World Heroes Perfect

Developed by ADK in 1992, the World Heroes series was successful in the arcades and at home through the first three entries. It was popular enough to garner multiple ports for the first two games, and the second game even spawned a "championship edition" in the form of World Heroes 2 Jet. These games were never quite as polished as what was coming out from SNK at the time, but they are all great additions to the Neo-Geo's fighting game library. 

1995 was a year of maturity in the fighting game scene. We were two years into the advent of 3D fighting games by this point, and 2D fighters were beginning to use much larger ROM sizes to produce richer graphics, animation, and effects. With World Heroes Perfect ADK wanted players to take the series more seriously, so SNK stepped in to help streamline the gameplay and create the "perfect" version of this concept. While I'm not sure if Perfect was planned to be the last game in the series, it exited the crowded fighting game scene with a bang and made a bigger impact than folks were expecting.

World Heroes Perfect is a vastly different beast than what came before. Gone is the simple three button, pressure sensitive set-up of the first three games and in its place is a button layout similar two the first two Samurai Shodown games. A and B are light and medium punches, and C and D are kicks. If you press A+B together you get a heavy punch, and C+D together is heavy kick. This new layout provides the player with numerous normal attack options that just weren't present in prior games. The general speed of the gameplay was increased, and forward dashes now act as a true dash across the board rather than on a per-character basis. Compared to prior entries, Perfect is very fast and players used to the pace of the earlier games will need to take some time to acclimate themselves to all the new movement options. 

Movement options and action buttons aren't the only expansions in the battle mechanics. Players also have a few new tools to open up opponent defenses and to get in quick. Off of a forward dash, you can press any attack button for a rush-down version, or press down and any attack button for a low rush attack. All characters also have one normal attack that acts as a guard break that completely crushes the opponents block and opens them up for a quick reversal. For example, Dragon's guard break is his low heavy punch (both punch buttons) which does a rather hilarious crotch shot. I mean, that would break my defenses if I were punched in the nuts!

To further expand the gameplay there is now a Hero meter that fills when you land attacks or take damage. When you have a full meter there are a few options available to you as well as a few passive buffs. Characters get an attack and defense boost while in Hero mode, and certain moves gain extra hits. Each character also has one Max Special Move in their repertoire. Basically, this turns one of your normal special moves into a devastating EX version with a full Hero meter. This is very similar to how the "special" meter in the first Darkstalkers game works. For example, Janne's Aura Bat (projectile) becomes a multi-hit fire-bat that does a decent amount of damage and scores a hard knockdown if it fully connects. All characters have an Ultimate Attack they can perform when their life bar is flashing red, and the properties of this move will also increase if your Hero bar is full. Characters also have access to a unique universal special move when you press ABC together. 

Taunts are a big part of this game, and each character has three taunts and a few win-poses on offer. Pressing B+C will do your normal taunt, but holding a direction on the joystick along with B+C will do an alternative taunt for each direction except up (including a fake dizzy!). All characters also have a "Perfect Pose" that will trigger if you win both rounds in a match with a perfect victory. Some of these victory poses are an alternate taunt, but some are completely unique and hilarious! 

The story premise is largely there just to provide context to the fighters. Each character is either based on a real person from history, or has had their persona/name altered to better fit this universe. There are some clear nods to Street Fighter here, but also to other pop-culture references that were relevant at the time of the game's release. Character's move sets range from overtly wacky like Rasputin or Captain Kidd, to more of what you'd expect from a fighting game like Hanzou or Dragon. All the characters are balanced pretty well, especially compared to the prior games in the series, so no character feels like they have an overtly unfair advantage over the others. Hanzou is the "Ryu" of the game, so if you're just digging into this game and series for the first time, he is the most well-balanced in terms of power, speed, range, and move set. At 16 immediately selectable characters and three boss characters you can access via code or cheat, you are not at a loss for variety.

The World Heroes games have always been bright and colorful, but SNK helped ADK take this game to the next level by applying much more depth to the color. Using this more colorful approach, ADK created some seriously stunning backgrounds. The Jurassic age and the Genroku age are two absolute stand outs. The sprite animation sets are the same basic ones that have been used since the original release in 1992, but with numerous updates to even out animation cycles and add more detail to attack. Key frames of animation were also tightened up where appropriate across the cast leading to more dynamic poses that help give better feedback to the player. While it's not as sexy as, say, Samurai Shodown 3 which released the same year, Perfect is one handsome game and the art design here has never received the praise it deserves. 

Sound design is also a plus with plenty of character vocals and great sound effects. Music is not as memorable as the mainline SNK releases, but it is still solid and provides the correct amount of energy in fights. It's not an OST I'd say to go out and listen to outside of the game, but while playing the game it is perfectly suitable. 

World Heroes Perfect is the perfect example of a "hidden gem" on the Neo-Geo. It's not very well known in the modern age, and hasn't had much fanfare over the 25 years of it's existence. There are a handful of fighting game fans from the community that have rediscovered this game and its charm in recent years, but don't expect to see it at any side tournaments at Evo like you will many other Neo-Geo fighters. 

While World Heroes Perfect is a must play title in my opinion, you'll definitely be paying for it if you go the AES route. A complete Japanese edition will cost between $350 and $500 depending on condition. A US version is over $5000 these days, so beware! Either way, it is prohibitively expensive for most gamers and collectors. Thankfully the MVS version is pretty cheap, and the Neo CD port can be had for less than $50. Perfect didn't see many ports to other consoles, but it was ported to the Sega Saturn with a decent degree of success. The Saturn version can be found for around the same price or less than the Neo CD version and is a bit more common. Of course you can always pick up the Arcade Archives release, but there is no dedicated Vs mode because that version (like all Arcade Archives releases) are stuck in MVS mode with no ability to change how the game plays. 

If you enjoy fighting games and want to play something a little different and a little wacky, World Heroes Perfect is the game for you. No, it's not perfect, but it is a whole lot of fun and is well worth your time!