False Starts: The Intellevision
Technically, the very first 16-bit system was the Intellevision, which went head to head with the Atari 2600. It was a rather unique system, with a controller design that had users inserting overlays for each game. It was the first system to feature in-game voices (via an add-on module), downloadable games (via the PlayCable, a device which allowed users to download games through cable TV, although without a storage device, they were not kept after the system was turned off), and a 16-way direction pad. Though it was superior to Atari’s system, the Intellivision couldn’t hold a candle against the SNES and Genesis. Moreover, it was a pre-video-game crash system, so it wounded up being swept in the dust.

Nintendo’s Dominance
Since reviving the video gaming scene back in the 80s with the NES, Nintendo almost single-handedly ruled the gaming landscape, thanks to some heavy handed licensing policies, which affected developers, publishers, and even retailers. First of all, stores were only authorized to carry Nintendo products which carried the Official Nintendo Seal of Quality, a stamp placed on a game by Nintendo to indicate to indicate that it met its standards. Publishers were only allowed to produce 5 games a year, and once they agreed to produce players on Nintendo consoles, they were prohibited from producing them for competitors’ systems. Also, Nintendo retained strict control of the amount of cartridges developers had access to as well as how much advertising their products received in their Nintendo Power magazine. While they were intended to prevent the over-saturation that led to the video game crash, they also severely hampered publishers and developers. More resourceful companies found ways around them. Konami created the Ultra Games sub label to produce more games a year while Color Dreams and Tengen found ways to reverse engineer and work around the lockout chips that Nintendo used to enforce its strict policies. Even so, Nintendo’s rules starved their competitors out of much needed third party support. One of these competitors was the Turbografx-16.

Close but not Quite: The Turbografx-16
Hudson/NEC’s Turbografx-16, which competed directly against the NES and the Genesis (which had been released around the same time) had a lot of promise, but even though it was billed as a 16-bit system, it was built around an 8-bit microprocessor. It barely outperformed the NES, and even though many of its games had larger sprites, it was unable to do many of the graphical techniques shown on the SNES and Genesis, such as parallax scrolling. It’s high price point, one controller port (requiring players to purchase a multitap if they wished to play with more than one player), and limited marketing didn’t help matters. Even so, the system ended up being more of a success in Japan than in the U.S., particularly when a CD add-on was released from the system (in fact, In Japan, the Mega Drive was actually a distant third behind the Super Fanicom and Turbografx throughout much of the 16-bit era). Another of Nintendo’s competitors wouldn’t go as easily into the darkness…

The First Runner-Up
There was only one other system that really made an attempt to go against the NES, and had the ability to legitimately do so: The Sega Master System. For the past few decades, Sega had been an innovator in the arcade business, developing games that used primitive 3D technologies years ahead of their time. In 1982, they took their first shot at the game console market and released the SG-1000. It was moderately successful in Japan, and while it was released in South Africa along with select European and Asian countries, it never saw a U.S. release (although Telegames’s Personal Arcade, which WAS released in the U.S. a few years later, could play both SG-1000 and Colecovision games). Unfortunately like many other consoles released during the period, the SG-1000 was swept aside during the video game crash of the mid-80s. Unlike other console developers such as Mattel who either refocused their efforts or gave up completely, Sega didn’t back down. Spurred by the runaway success of the Nintendo Entertainment System, Sega came back with the Sega master System, which was the closest thing to competing with the NES. While Sega’s 8-bit console had a decent following in both the U.S. and Japan, it was Nintendo who dominated 83% of the market share during the 8-bit era. The biggest reason for this was because the Master System couldn’t get the third-party support that had helped the NES remain at the top of the pile. Indeed beside Sega, there were only 2 other third party developers that made Master System games: Activision and Parker Brothers. Still, Sega was determined to remain a player. However, they knew that the next time that they released a system, they would have to do it big. So they went all out.

Sega’s Genesis
In 1989, Sega bought their Mega Drive unit over to U.S shores as the Sega Genesis. The Genesis was powered by a 16-architecture similar to the Sega System-16, an arcade board which powered many of Sega’s arcade titles such as Golden Axe and Shinobi. Sega’s Mega-Tech, Mega-Play, and System-C arcade boards are also based upon this tech, so any game developed for the Genesis could be ported to these systems, and vice-versa. Since Nintendo still had third-party developers and publishers on lockdown, Sega had to work to make its system marketable. To that end, Sega hired Michael Katz as CEO of the American branch, and began an aggressive marketing campaign to compete with Nintendo, advertising their system as the place to go to play arcade hits. Perhaps no one game at the time could illustrate this more than the Genesis version of Strider. While the NES version of the game was basically the red-haired lovechild of Metroid and Ninja Gaiden, the Sega Genesis version was the exact same game that players enjoyed in the arcade, complete with all the water cooler moments. Weather you were storming through Eurasia, battling that huge mecha-creature in the jungle, or you were being tossed around by gravity close to the end of the game, it was all here on the Genesis. Other arcade hits followed suit, and the Genesis saw home versions such as E-Swat and Golden Axe that were just like their arcade counterparts. Thanks do a deal with Capcom, Sega was able to develop Genesis versions of games such as Forgotten Worlds and Ghouls n Ghosts. To further establish a look for the Genesis, Sega partnered with various sports figures and celebrities, and produced games bearing their likenesses, such as Michael Jackson’s Moonwalker, Joe Montana Football, and James ‘Buster Douglas’ Boxing. Still, without third party support, Sega’s Genesis still had a hard time establishing itself in North America, so Sega CEO Hayao Nakayama replaced Katz with Tom Kalinske and went back to the drawing board.

