Art of Fighting 2

AOF 2 plays and feels tons better than it's predecessor, but needs a bit more refinement to give it the lasting value of, say, the Street Fighter II games. Still, this game is so rich in graphics and sounds, you should give it a test-drive.

Ansonsten lässt sich nicht mehr viel sagen: richtig gute Grafik, die auch heute, 10 Jahre nach Veröffentlichung, noch ansehnlich ist + geile Features + vernünftiges Gameplay ergeben ein spaßiges Spiel - vorausgesetzt, man hat die Nerven für den Schwierigkeitsgrad; wobei... eben jener Schwierigkeitsgrad macht das Spiel so gut: wer nicht aufgibt, der bekommt auch was für seine Ausdauer, man fängt nach einigen Fehlschlägen förmlich mit dem Lernen an. Und das ist dann der Punkt, an dem AoF2 einen so richtig packt. 8 Punkte für ein Spiel, das aufgrund diverser eigentümlicher Features und der benötigten "etwas anderen" Herangehensweise auch heute noch begeistern kann.

Unique individual endings and a hilarious special ending on the higher difficulty level make AOF 2 extremely replayable and a recommended purchase for Neo Geo CD owners.

Two years after the huge success of Art of Fighting, SNK decided to give their fans what they wanted: A better sequel. Almost everything has been improved from the original, but just as I said, "almost everything". Read on to learn the score...

The controls are like World Heroes, so the strength of your punches and kicks depends on how long you hold down the buttons. Not everyone appreciates this system, but otherwise there's not much to fault here. The gameplay is deeper than you average fighter thanks to a "rage" meter that lets you perform special attacks. You can recharge your meter or drain your opponent's through taunting, but this leave you open to attack. Special moves are critical in this game, especially against the tough-as-nails CPU opponent. The fighters themselves are pretty generic, except of course for that guy in the monkey mask (freak!). If you're looking for babes, AoF2 won't do much for you, unless you have a thing for butch lesbians like King. The background graphics are uneven in quality. The mansion stage with the fountain and car look terrific, but others (like the backyard stage) are surprisingly dull. But overall Art of Fighting 2 is one of the most impressive fighters I've ever seen.

What can I say, Neo fighting games keep getting better and better. The graphics and sound are unbelievable. The moves are also quite impressive. The computer plays very cheap, performing damages and charges you can't do. There's a lot of technique to this one and I recommend it. Now if SNK could get that price a bit more reasonable. Hmmmm, by the way, look for a lot of hidden moves, too!

So Art of Fighting 2 shoots itself in the foot after introducing a few nice new features, and averages out to be just slightly more appealing that its predecessor was here on the Virtual Console. But rather than actually considering investing nine of your digital dollars in this download, I'd recommend you look to this game's superior contemporaries -- those other, better SNK fighting franchises are already well-represented in the Wii Shop as well and any of them would be a better option than this. Check out S amurai Shodown II, F atal Fury 2 or K ing of Fighters '94 to get your fighting fix. Or, if you're dead set on spending your Points on an Art of Fighting title, wait for A rt of Fighting 3. That's the trilogy- concluding game that actually did enough to separate itself from the pack of other efforts in the mid-'90s, and if and when it arrives in VC form it'll be much more worth your while to consider for purchase.

So Art of Fighting 2 shoots itself in the foot after introducing a few nice new features, and averages out to be just slightly more appealing that its predecessor was here on the Virtual Console. But rather than actually considering investing nine of your digital dollars in this download, I'd recommend you look to this game's superior contemporaries -- those other, better SNK fighting franchises are already well-represented in the Wii Shop as well and any of them would be a better option than this. Check out S amurai Shodown II, F atal Fury 2 or K ing of Fighters '94 to get your fighting fix. Or, if you're dead set on spending your Points on an Art of Fighting title, wait for A rt of Fighting 3. That's the trilogy- concluding game that actually did enough to separate itself from the pack of other efforts in the mid-'90s, and if and when it arrives in VC form it'll be much more worth your while to consider for purchase.

The one thing I wanted to be fixed is the sub par control. But what we get is an exact rehash of the originals sluggish controls. There is no excuse for controls like this, after thousands of examples of good fighting game control, anybody who puts out a game with this sluggish feel is just lazy. Unless you are a masochist, Art of Fighting 2 is not recommended at all.