Art of Fighting 2

By 1994 the fighting game scene was getting crowded: five versions of Street Fighter 2 by this point, Mortal Kombat 2 and Darkstalkers were releasing soon, and the technical powerhouse that is Killer Instinct loomed over the horizon. In a crowded pack of CRT wolves vying for your quarters to much on in the 90's, Art of Fighting 2's huge sprites, smooth animation, and incredible attention to detail really stood out in the crowd. 

Unfortunately there is little sales data or developer interviews for Art of Fighting 2 to glean more concrete information rather than just anecdotal data. There is a short developer interview from 1994 available via shmuplations.com, but it holds very little relevant information aside from some interesting concept art. Still, even with little hard data, we can make some educated assumptions. Art of Fighting 2 most likely sold well enough in both the arcade and at home on Neo-Geo platforms that it was green-lit for an exclusive port to the Super Famicom. This port is nothing short of stunning given the large gulf in both memory size and system hardware capability between the Super Famicom and Neo-Geo. We'll talk more about this port later on. 

The story is a direct follow-up to the first game which ended with Ryo Sakazaki and Robert Garcia rescuing Ryo's sister, Yuri, from Mr. Big and his henchman Mr. Karate. In the opening attract sequence for Art of Fighting 2 you discover that, GASP!, Mr. Karate is actually Takuma Sakazaki, Ryo's father! The story picks up from here with Takuma now joining Ryo, Robert, and Yuri who go after Mr. Big and his boss Geese Howard. Yes, THAT Geese Howard from the Fatal Fury Series.

While not widely known, the storylines of the Art of Fighting and Fatal Fury games are one and the same and part of the overall South Town Cannon. The events in Art of Fighting happen during the 1980's, while Terry Bogard's journey in Fatal Fury begins in the early 1990's. Geese Howard is much younger in the Art of Fighting series due to events being set a decade prior to Fatal Fury during his rise to power in the crime syndicates of South Town.

Rather than restrict single player mode to Ryo and Robert like the first game, SNK allows you to choose any of the 12 selectable fighters from the get go. All characters return from Art of Fighting except for Todo, and four new characters were added: Yuri, Takuma, Geese, and fan-favorite Eiji Kisaragi. Geese is a "secret" boss you can play against so long as you don't lose a round (not a small feat in this game) through single player mode. While you can use a Unibios cheat to play as him, he is broken beyond belief. 

The characters overall in the Art of Fighting series are not well remembered...most likely due to them being a little more generic in design than many of SNK's other fighting game characters. Aside from Robert, the Sakazaki family, and King, Eiji Kisaragi is the only other well remembered character from this cast due to his inclusion in King of Fighters 95 the following year. Still, each character comes equipped with their own background and music theme, so there is plenty of variety on offer here and most of the cast is fun to tool around with. 

The overall gameplay of the Art of Fighting series is simple, and the mechanics of this second game are more a refinement of what was in the first game rather than adding many new features. You have two attack buttons, one button for throw, and one button for taunt. Each of your attack buttons (punch and kick) are pressure sensitive, meaning a light tap will be a light attack and holding the button will do a hard attack. 

All special moves require the use of the Spirit Gauge, which sits under the character's life bar and each special move uses a different amount of spirit. When your character begins to get low on spirit just hold down an attack button to slowly build your gauge back up. Beware, because the spirit gauge will drop when the opponent taunts you, so use your taunts wisely! Additionally, the spirit gauge will slowly refill automatically if you do nothing - but this is a fighting game so you should always be moving!

There is a great cadence to the battles due to the spirit gauge mechanic. Because you are constantly trying to find little openings to build meter, you are forced to use your special moves wisely. You must also have a keen understanding on how much meter each special move uses. There is a lot of strategy here, and it is satisfying with it finally clicks. While some gamers may find the use of a gauge tied to normal special moves an annoying mechanic, the pacing of the game is built around this meter and is the crux of the game plan. The positive side is that it eliminates the fireball fights that were common in 2D fighters of the era, forcing you to use more normal attacks and create an intricate game of footsies with single, solid strikes. 

While this sounds all well and good, SNK made the AI in Art of Fighting 2 ludicrously difficult on all levels. That said, once you get the gameplay down, it isn't entirely insurmountable. If you have a buddy to play with that also knows how to play, the game really opens up and a lot of fun can be had here. That said, due to the bonkers AI, there is a good chance that as a single player you more than likely won't spend much time playing single player to see many storyline cutscenes take place or partake in one of the bonus stages - which can increase your stats if you successfully clear them!

Art of Fighting 2 retains the series signature trademark of huge character sprites that cover 3/4 of the screen when the camera is pulled in close. Like the first Art of Fighting and Samurai Shodown before it, Art of Fighting 2 scales back the camera to show more of the play field the further the characters get from each other. While this scaling effect works very well in Samurai Shodown, it's feels a little less smooth in the Art of Fighting games for some reason. I can only guess it's due to the sheer size of the character sprites? All character sprites have been entirely redone from the ground up for this second release with loads more detail and much more animation than the first release. Like the first game, all sprites also show damage over time, which is a nice touch. Backgrounds are detailed and well animated, but they aren't as memorable as many other SNK games. Still, Art of Fighting 2 is a very handsome game overall and was a truly state-of-the-art when it released. 

The music themes range from just okay to great with Yuri Sakazaki's theme, Diet, easily getting stuck in your head for days. Voices are varied, generally of high quality, and there are a ton of them. A weird choice SNK made was putting in alternative voices for King and Mickey when the game is played in US or European coded systems. These voices are absolutely terrible and make King sound like a 75-year-old women with emphysema who still smokes 5 packs a day. Make sure to set the language option to Japanese to get the correct experience. If King doesn't sound like she does in the King of Fighters games, you know you've got it wrong.    

At the end of the day, Art of Fighting 2 is going to wow you with its huge sprites and good looks upfront, but its gameplay will take some time to warm up to. It’s a solid effort and well worth your time, especially if you have a buddy to play with. The biggest gripe I have with the game is that the AI is even more maddingly difficult than other SNK games of the day, so your mileage will only go so far if you don't have anyone else to play with. It's much too difficult for its own good, which is a shame as the game is quite good. 

That said, Art of Fighting 2 is still one of the best bang for your buck titles a given its absurdly low cost of less than $60 USD for a complete Japanese copy on AES. US copies, while more expensive overall, shouldn't run you more than $300. The MVS and CD versions are less than $50 each. While I’d recommend trying it on emulator or on Hamster's Arcade Archives release first, you won’t be disappointed if you blindly purchase it for your AES collection either. 

As I briefly mentioned before, Art of Fighting 2 saw an exclusive port to the Nintendo Super Famicom in 1995. Released on a large 32 mega bit rom cartridge for the Super Famicom only in Japan, this port of Art of Fighting 2 is just as impressive as the ports of Fatal Fury Special and Capcom's Street Fighter Alpha 2 on Nintendo's hardware. It retains much of what makes the Neo-Geo original compelling, even including a truncated but welcome sprite scaling effect. Because the Neo original is so widely available these days, especially with an $8 Arcade Archives release on modern platforms, this Super Famicom port is more of a curio than a viable way to play this classic. 

Given it's availability in the market and good overall design, I feel Art of Fighting 2 is an essential purchase for all Neo collectors. Just spend some time getting familiar with the gameplay loop as this series plays very differently from all other fighting games you've ever played.