SEGA Saturn

Last Bronx

The detailed, 3D graphics don't get much better than this on the Saturn, although the urban backgrounds aren't particularly interesting. The control is dead-on, and the anime introduction is far more fun to watch that the 3D rendered stuff in other games. With six modes and options to spare, Last Bronx is senseless violence at its best.

Good, deep game to play. Above-average fighter with interesting characters. Fun factor is definitely there. Recommended for VF2 lovers, and recommended even more for the few lucky people who have Last Bronx in the arcade (for intense practice at home).

The number of moves is less than it has been in the other Sega fighters, plus the number of characters leaves something to be desired. Too bad there aren’t any hidden characters or anything of the like in this game, it would have brought more replay value to the table than what is presented here right now. Its not that Last Bronx is a bad game, it just has some glaring flaws in it that could have been fixed easily, like the AI or the character balance. Other than those 2 major gripes, Last Bronx is an exceptional fighting game, especially with 2 players, the one player game is lacking somewhat, but still offers a pleasant experience. Worth picking up if you can find it at bargain bin prices.

Hardcore arcade goers will be aware that the Last Bronx coin-op has held a relatively low profile in the west since its release in 1996, proving less successful than it deserved to be. Although its graphics failed to break any ground, it nevertheless impressed fighting game fans with the speed and realism of the fighters' movements. Thankfully for Saturn owners, while losing only slightly in visual terms, the console version of the game retains the gameplay and the aforementioned strengths of the coin-op, running in hi-res mode at a super-fluid 60 frames per second.

Overall Last Bronx is a perfect port of its arcade predecessor with some extras. As with most arcade games, they are only meant to grab your attention for short spans at a time. But as with those same games, when they are well done, they can easily grab your attention again and again.

Le jeu est loin d'être facile, même dans le mode de difficulté Easy, et il faudra pas mal d'acharnement pour le retourner dans tous les sens. On peut regretter l'absence d'un mode Survival, mais de toute façon c'est à deux qu'on s'amuse le plus dans un jeu de combat, et là, pas de problème. Cependant sa technicité le réserve à un public averti : Last Bronx est un jeu exigeant, vous aurez été prévenus !

I kind of feel bad for saying that Last Bronx isn't a good game. They tried so hard to make 'the best Saturn 3D fighter', but unfortunately it failed. But let's start with the positive. Last Bronx is probably the fastest 3D fighter you can get on your Saturn. The animations are very fluid and the jumps are so fast they look a bit unnatural, especially when you are accustomed to the Virtua Fighter series. It looks great when the characters hit each other with their weapons: it shows some kind of collision spark without any sign of slowdown. Last Bronx even surpasses Fighters Megamix in the degree of speed.

Last Bronx was a Sega Model 2 fighting game that enjoyed a decent amount of success in Japanese arcades but barely drummed up any business stateside. Only eight characters are available in the game, plus Red Eye, the game's boss. Six of the game's characters look like typical street thugs, but the other two look like they just got finished taping an episode of 90210. The big difference between Last Bronx and the Virtua Fighter series is the inclusion of weapons.