I know I said that I would do a review on either Marble Madness or 3D-Battles of the World Runner, but no one voted, so I'm not doing either of them. So today I'm going to review another Neo-Geo fighting game, this time it's going to be The Art of Fighting 2:
The game takes place right where the Art of Fighting 1 left off, revealing that the final boss ? (Now known as Mr. Karate) was in fact Ryo Sakazaki's father Takuma Sakazaki. Takuma was asked by Geese Howard to kill Jeff Bogard (Terry and Andy Bogard of Fatal Fury's adoptive father.) When Takuma refused he hired Mr. Big to kidnap Yuri, causing Ryo and Robert Garcia (the family friend and fellow student of Kyokugenryu Karate) to tear up Southtown to find Yuri. After the incident, it was time for the Sakazaki's to get their revenge against Geese Howard. The game takes place in 1978 as far as the Fatal Fury arc goes, however in the King of Fighters arc, the story takes place in 1992, but for sole purposes of the original game, it takes place in 1978.
In the original art of fighting, you could only be Ryo and Robert for the story mode, but the rest of the characters were playable in versus mode. Now you can use more characters in story mode, including Mr. Big who was the second to last bost in the first game, and is still a major enemy in this game.
Here is a description of all the characters that appear in the Art of Fighting 2:
Ryo Sakazaki
The first champion of the King of Fighters tournament, and the main character of Art of Fighting. Orphaned at the age of ten when his father disappeared, he has lived with his sister Yuri ever since. After being abandoned, he was also taken care of by his friend/rival Robert Garcia. He seems to share some kind of romantic tension with King. One of the most frequently recurring SNK characters, Ryo would later become a regular in King of Fighters and appear in several other SNK games such as Fatal Fury Special. In later games, like the 3D wrestler Buriki-One, he takes on the persona of Mr. Karate.
Robert Garcia
Robert is like Ken to Ryo's Ryu. The sole heir to his family's multi-billion dollar fortune, Robert was sent by his father, and Takuma's best friend, to learn Kyokugenyru Karate at an early age. This is where he met and befriended the Sakazaki family. After Takuma disappeared, he took care of Ryo and the two have shared a friendship/rivalry ever since. By the time that the games take place, he has developed a romantic interest in Yuri, which Ryo and Takuma disapprove of. Robert has since become a regular in King of Fighters.
Jack Turner
A member of Mr. Big's crime family, who looks like a generic biker character. Leads a Southtown based group of thugs called Neo Black Cats. As his ending from AoF 2 reveals, his goal for Neo Black Cats is to turn it into a dance group.
Lee Pai Long
A kung-fu master, expert in Chinese medicine, and current director of Southtown's prison. Formerly a foe of Takuma's, the two have long since been friends. He is a "sennin", a Chinese word for someone who obtains immortality via alchemy. It is revealed in his ending for AoF 2 that he would become famous for finding the cure for hemorrhoids. He's a blatant Vega clone with similar claws, but a bit more stylish.
King
As a young girl, King grew up in Thailand and dressed as man to enter kickboxing tournaments. This issue of gender conflict continued when she moved back to America to work at Mr. Big's restaurant. In the first game, her gender is initially stated to be male, but if she's defeated in the proper manner, her shirt tears open and her true identity is revealed. She also employs two female twins named Sally and Elizabeth as waitresses. King has since become a regular in King of Fighters and the twins can be seen in several KoF backgrounds. Sally even serves a drink to King in her intro animation in KoF.
Mickey Rogers
A boxer whose career was destroyed when he accidentally killed an opponent in the ring. He has dreadlocks in the first game and a shorter style in the second. He works for Mr. Big in AoF, but is attempting to get his boxing career going again in AoF 2. He eventually gets a opportunity to do so, fighting the title bout in his AoF 2 ending.
John Crawley
A martial arts instructor for the military who looks like an amalgamation of Jean Claude Van Damme and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Goes by the nickname "Killing Machine", but prefers to be called "Hell Bent For Leather" in America (uhh...listen to more Judas Priest if you don't get it.). During his AoF 2 ending, the military attempts to recruit him to rescue the president's pet canary Tweeter (I couldn't make this up if I tried). He refuses, saying "Hasta la vista!", which probably backs up the theory that he's partially based on Arnold.
Mr. Big
Video games' original pimp. After Takuma left his crime family, he kidnapped Yuri, which provokes the events of the first AoF. Later showed up in King of Fighters as a member of KoF '96's awesome Boss Team. He can't jump or crouch in the original AoF, and has a super move that only the CPU can perform.
Mr. Karate / Takuma Sakazaki
Creator of Kyokugenryu Karate, and both father and sensei to Ryo and Yuri. Mr. Karate wears a wicked looking Tengu mask in the original AoF, and fights maskless in the second. He also has a huge "X" shaped scar on his chest. He would later become a regular in King of Fighters and make appearances in a few other SNK games, most memorably appearing as part of the awesome Old Man team in KoF '98. Takuma is most likely based on the famous martial artist Masutatsu Oyama, the founder of Kyokushin-kai (Kyokugen, Takuma's style, is obviously a play on it)
Yuri Sakazaki
Ryo's sister, and Mr. Karate's daughter. A practitioner of her family's Kyokugenryu Karate, she joins the King of Fighters tournament to show Ryo how well she can fight. Yuri is SNK's Capcom style character, having a moveset very much like Ken and Ryu (and many, many, many other Capcom characters). She has been in almost every King of Fighters game ever made, SNK Gals Fighters, and a few other SNK games. However, in the Art of Fighting series, she's only playable in the second game, despite appearing in all three.
Eiji Kisaragi
A ninja who is out to kick the crap out of Ryo and his family. He is a descendant of Zantetsu from Last Blade and wields the Nagare and Kage twin ninja daggers like his ancestor. He's also playable in KoF '95 and KoF XI. Like Todo, he makes cameos in the backgrounds of several King of Fighters games. He's also exclusive to AoF 2.
Temjin
A Mongolian wrestler and general nice guy. He works as a dock worker at the Southtown port to raise money for a school in Mongolia that he hopes to open. Exclusive to AoF 2.
Geese Howard
Geese Howard is the main antagonist of Fatal Fury, but he makes an appearance in AoF 2 as a secret boss character. He is much younger in this appearance, sporting long hair, a different clothing and a different moveset than his older version in Fatal Fury. Young Geese is also the boss of King of Fighters Neowave.
All information on characters was brought to you by http://hg101.classicgaming.gamespy.com/artoffighting/artoffighting.htmThe fighting style in Art of Fighting is not that unique, but the camera work is. When fighting far far distance, the camera is zoomed out. but zooms in when you get closer to your opponent.
Zoomed outZoomed inLike most SNK games, the fighting has a 4 button control style, A/B/C/D (Neo-Geo/Arcade.) The controls can be a little stiff, every now and then, but with practice the game can become easier to control. The game is moderately difficult, although I wouldn't say impossible, the game can be unforgiving if you don't take your opponent seriously, especially Geese. The music is decent, although I can't say it's my favorite soundtrack, it's decent enough to enjoy the game.
I know that the first game is on the Virtual Console, but I'm not sure if the second game is, but if it is, I recommend it. This game, as well as the 1st and 3rd are also on a compilation set for the PS2, if you can find it, I recommend getting that too. The ps2 collection allows you to listen to the soundtracks in their original form or in an arranged form.
Overall, I'd give this game an 8. It's the best in the Art of Fighting series, and is a great fighting game, but I'd rather play Fatal Fury Special or Samurai Showdown 2 over it.
