Poverty FGs of recent memory

Weird, underrated or outright KUSOGE. These are a random assortment of old-ass fighters played on the digital slums. Lot of these shites I haven't finished their arcade modes and very few I played with actual people. Not ashamed in admitting I don't remember shit from a game. Also the definition of "POVERTY" is pretty loose in this context so bare with me.

Think of KOF 94 gameplay with sprites that use the same rotoscoping animation method of KOF13 and splash it with a sepia tone. Sadly unfinished and unreleased but what I played of it was pretty solid. More importantly, it has style™.
Probably my first foray into the poverty fg landscape (unknowingly of course). This applies to the AoF series as a whole cuz those have really weird mechanics that would not fly by nowadays cept Desperation Moves. And AOF3 somehow gets more unconventional not only for 2d fighters, but to the weird series it's attached to. More details in my review for it.
This one is weird in a cool way. It plays like a fighter but has more "realistic" sports rules via points system. That is until the final boss in its arcade mode. Game controls pretty well so my complaints really come from the sound. Not the music, the hit sounds.
Pure, unbalanced, poverty garbage despite being attached to the most famous fighting franchise out there. This slam master of a game was developed by someone whose mind is unclouded by hate.
Take what I said about Taekwon-do but not as cool. Something about the game's rules feel kind of wack and not well thought out. Don't get me started on how special moves work that borderline feel like how Street Fighter 1 does them.
So, taiwanese company IGS has heard of Street Fighter 3 basically. It definitely has quite the unique presentation and characters. A game where characters have 12 drastically different flavors of kung fu? Cool. Sadly the gameplay itself is not THAT special, but eh. Solid is solid.
I expected a shitty MK ripoff when I got dragged into playing it. Balance is all over the place but shit's hype to play.
A bit stiff but its a cool game of your life also being your special meter cuz DBZ(?) I don't know. Something about it I just can't bring myself to call it shitty.
A DBZ game selling poorly? What parallel universe is this?? This is arguably the first fighting game I played period so nostalgia may cloud my judgement... Fuck you it doesn't. It's a way less annoying version of DBFZ. I also did a review which I may have bloated with nerd vomit.
Probably the second shittiest game I played on this list so far. But god damn, this game is fucking stupid. Its like shovelware Super Butoden.
Cute and Funny the game.
A weird little game and oddly speedy. Cool animations and corny voice work of course. Sadly, all characters(?) play the same but eh. These games tend to be the most balanced I guess ;)
A full on karate sim that almost crosses the line in being a arcade game. I swear, I keep seeing cancels. This kyokushin brawler sadly is in japanese and possibly stuck there forever.
Remember Jin from MVC1? Yeeeeeeeeeeeeah. There were quite a few mech fighters back then. Weird how a pilot can pretty much choose any mech which actually play different.
I don't remember much from this. I know it plays poorly but the presentation is funny.
Probably the franchise that put the most effort in its story modes at the time with multiple endings 'n shit. The combat itself is fun, but to appeal to the casuals, they expanded on the team attack mechanics. They pretty much wanted there to be two specific players where one player can take advantage (and risks with meter) with team attacks and the other mastering the MVC-like combat from the first Rival Schools.
A pretty good sequel nobody played. Didn't even know there was a sequel til a few years ago. Not the best game ever, but I would call it severely underrated still. More on its gameplay in my review.
It has Style™. Gameplay is alright I guess. Compared to its Am2 cousins (VF, FV and StF), LB doesn't have much to set it apart other than the fact you can cancel literally every attack with the Guard button which the others only had for specific attacks. Other than that, its VF with weapons. It feels good to play (til the cheap AI hits, oh!) but this one, there's no way you can play online cept parsec. Probably the rarest Sega fighter out there.
Could've been decent if the barrier system wasn't a thing. Sonic could literally mash them all away so you don't get to block.
Strictly talking about the Genesis version which is the first VF ported to Steam. I guess it plays kind of (but not really) like the real thing. It is a version.
