"Capitalism breeds innovation" is such a damning lie that it has effectively become a meme in the early 2020s, but it remains true in the past as well. Despite what any pro capitalist will tell you, companies want to make money fast and cheap because business school's don't know how to teach about investment because not caring is just easier to understand. So when Street Fighter II rose to popularity, many companies scrambled to get their pathetic clone out of the same game so they could also make "bank". Fighter's History is literally just a cheap knock off to capitalize on the fighting genre's growing player based in the mid '90s.
Understand that not everything about this game is just a generic Coca-Cola brand knock off, but that personality is few and far in between of what basically amounts to 90% water downed design. There is something to absolutely be said about the various backgrounds that you get to look at, and see just how dynamic there are. As well, a few of the boss characters feel entirely original, and honestly a bit out there. Kefka was not the first clown to bring a knife into the gaming world, but he certainly did it better. Even the story endings feel a little bit different from their Street Fighter II shadows, so there is legitimately some love put into this game to help differ it from it's predecessor.
Sadly tho, the truth of the matter is Fighter's History was and always will be a knock off made on the cheap to sell and capitalize on the growing fighting game community. A lot of the characters feel initially made to look like Street Fighter II's characters so that various grandmas and parents would buy it for their kids birthdays. Add on the fact that Fighter's History just feels playable combat wise is perhaps the worst part about it. There isn't anything intuitive or fun with the combat as a lot of the moves simply aren't balanced along with a lot of the characters. So largely a lot of the fighting comes down to picking your favorite move and spamming it enough to win any given match. Combine that with a lackluster soundtrack that feels like a parody of Street Fighter II's makes for a rather mediocre time if you know any better.
Understand that not everything about this game is just a generic Coca-Cola brand knock off, but that personality is few and far in between of what basically amounts to 90% water downed design. There is something to absolutely be said about the various backgrounds that you get to look at, and see just how dynamic there are. As well, a few of the boss characters feel entirely original, and honestly a bit out there. Kefka was not the first clown to bring a knife into the gaming world, but he certainly did it better. Even the story endings feel a little bit different from their Street Fighter II shadows, so there is legitimately some love put into this game to help differ it from it's predecessor.
Sadly tho, the truth of the matter is Fighter's History was and always will be a knock off made on the cheap to sell and capitalize on the growing fighting game community. A lot of the characters feel initially made to look like Street Fighter II's characters so that various grandmas and parents would buy it for their kids birthdays. Add on the fact that Fighter's History just feels playable combat wise is perhaps the worst part about it. There isn't anything intuitive or fun with the combat as a lot of the moves simply aren't balanced along with a lot of the characters. So largely a lot of the fighting comes down to picking your favorite move and spamming it enough to win any given match. Combine that with a lackluster soundtrack that feels like a parody of Street Fighter II's makes for a rather mediocre time if you know any better.