What Nintendon’t
Though Kalinske knew little of the video game business, he surrounded himself with people who did. He began a brand new 4-part marketing plan which in many way was similar to the gamble that Nintendo took when introducing the NES to North America. First of all, the system’s price was cut. Secondly, Kalinske formed a marketing team dedicated to promoting the console to North American audiences, similar to the teams that Nintendo used to first promote the NES. Thirdly, Sega’s advertising became even more aggressive against Nintendo. Who could forget the unforgettable “You can’t do this on Nintendo”, along with it’s spiritual successors the “Sega Scream” and “Welcome to the Next level”? Finally, the pack-in game of Altered Beast was replaced by Sonic the Hedgehog. With Sonic, Sega had a mascot that could compete with Nintendo’s Mario, and the game would be the start of one of gaming’s most prolific franchises. Soon Nintendo would be forced to end their restrictive licensing policies, and in 1990, companies such as Acclaim began to develop games for the Genesis, and soon Sega would would command an increasingly higher market share. Finally, Nintendo had some real competition to face.

The War Begins
Sega had released the stylish Genesis to compete with the increasingly aging NES. However, Nintendo wasn’t done yet. Not one to take this lying down, Nintendo released the Super Famicom in the U.S as the Super NES in the late summer of 1991. The SNES was a more technically impressive system than its competitors. It’s advanced graphical capabilities allowed games to easily produce graphical tricks such as advanced tiling, background layer techniques, and mode-7, which gave games a pseudo-3D scaling effect. The 16-bit audio board made for sound effects and music that were more impressive than what was on other systems. Individual game cartridges could even include custom graphics chips, such as the Nintendo’s Super FX (Star Fox, FX Trax) and Capcom’s Cx4 (Mega Man X2) which could further push the system’s capabilities and create new special effects. The dual-grip control pad was also iconic. It contained 4 action buttons on the face, and two trigger buttons on the top. To this day, the basic design remains an influence in later systems, such as the Xbox 360 and the PS1/2/3 controller.

However, regaining ground was still an uphill battle. When the SNES launched, there were only a handful of games available compared to the dozens of games available on the TG16 and the Genesis. Not only that, the Genesis’s library was bolstered even more thanks to the Power Base Converter, which allowed Genesis owners to play Master System games on the Genesis, and there was no such device available to allow SNES owners to play their old NES games. Most of the SNES’s early lineup consisted on sequels, remakes, and arcade ports. Many older NES titles received SNES sequels, such as Super Mario World (which added battery backup and huge scaling sprites to Super Mario World 3’s over-world formula), Final Fantasy 2 (which featured an orchestral soundtrack), and Super Castlevania 4 (which also featured an orchestral soundtrack, along with some mode 7 techniques and huge character and enemy sprites). Around this time, developers were exploring the compact disc medium as a gaming format, and the PC market was already well in. The gaming console market would soon follow, although to varying degrees of success.

