Aggressors of Dark Kombat

Aggressors of Dark Kombat
Developer(s) ADK
Publisher(s) ADK
Distributor(s) SNK Playmore
Designer(s) Kazuo Arai
Platform(s) Arcade, Neo Geo, Neo Geo CD, PlayStation 2
Release date(s) Arcade
26 July 1994
Neo Geo CD
1995
PS2
2008
Genre(s) Fighting
Mode(s) Single-player, multiplayer
CPU 68000 (@ 12 MHz)
Sound Sound CPU : Z80 (@ 4 MHz), Sound Chips : YM2610 (@ 8 MHz)
Display Horizontal, Raster, 320 x 224 pixels, 4096 colors

Aggressors of Dark Kombat, known in Japan as Tsuukai GANGAN Koushinkyoku (痛快GANGAN行進曲 lit. Thrilling Intense March) or simply GanGan (GANGAN is a Japanese onomatopoeia for the sound of a large bell or a scolding voice) is a 1994 one-on-one fighting arcade game developed by Alpha Denshi Corp. (ADK) and published by SNK. The English game title uses the same initials as the developer.

Gameplay

The game's major innovation is the ability to walk into the background, in a similar manner to some 1980s arcade fighting games like Taito's Violence Fight, SNK's Street Smart and Atari's Pit-Fighter. Because of this, unlike many other 2D fighting games, the game uses one action button to jump, and does not use the "D" button, unlike many SNK fighting games. Only two action buttons are used for attacking (punch and kick); instead, grappling and grabbing opponents is the focus of the gameplay: opponents can counter being grabbed and break free as well. Also featured is weapon play (another mechanic akin to beat 'em ups). Weapons can be picked up and thrown, or used in special and standard attacks. Weapons are thrown into the ring by spectators in the background.

Screenshot of ADK

The health bar has several layers of colors to indicate the health. There is also a "Crazy Meter" at the bottom of the screen. It is built up as characters attack; this gives the character a special attack that will defeat the opponent outright. It is called the "Gan Gan Attack" in Japan, and "Crazy Attack" internationally.

Battles are joined by irreverent, sometimes humorous pre-fight banter from characters. The dialogue differs from opponent to opponent, and the fight is immediately presaged by a clash of two small images of the combatants' eyes in the center of the screen. There are almost no differences between the Japanese release of this game and the international versions aside from the name, and the removal of blood when using a critical hit on an opponent.

Characters

The game features eight selectable characters. The characters are not named anywhere during gameplay, which is unusual for the genre. Seven of the characters are new to the series, but Kotaro Fūma returns from World Heroes.

Ports and related releases

The game was later ported to the Neo-Geo AES console, then ported a year later to SNK's Neo Geo CD. In 2008 it was also ported along with a few other Neo-Geo titles also by ADK to the PlayStation 2 as part of the ADK Tamashii Game Collection released in Japan only.

Reception

On release, GamePro panned the Neo Geo version of the game, saying it "combines aspects of Art of Fighting, World Heroes, and Street Fighter without coming close to the complexity or challenge of any of them." They complained of unresponsive controls and the excessively long string of commands required to execute Crazy moves, and remarked that though the sprites are large, they are nonetheless unimpressive due to the uninteresting animations and unoriginal character designs.[1] The four reviewers of Electronic Gaming Monthly acknowledged the mediocre animations and character designs, but asserted that the game is fun if given a chance, with the strong points including the ability to fight in multiple planes and the humorous Crazy moves. They gave it a unanimous score of 7 out of 10.[2] Famicom Tsūshin scored it a 25 out of 40.[3]

Aggressors of Dark Kombat was awarded Strangest Game of 1994 by Electronic Gaming Monthly.[4]

See also

References

  1. "ProReview: Aggressors of Dark Kombat". GamePro (IDG) (65): 168. December 1994.
  2. "Review Crew: Aggressors of Dark Kombat". Electronic Gaming Monthly (Ziff Davis) (63): 38. October 1994.
  3. NEO GEO GAMES CROSS REVIEW: 痛快GANGAN行進曲. Weekly Famicom Tsūshin. No.332. Pg.23. 28 April 1995.
  4. "Electronic Gaming Monthly's Buyer's Guide". 1995.

External links

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