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If you've ever played arcade fighting games at your local corner store (ahhh, the good old days back when we'd crowd around The Teenager as kids to watch him pull off fatalities in Mortal Kombat...) you should be familiar with names such as Capcom, Acclaim, and Rare. The best of these, IMO, is SNK.

There's one thing SNK has that other companies don't: innovative, successful systems. Yes, innovation is easy, but making it work isn't. The Last Blade series had the D-deflection system which allowed you to smack an opponent's weapon out of the way while they're attacking. The Samurai Shodown series had the most excellent AB-dodge system, which allowed you to pull off insane shit like dodging an attack mid-swing or side-stepping around the opponent to hit them in the back (take that, turtle-blocking scrubs!) The King of Fighters series had the Striker system and huge multi-character battles. Garou: Mark of the Wolf had its TOP system and its Just Defense blocks. All most excellent and righteous series.

And who can forget the bosses? SNK's fighting games have some of the most insane final boss battles ever, often harder than going through the game with one hand tied behind your back (personal experience ) Samurai Shodown III's Zankuro was terribly brutish and could splatter you across the walls before you can land a hit on him. KoF 2k1's Igniz was simply insane, with flashy moves that could rip you apart before any of your four characters could even begin to damage him. And KoF villain Rugal never failed to make the final battle a royal pain in the KoF games he was present in (I still have nightmares of 2k2's Rugal battle... stupid genocide cutter!!)

I must've spent an inhuman amount of time playing Samurai Shodown III - my all-time favorite fighting game - just playing through the fight with Kuroko over and over.

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One of the toughest boss battles ever, in my opinion, is Orochi Iori from King of Fighters '97, played on my neighbor's Neo-Geo.

SNK has had some entertaining battle systems and games, but I still think that for the most part Capcom and Sammy have done better with 2D fighting games. More than anything, SNK has a knack for entertaining character design, but Capcom's 2D fighters have far better mechanics for 2D fighters, especially when you look at SF III: TS. Don't get me wrong, I really like the oldschool SNK games (especially KoF '97, Samurai Shodown II, and Garou: Mark of the Wolves), but there's a reason that Capcom won the arcade fighter battle in the 90s.

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I know this thread is aimed more at fighting games, but a SNK game that deserves some appreciation is Crystalis. Other than the Zelda series, Nintendo didn't make a better action RPG.

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Quote (Gears @ 15th April 2006 23:25)

a SNK game that deserves some appreciation is Crystalis

You know, I had absolutely no idea SNK made that. But now that I think about it, I remember the SNK logo when the game'd start up...

Huh. I guess you learn something new everyday..

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"Judge not a man by his thoughts and words, but by
the quality and quantity of liquor in his possession
and the likelyhood of him sharing."

SNK is brilliant. Some of the best fighting games out there come from the SNK label.

Quote

And KoF villain Rugal never failed to make the final battle a royal pain in the KoF games he was present in (I still have nightmares of 2k2's Rugal battle... stupid genocide cutter!!)

Are you kidding........that's half the fun

I've always been a big SNK fan, though my Capcom upbringing makes the subtleties of their unique system somewhat foreign to me. They have some of the most innovative gameplay out there in terms of 2-D fighters, and some truly inspired, classic character designs - Terry Bogard, Kim Kaphwan, Gato, and Vanessa count among my favorite fighting game characters of all time. Almost all of the KoF releases have been solid, some brilliant; and if it wasn't for the sheer greatness of SF3:TS, I'd be a total convert. As it stands, SNK fighters hold a special place in my heart, despite my relative lack of success with them.

As mentioned before, the SNK 1-player experience is definitely more challenging than Capcom's, if only for the over-the-top difficulty of some final bosses. A perfect example would be the difference between the final bosses of Capcom's CvS series and SNK's SvC CHAOS series. In CvS2, we get God Rugal and Shin Akuma - certainly difficult matches in their own right, with pumped up strength and devastating supers. But in SvC CHAOS we get Shin Mr. Karate...and anyone who's ever played him knows true pain. Incredible speed, ridiculous damage, endless strings, and supers that don't flash - they really pulled out all the stops for that one. Ugh, I get headaches just thinking about it.