This series might as well be poverty outside of Japan. Final Tuned is VF4's final update in terms of balance and everybody's got some new moves. Arguably the best of the 4 series in terms of gameplay. Lot of these are detailed in my VF4 reviews. Cept my final tuned review which is a meme review. I mean, look at Tekken 4 Paul here. So my real ranking is around the same as 4EVO's.
A poverty alumni that scratches the line of being a pretty cool and fun game. Unbalanced as fuck, but everyone from what I played feels fun. Its not super weird in terms of gameplay, just unknown.
Another poverty alumni which I can see what everyone can see in it, I couldn't really dig it its gameplay. Something about it feels off to me.
The 3rd Strike of the Poverty FGC
This is probably the worst game I played on here. It barely functions, but at least I won some player matches :)
I don't remember much of anything from this other than it looking nice and the final boss being unbearably cheap.
Similar case to its predecessor. Only played the arcade mode.
The Power Instinct series in general has pretty cool presentation. The gameplay improved with each entry and characters get very cool but mostly corny & wacky™. Its like Street Fighter's classmate that tries to act retarded. Matrimelee is possibly the peak in what I like to call the Garou Era of Fighting Games. Power Instinct Legends was pretty fun too.
The series might as well be dead at this point so this must've flown over everyone's head. The fact it was based off of the movie didn't do it much favors either. But I think it's decent to play. It plays weird for sure, but there is a reward for getting invested in it.
This represents the more boring types of bad fighters.
Literally an unofficial sequel to the Neo-Geo Double Dragon fighter. Actually puts the Double into play as its a tag fighter in the Garou Era (make it real) of neo geo fighters. Its got some solid gameplay and a weird rush combo thing that's pretty strict. I said Garou Era but it was released in 2002 which is real fucking late so no wonder it flopped.
We know the characters but not the games. The gameplay I feel embodied that Capcom Fighter planted by Super Turbo and Xmen vs SF.
Only real reason I put this above EX1 and EX3 is because of its custom combo junk. The EX series has a lot of cool ideas and executes them pretty well I think. Sadly, they felt kind of stiff to play especially in EX1. EX2 is a pretty good sequel and great music too. I always liked some of the newcomers in these game. I wonder if they would get their own game ;D
An unofficial Street Fighter EX3. For some reason, that stiffness I felt from the EX SFs is completely absent here. Its just as, if not more crazy with its Super Cancel Combo bullshit it advertises in its intro. Looks great for an arcade game of the time. My biggest problem is that since its a 3D game, side stepping is a bit awkward in terms of inputs.
I remember this being a weird mutation of Fatal Fury's line system in a way. Can't say I remember much, but I think it looks nice.
Why does its sequel have a different name? We got a not-so unique tag sequel of Savage Reign. You got specific 'tag zones' on each player's side. Can't say I remember much from this either in terms of how the game feels.
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I don't remember much at all other than the big boobed cat lady.
Capcom Fighting Jam but good.
A decent but nonetheless weird VF clone mechanically. Curious how a lot of these moves these characters perform would make it to VF4. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
I would not blame you for calling this a Jet Set Radio fighting game. Plays VERY Marvel VS-like. It also has some pretty cool looking characters and a weird DDR super move mechanic which I feel everyone have trouble completing fully.
Not as jank I was led to believe. But definitely looks like shit. Music is good.
An actual fighting game rpg. Passwords to save your progress and all that junk. Single player was cool. The VS roster is pretty disappointing buuuuuuut the 4 characters are pretty different from each other. Looks pretty too.
Good SFII clone. Interesting environment related mechanics and 5 strengths of punch & kick is.... something.
Fuck the AI jesus christ.
If there was a reliable way to play this online, THIS would be the 3rd Strike of Poverty Fighting Games.

2 Comments


1 year ago

" not as jank i was led to believe " are the truest words i've read all year !!!! (^0^)7

1 year ago

Didn't read and I agree 100%


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