CD Games: A New Frontier?
NEC was the first game console manufacturer to release a CD add on in North America. The Turbografx CD released at a very steep $399.99 (which most likely intimated potential customers, especially since the system didn’t have a pack-in game). In 1992, NEC re-upped with the Turboduo. This system combined with the TG16 and the CD and allowed players to play newer ‘Super CD’ discs. Realizing the system’s $299.99 price tag was a bit steep, the game included several pack-in titles such as Bonk’s Adventure and Y’s Book I and II. For the original TG CD, an add-on card was released which allowed players to play Super CD titles without having to buy the new system. Sega, seeing the popularity of the format, released its own Sega CD (or the Mega CD as it was known in Japan) in the U.S 1992 as an add on for the Sega Genesis. Much of the Sega CD’s line up consisted of FMV video game such as Sewer Shark and Night Track. These games, which were basically the illegitimate bastard offspring of the old Space Quest and Dragon’s Lair arcade titles, employed varied production values (sometimes even Hollywood quality, but you wouldn’t know it) and D-list actors and required little interaction on the part of the player. Because of the Sega CD’s limited color palette, the video quality was often muddy and pixelated. Once they were finished, there was little incentive to keep playing. There was an upside to the FMV game genre. PC Adventure games such as Gabriel Knight and Phantasmorgia integrated FMV sequences with the genre’s classic point-and-click gameplay. This paved the way for games such as Final Fantasy 7 and Metal Gear Solid which used cinematics to drive their story along. The other huge majority of the Sega CD’s line up consisted of port-ups of Genesis and arcade titles, usually adding animated sequences and/or a CD soundtrack. That’s not to say that there were no good titles on the Sega CD. In fact the Lunar games became a critically acclaimed role playing game series and was ported to other systems, the Sega CD Sonic game is highly regarded as one of the best in the series, the Sega CD version of Eternal Champions outclassed Mortal Kombat II which had been released that year, and Konami’s Snatcher became a much sought-after cult classic. The Sega CD did better than the TGCD and Duo in North America, although it was a distant third in Japan. Part of the reason for this was the TGCD/Duo’s high price tags and small U.S library (although players could import games from Japan as the system had no region protection). Well, there was also the embarrassingly bad ‘Johnny Turbo’ comic ads, which implied that Sega falsely claimed that it’s CD add-on could play games by itself (Sega never made such a claim, as the Sega CD was always marketed as an add-on). The TGCD flourished more in Japan, where the library included far superior games such as Ys IV and Castlevania: Rondo of Blood. Even so, the high price tag was a deterrent for many buyers, and the CD was discontinued in 1995. Of course Nintendo had also shown an interest in developing a CD add-on for the SNES. First they partnered with Sony, and the deal fell through, eventually resulting in the Playstation. They tried again with Phillips and that deal fell through again, so Nintendo remained with the cartridge format.

Of course NEC and Sega weren’t the only companies to invest in CD gaming, and they weren’t the only console developers to compete with Nintendo. Other companies threw their hats into the pile, albeit with mixed, and mostly poor results…

The Competition, or Lack Thereof
Several competitors rose up to compete against the big two, and for a while it was feared that the market would become over-saturated, and there would be another market crash. Thankfully, despite supposedly being more powerful than the SNES and Genesis, these systems tanked for various reasons, most common of which was their high price tags. The best of the worst so to speak, was the 3DO. Designed by Electronic Arts founder Trip Hawkins, who had envisioned a CD-based platform for developing games that could be licensed out to third parties. Thus in effect, the 3DO was about it’s internal tech rather than the console itself, and models of the 3DO were produced from 4 different manufactures; Panasonic, Sanyo, Goldstar, and Creative Labs (the Creative Labs model was actually a PC card which allowed gamers to play 3DO titles on the PC). Its library consisted of high-res versions of older Sega CD and PC FMV games as well as ports of arcade games such as Super Street Fighter II Turbo and Samurai Showdown (the former was regarded as being superior to the arcade title as it had a CD-quality soundtrack). It also boasted other games such as Gex and Immercenary which were received well. Despite this, the system’s $700 price tag kept it out of many player’s homes. The Phillips CD-I was another critical failure. Not so much of a video game system so much as a glorified disc player, the CD-I’s lineup consisted of game show titles, educational titles, and kids software. Oh yeah, as a by-product of the failed Nintendo-Phillips CD-venture, Phillips had the right to create software featuring various Nintendo characters. The less said about them, the better. It’s controller was ranked the fifth amongst IGN’s worst video game controllers of all time. Despite it’s line up being horrible, the system lasted all the way from 1991 – 1998, and the interactive media techniques employed on the system served as a blueprint of sorts for the DVD format. Then there was the Atari Jaguar. The system that would end up being Atari’s last foray into the console business sported an ugly and horrendously complex controller (#1 on IGN’s worst controller list), a horrific line-up (despite including the excellent Alien vs Predator, Tempest 2000 and ports of Doom and Wolfenstein 3-D), and a CD add-on which made the system look like a miniature toilet seat. Despite being billed as a 64-bit system, the system was barely more powerful than the SNES and Genesis, and the system was discontinued in 1995. On the bright side, when Hasbro bought out the rights to the Atari Corporation and it’s properties, they released the development specs to the Lynx and Jaguar to public domain, opening the door to homebrew development, though I can’t imagine anyone wanting to play the system, much less develop for it. The Pioneer Laseractive, released in 1993 war Pioneer’s attempt at a disc-based gaming console. The unit itself cost $700, and one could purchase add-ons for around $600 each. Surprisingly enough, two of these add-ons were made by Sega and NEC. The Sega add-on allowed users to play Genesis and Sega CD games, while the NEC allowed users to play TG16 and TGCD games. Now keep in mind that at the time of the release, hell, even well before, the Sega Genesis and its CD add-on, the TG-16 and it’s CD add-on, and the TurboDuo were all available for under $600 each. Also, the LaserActive games, nearly all of which required a special module to be played, retailed around $120 each. So you could see why this thing flopped.

