normal Game plays pretty much exactly as you would expect, like your typical fighting mode, but with Death Match, it places you and your opponent inside of a ring with plenty of hazards that you have to avoid while leading your opponent to hit them. It isn’t really too different from standard mode, but if you wanted a change of pace, it is nice to have.

However, neither of these things save this game from its multiple problems, such as the biggest one it has: it is blatantly copying from multiple fighting games. For the most part, it is taking from Street Fighter II, not just in terms of the style, layout, and progression of fights, but also by straight up copying characters, like with Hanzo and Fuuma just being copies of Ryu and Ken, to the point where they are basically just copies of each other. Not only that, but the final boss of the game, Gee Gus, is basically just Shang Tsung, given how his main gimmick is just morphing into all of the other fighters in the game. Now, granted, there were plenty of other fighters at the time that did take heavy inspiration from these games, but at least they didn’t just blatantly steal these elements and characters to use (or at least, the ones I have played so far haven’t). Aside from that though, the other problem that this game has is that it is actually pretty damn easy. Sure, it could be hard if you aren’t prepared, but I played through the entire first round in about 20 minutes, not losing a single match to any of the opponents. This may not sound like that much of a big deal, but I played this game on the same difficulty setting that I used with every other fighting game I played on this website so far, and I did not have any trouble whatsoever, which says a lot. Or maybe I am just too good at this point. At least, I’d like to believe that.

Overall, despite having some unique features that other fighters didn’t have at the time, World Heroes is just another mediocre product that doesn’t deserve any of your time, being a blatant copy of plenty of other fighters while not providing the challenge that is needed so that people will be urged to come back over and over again. I guess I could recommend it for those who are fans of fighting games to check it out, but don’t be surprised if you are disappointed by what you get here. So, to end off this review, here’s a fun fact: the character Brocken was actually originally supposed to be Adolf Hitler, straight up, but they decided to change him into an original character to avoid controversy. Not gonna lie, I kinda wish they stuck with Hitler himself instead. It would’ve made the game way more entertaining, getting to beat up Hitler over and over and over again.

EDIT: It has come to my attention that Mortal Kombat came out a month after this game did, which means that Mortal Kombat technically stole from this... ah, who cares, nobody remembers this game anyway.

Game #350

World Heroes is an another snes fighter game that tries to be Street Fighter very hard, and fails at it miserably.

Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat really set the path for the fighting genre when they became popular. Your game was either an international tournament between fighters similarly to Street Fighter, or an edgy fighter with really "cool" characters like Mortal Kombat.

World Heroes got some charm with characters like Rasputin, but the main thing, the fights are horrendous. Everything feels like it is underwater, and the movement is so slow, that you cannot enjoy the fights.

Simply put, World Heroes does not want you to enjoy the game it tries to be.