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Quote (Super Moogle @ 16th April 2006 01:56)

...over-the-top difficulty of some final bosses. A perfect example would be the difference between the final bosses of Capcom's CvS series and SNK's SvC CHAOS series. In CvS2, we get God Rugal and Shin Akuma - certainly difficult matches in their own right, with pumped up strength and devastating supers. But in SvC CHAOS we get Shin Mr. Karate...and anyone who's ever played him knows true pain.

Amen.

Akuma is easy to beat. Pok pok pok, he's down. But against Mr. Karate? I often find myself struggling not to get caught in some insane, painfully loud, bone-smashing combo. And as soon as I'm out of it and can get some distance between myself and him? The long-range attacks begin. There isn't a moment of peace in a Shin Mr. Karate fight...

I rather disliked Samurai Shodown II because I played it after III, which introduces the most excellent AB dodge system. My god. If I found an SS game with Cham Cham AND the AB dodge system? I could die the very same day and it would hardly matter to me.

I used to spam AB to try to get around someone and hit them with something until I realized the most horrible of truths: SS's AI is cruel. Cruel in ways you wouldn't expect. What will work in one round will suddently stop working entirely the next as the game figures it out and comes up with a way to counter your strategy. It learns. It grows. It evolves. By the time you get past the Kuroko battle in III, an AB sidestep is immediately countered with something just as you arrive behind the opponent. Or worse, they'll jump backwards and hit YOU in the back as you turn around. A cheap C slash quickly ends up parried and you're hit before you can recover. And a mistimed AB dodge? The game doesn't let that slip past its devious AI...

Then I learned how to truly play. AB-dodging an attack to counter with a B slash. Blocking and using the recovery time to get an A or B slash in (or a special move, if any can be pulled off fast enough.) Guard-crushing an opponent that gets too close instead of trying to hit them, to set up for an even harder-hitting attack. Catch-throwing an attack. Initiating weapon clashes when possible to disarm the computer. Even using certain moves in unusual ways (such as Bust Genjuro's Three Heavens' Death to run *under* a jumping opponent and get them from behind.) And... y'know... just repeatedly killing Kyoshiro for fun. Because nobody plays him. Probably yet another orphan who joined SeeD.

It's a shame Last Blade's system wasn't this detailled. But that was a pretty good game too.

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"Judge not a man by his thoughts and words, but by
the quality and quantity of liquor in his possession
and the likelyhood of him sharing."

AKUMA CAN BEAT ANY SUCK N K CHARACTER AROUND

Erm. Anyway, SNK is certainly a great company. Besides the fact that it's a variation on my own initials, I think that SNK succeeds in delivering a plethora of varied experiences within the 2D fighter genre for the hardcore fighting game player. I suppse 3D now too, but let's not dwell on games such as King of Fighters: Maximum Impact. I enjoy a lot of SNK games, including the KOF and FF series, and really wish that I got into the company soon enough to play gems like Garou: Mark of the Wolves. I would like to play the newer installments of KOF, but it seems that there aren't any ports in the near future. Unfortunately, what kind of turns me off to their games is the insane learning curve and my inability to become attached to any characters in terms of playing style. Many of SNK's characters are more interesting than even Capcom's, but I find myself disliking their mechanics at times. I guess growing up on the good ol' Hadoken sort of influences that. At any rate, they created Terry Bogard, so all that is made up for.

In the end, my devotion lies with Capcom and Street Fighter II, III, and the Alpha series, but popping an SNK game in the console or somehow finding an SNK arcade cabinet is a rewarding experience indeed.

Edit

Guilty Gear is, in fact, made by Sammy Studios. My mistake.

This post has been edited by Kappa the Imp on 17th April 2006 03:12

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I find your lack of faith disturbing...

Quote (Kappa the Imp @ 16th April 2006 21:44)

I enjoy a lot of SNK games, including the KOF and FF series, and really wish that I got into the company soon enough to play gems like Garou: Mark of the Wolves or Guilty Gear.

I am 99.8% sure that Sammy Studios and not SNK make the Guilty Gear games.

But yeah, the best aspect to SNK games are the entertaining character designs. I mean, come on. Rugal, Orochi Iori, Geese Howard? All badasses. Makes me wish I hadn't given away my Dreamcast, so I could break back into some Garou and whoop some more ass with Rock Howard and Kim Jae Hoon. **** yes.

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this is a blog mostly about comics and videogames
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