it also had to do with the fact that after SF2, CPS2 cabs were hard to bootleg. It was not a coincidence that I saw more SNK cabs in arcades, while the only available Capcom games during the 90s were SF2.
Were it not for emulation in early 2000, I wouldnt have any idea that Darkstalkers existed. Even then, I ignored the title for almost 10 years.
Tobal 2 would be my choice. That was one of the best fighting games on the ps1. Too bad it never came out in the US. I still play it from time to time.
Neogeo and cps1 cabs were easier to bootleg, in contrast to cps2 cabs. So each small arcade had at least one ng or cps1 cab or both. In the late 90s 2d fighters popularity began to wane. This coupled together with the better copy protection, made cps2 fighters harder to find, unless you owned the console version.
last sf i played was sf2. No arcade had sfalpha. Neither mvc 1 or 2. Let alone darkstalkers. Emulation or console were the only choice. I was surprised when i played 3s in early 2000. Last sf i played was sf2 in the mid-90s. And sf ex through emulation.
I saw vf2 in the arcades yet no sfalpha.
Where u from? I’m from Chicago, and all the arcades had the marvel games which were huge money makers. Alpha 1 was there, but didn’t do too well, however alpha 3 was fairly popular. SF3NG machines were around most places too, but few played them so the later games weren’t there. Warzard and Jojo never saw those. Darkstalkers Night warriors was around everywhere too, got some play but was quickly abandoned. However if it was a hit I’m sure I would have gotten to see Vampire hunter and Vampire Savior in arcades too.
in Greece Capcom fighters after SF2 werent that popular on arcades. In major arcade malls there were SNK games, Virtua Fighter, Killer Instinct, Primal Rage, Tekken, Mace the Dark Age, MK 1-4, yet no single sf alpha cab or any other capcom game except the beat-em-ups. Has to do with Capcom marketing in that region probably
This pretty much sums up why AH has such a hard time getting traction, and I’ve never really understood it. Yes all the characters are girls, and yes several of them are young. But fan service? Provocatively dressed? Compared to pretty much every other fighting game out there, anime or not, the designs are very conservative. Even the ones that are revealing are mature enough to not be out of place next to other game’s characters and are still more conservative than most. Half the cast wear school uniforms or something else with a skirt yet there’s not so much as a hint of underwear shown in any frame of animation, no matter how much they kick (I’m looking at you, Sakura).
One of the things that’s always impressed me about the series is the focus on being a fun, well-made, competitively viable game without depending on fan service for sales. I think it’s rather telling that the newest character, added in the latest update to AH3 that was just released in Japanese arcades, who really is designed to be fan service looks completely ridiculous and out of place with the rest of the cast.
Everyone’s free to like or not like whatever game and I’m not going to make anyone play it who doesn’t want to, but the whole “loli pedo bait” thing is just stupid.
Looks matter a lot in fighting game popularity. Even if arcana heart was gameplay wise the greatest fighter ever, it would still not be very popular, at least in the west (don’t know about japanese tastes). Why? I mean it is obvious, just think of what the average western gamer likes, and what turns them off. Here are the turn offs
- All girl cast
- All schoolgirls
- Underage girls depicted in inappropriate manner
- Too Japanese
- Too anime
- Heart in the title
- Lots of fanservice
Bronies seem to be a thing, hey and i have np with people liking whatever they want (as long as it doesn’t cause serious harm to anyone else). However just like arcana heart, you can see why the general public aren’t fans.
Which is why it’s underrated.
My point is that the game isn’t actually full of fan service. The sprites are very conservative compared to female characters in most games. Even the ones that could be considered fan service are still pretty conservative.
Snk mvs was an affordable system for arcade operators because it’s pretty much like a console where you can change cartridges( games) not because it was easy bootleg.
I’m from a little town in Mexico and I remember arcades were everywhere back in the 90’s when I used to live there. Especially in the early 90’s apart from the different local arcades you could also see arcades at grocery stores and not just 1 cab like 4 or 5.
We had all the snk library of games but we also had capcom games like vampire hunter,alpha 2,super turbo, marvel games,final fight, Cadillacs & dinosaurs, rival schools,etc. I doubt they were bootleg. The only game I never saw was SF3 or Jojo, actually none of the cps3 games came to my town.
after asking some people, it seems Capcom games were available mostly in good arcades in the capital, but unfortunately not in the city I lived.
There were definitely XMvsSF,SFA3 even SF: The movie
most bootlegs were the arcade boards themselves with original ROM, not the ROM itself. Eg boards didnt include the name of the publisher and were usually larger than the original and with inferior build quality.
Here most bootlegged games were Street Fighter, Final Fight , Cabal , Bubble Bobble , Wonderboy , Double Dragon.
Eg I remember playing Wonder Boy in Monster Land in the late 80s. Definitely a bootleg.
I just wanted to clarify a point that’s still resound with people in srk and other places.
If snk games are played more in other countries, it wasn’t because of piracy. It just happened that snk games were more enjoyable to them. Hell I have most likely played bootlegs too without knowing back in the day how I would’ve known?. I saw some arcade operators opening up cabs, I watch a few motherboards and pcbs but so what I didn’t understand any of those thing back then, but still there were plenty of original games too.
it doesnt necessarily mean piracy. How the arcade operator and the arcade distributor co-operated varies from country to country, according to how every country’s commerce law is applied. Something illegal to one country, would be legal in another
Chaos Breaker/Dark wawke… This game is too good and really fun… The Items and powerups and the 1v3 or 2v2 or 3v3 or 3v2 or 1v2 style of gameplay is next to none… Guard breaks, parry, clash system, assists, super cancels, (cancel one super into another), Infinites Top tiers, Top tier items, Items for each cast member… I mean really this game has more than enough and plays like Garou with many many extras but also very limited and easy!!!
Tatsnuoko vs Capcom (CGOH or UAS) These games are just gems… The baroque system is better than items for how it can change the way you play a cast member… I do not know how more of the core FGC did not flock to this game but UNIe has had such success… No hate but. these games are really the best fighters of the new era… I am an MvC2 cat so I like CGOH more because of the infinites that cause you to play better, but UAS is still more of a complete game than most if not all new era fighters out right now…
Those are my votes…
TvC and Dark Awake!!!
Dark awake looks awesome, this shit shouldve gotten attention or something.
Might be saying that cuz it took all the way to PS3 to finally get another title… And ironically I actually know about the game but didn’t know it had a PS3 release till I started seeing tournament videos of it. Very little promotion. I don’t know how it plays though so I couldn’t tell you whether it’s rated properly or not.
Which is why Chun Li’s thighs are three times the size of her torso in V? Gamers made something like Minecraft famous, don’t overestimate the looks barrier.
For instance, my friend from high school is nearly 7 foot tall with dreads and used to be a weedman, regularly goes to clubs and hangs out in the hood. He’s also current with One Piece(the manga and anime) and he introduced me to Code Geass.
I understand you’re just looking at things from a “Bro” perspective, and it’s a viable way to look at it, especially if you’re in the US. But we have more closet anime nerds than you’d think, and while it doesn’t push your logic totally aside, I’d like to believe we aren’t that one-dimensional.
I don’t know if KI 2013 is underrated…I’m certainly more tempted to use the term “overrated” since there are actually people playing and defending it in the first place.
Well KI never had a PS3 release.
What? A 360 exclusive? Fighting game? You bullshittin…