Art of Fighting

the second fighting game franchise created by SNK

Art of Fighting  Review

Art of Fighting is a trilogy of competitive fighting game titles that were released for the Neo Geo platform in the early 1990s. It was the second fighting game franchise created by SNK, following the Fatal Fury series and is set in the same fictional universe. The original Art of Fighting was released in 1992, followed by two sequels: Art of Fighting 2 in 1994 and Art of Fighting 3: The Path of the Warrior in 1996. While no sequel has been produced since the third game, the characters have survived through their inclusion in The King of Fighters series.It was the first fighting game by SNK to feature the character designs of former SNK illustrator (and current Capcom illustrator) Shinkiro, who would go on to do the character designs for the later Fatal Fury and The King of Fighters games.It has spawned an anime movie with same name.The Art of Fighting series follows the conventions of the time in the sense that the player faces a variety of opponents in best two-out-of-three matches. Each of the game's characters have a unique fighting style and set of special techniques. The player has two basic attacks--punch and kick--as well as a utility button that switches between punches, kicks, and throws. A fourth button is used for taunting. Art of Fighting's contribution to the genre was the inclusion of a "spirit gauge" underneath the character's life bar. When characters perform special techniques, their spirit gauge is depleted and their special attacks become weaker. Players can also drain their opponent's spirit gauge by taunting them.