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2D Fighting Games - Hidden Gems


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2D fighting games often have the best art work, craziest combo moves and amazing soundtracks. Reggie shows us 10 2D Fighting games that are Hidden Gems and should be in every collection
Games Shown:
The Last Blade 2
Fatal Fury: Mark of the Wolves
Aquapazza:AquaPlus Dream Match
Phantom Breaker Extra
Arcana Hearts 3: LOVEMAX!!!
Under Night In-Birth
Vampire Resurrection
Shin Koihime Musou: Otome Taisen * Sangokushi Engi

Honorable Mentions:
Persona 4 Arena Ultimax

Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN-

What other 2D fighting games that are lesser known should we check out?
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I'm a huge fighting game fan(one of my favorite genres of videogames) and these are my top 3 hidden gems.

 

1. Rabbit:One of my favorite fighting games is Rabbit. It's a game made by EA and nobody talks about it(Hell, not that much can be found about it on the internet). The sprites are very colorful and you summon different animals to attack for you. There was a port of the game on the Sega Saturn which is a decent port but goes for around $35-40 on Ebay. Thankfully the arcade game is playable on Mame so this obscure but fun game is not forgotten and anybody who likes unique fighting games should check this one out. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WRiMmDfVWM

 

 

2. Waku Waku 7.This is a fighter developed and published by Sunsoft and is much like Rabbit. It has tight gameplay, super colorful graphics, and funny super moves. The characters are also parodies of other characters. The punching bag parodies Ryu, Dandy J parodies Indiana Jones, and so on. The music is also very good and fits the gameplay. Thankfully it was ported to the Neo Geo and the Saturn for us to enjoy. Not as obscure as Rabbit or The Fallen Angels(still not that talked about) but it's just as good with it's great gameplay and sound. When I'm on the go with my Vita, PSP, 3DS phone or whatever is capable, and I need my fighting game fix, this is one of the first ones I go to. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DefAwU3GcEI

 

 

3. Daraku Tenshi: The Fallen Angels:This was a fighting game made by a company called Psikyo back in 1998 who before this, made a game called Space Bomber. Just like Rabbit, it has no ports of the game but can be played in Mame. It has a more darker feel to it than say Street Fighter or Samurai Showdown but that's part of the charm. It has really good animation and the fluid animation reminds me of Garou: mark of the wolves, Last Blade or Power Instinct 3: Groove on fight. The details of the moves in the games feels motion captured and the level with the burning air strip looks lifelike(look at the fire). Mortal Kombat and similar does not come close to this level of detail with it's motion captured sprites. Also the music in this is really good and fits the atmosphere of the game. If the arcade industry was not over saturated with fighting games,had a few more characters(in 1998 and even some years before, fighting games had over 30 characters not 8 but this might be because of how impressive the game was), and had a port on the PS1 or Dreamcast(even a Sega Saturn port would have been fine), This would have been a much more talked about game.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlbLYhYOCKo

Edited by TheObscureGamer
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How about one of the classics?

 

I was turned on to Barbarian in college after a dorm mate noticed my 64. This came out for the Amiga as well, but I think it actually it works better on the 64. The animation isn't any better on the Amiga, and the digitized voices just up the cheese factor.

 

Yeah, I know, not a console game, but I think it still deserves mention.

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Man, you should have heard them on an IBM PC without a sound card.

 

"BAAAAAHR-BAAAARIANNN."

 

I was just about feeding lozenges into my system's disc drive.

 

Annnyway, ObscureGamer is right on target with his pics. In fact, I did FAQs for two of the games he mentioned, Daraku Tenshi and Waku Waku 7. They're on my web site if you're interested.

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3. Daraku Tenshi: The Fallen Angels:This was a fighting game made by a company called Psikyo back in 1998 who before this, made a game called Space Bomber. Just like Rabbit, it has no ports of the game but can be played in Mame. It has a more darker feel to it than say Street Fighter or Samurai Showdown but that's part of the charm. It has really good animation and the fluid animation reminds me of Garou: mark of the wolves, Last Blade or Power Instinct 3: Groove on fight. The details of the moves in the games feels motion captured and the level with the burning air strip looks lifelike(look at the fire). Mortal Kombat and similar does not come close to this level of detail with it's motion captured sprites. Also the music in this is really good and fits the atmosphere of the game. If the arcade industry was not over saturated with fighting games,had a few more characters(in 1998 and even some years before, fighting games had over 30 characters not 8 but this might be because of how impressive the game was), and had a port on the PS1 or Dreamcast(even a Sega Saturn port would have been fine), This would have been a much more talked about game.

I'm a big fan of this game, one of the best 2d sprites ever.

The guys who worked on this game also worked on King of Fighters 99, you see some new characters as K or Maxima that resemble the style.

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 3 months later...

Some of my hidden gems are

 

Waku Waku 7 - I like the wacky characters and the fast paced gameplay. The characters have a lot of special moves and combos are a breeze to pull off.

 

Art of Fighting 3 - The graphics and animation are top notch for a 2D sprite fighter. It has a very interesting fighting system, in which it mimcs the motions of 3D fighting games, with rush and juggling combos, parries, and counters, while retaining the features of 2D fighters.

 

Real Bout Fatal Fury Special and 2 - I'm not sure quite sure if this gets enough love. It was overshadowed by the King of Fighters. I like the cartoon style graphics and the gameplay was so smooth. Combos were much easier to execute compared to the previous games in the series.

Edited by NeoTurboManiac
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Nice to see Shin Koihime Musou: Otome Taisen get mentioned in the video. Great girlie fighting and worth importing for PS3.

 

Couple of others that I really like are the later Power Instinct games like Groove On Fight and Matrimelee. Wacky characters and special attacks.

 

Also Akatsuki Blitzkampf for Naomi. Nazis in high heels, nuns with guns, and a tank!

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  • 3 weeks later...

More 2D Fighting Games - Hidden Gems w/Reggie

 

Reggie may talk softly but he likes to KICK HIS ENEMY’S ASS with a swift back kick and thunderous uppercut for the quick KO. This week he shows more of the 2D Fighting Games Hidden Gems in his collection!

Games Shown:
Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax
Chaos Code
SkullGirls
Double Dragon
Cyberbots: Fullmetal Madness
Jojo's Bizarre Adventure
Pocket Fighter
Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars
Fist of the North Star
Sengoku Basara X
Mega Man Anniversary Collection
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Another great video Metal Jesus. I'm glad to see mention of Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, great game that unfortunately wound up falling into obscurity due to being a Wii exclusive game.

 

Reggie was right that the Saturn did get a port of Cyberbots and it is the better version. It uses the 4MB RAM cart to add more frames of animation and eliminate the loading screens.

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