There was one other system so to speak, the Neo Geo. Although it tanked as well, it wasn’t because of crappy games or stupid marketing. As a matter of fact, SNK’s system bought arcade titles home by using the exact same boards that the arcade cabinets were ran on. So instead of half-assed ports, versions that had to be developed from the ground up for the system(Genesis Strider), and games that didn’t remotely resemble the arcade game they were based on (NES Strider), we got the actual arcade title. Though it started off with several shooters, platformers, and sports titles, its bread-and-butter became fighting games. Games such as Art of Fighting and Fatal Fury became favorites among collectors. A cd version of the system, released a few years later, tanked due to long load times and low hardware reliability rates. If it wasn’t for the high price tag ($400 – $600 for the unit, $200 for the games), SNK could have been a serious contender to the SNES and Genesis. Of course, this is another story for another time. As their would-be competition floundered around them, Nintendo and Sega chugged right along. However, Sega would soon get a lead on Nintendo. In their quest to provide family-friendly entertainment, Nintendo would create a critical error, and this error would continue to haunt them to this day.

Moron Kombat
In 1992, Midway’s Mortal Kombat was all the rage, and gamers were eagerly awaiting their chance to play the game at home. MK was a fighting game whose key hook was the massive amount of blood and guts. Punches and kicks drew blood, and at the end of each fight, players could perform fatalities to decapitate their opponent, rip out their still beating heart, and even pull out their spine. With moves this gruesome, parents, teachers, clergymen, and politicians would be outraged. Wanting to avoid the potential negative backlash, Nintendo had Acclaim (who was responsible for developing the home versions) remove the violent fatalities and replace them with non-gory (and glitch-like) ‘finishing moves’. The Sega versions on the other hand, had the blood accessible via a code. Even though the SNES version’s graphics and sound was closer to the arcade game, it didn’t matter, since the SNES version didn’t have the blood. So while Nintendo may have successfully avoided the media backlash, the backlash from gamers had just begun. To this day, Nintendo consoles would be tagged (many times unfairly) as kid’s toys. Sega on the other hand, saw it’s popularity soar upwards as the Genesis was now regarded as the ‘cooler’ system. In fact, at the time, many teens would not admit to owning an SNES over a Genesis, as revealed by a Sony-conducted focus group. With titles such as Streets of Rage, Vectorman, Sonic 2, and Castlevania Bloodlines, Sega’s library expanded, offering players a selection of soon-to-be classic games that pushed the hardware to its limits in order to compete with the best of what Nintendo had to offer. They even attempted to make a foray into the 32 bit market with the forthcoming Saturn and the Sega 32X add on. However, in doing so, they made a few critical mistakes of their own.

Sega Competes with Itself
Where as Nintendo tried to hard to make kid friendly products., Sega spread themselves thin with products that were either superfluous or just weren’t that good. The 32X was a prime example. The cartridge-based add-on for the Genesis boasted a color palette of 32,760 colors, although most games released on the unit only looked slightly better than most Genesis and SNES titles released at the time. There were even games that required the Sega CD to be attached to the unit, one of which being an enhanced version of Night Trap. As all three had their own AC adapters, this made things very problematic for one’s power bill. Recognizing the problems with the 32X, Sega planned another console, the Neptune, which would combine both the 32X and the Genesis into one unit. However, this would eventually be scrapped as the Saturn was preparing it’s North American debut by the time a prototype had become available. Overall, it didn’t make much sense for Sega to have a 32 bit add-on in the market when they were preparing to release a legitimate 32-bit gaming system, especially when said add-on couldn’t produce the 3-D polygon techniques that were done by the Nintendo 64 and the Playstation. It wasn’t exactly flying off store shelves either, as it was selling as low as $19.99 by the end of it’s life-cycle.

The 32X wasn’t Sega’s only flop either. In 1994, Sega had released the Pico, which was a system designed to get younger players to play video games (getting small children to sit in front of their video game screen instead of going outside and being active, one can only imagine how well this could have gone over with parents). It was discontinued in North America and Europe around 1996 and 1997. As far as educational software goes, it wasn’t horrible, and the Pico was more of a causality of Sega’s decision to focus on the Saturn rather than any issues with the product itself. In Japan, new games were produced for the unit as recently as 2003, when a game based on Nintendo’s Pokemon hit the console. That’s right, a Nintendo product on a Sega system. By the end of 1995, Sega, along with many third parties that developed games for their systems, were either actively supporting and/or providing software for 8 different formats: The Master System, Genesis, Game Gear, Sega CD, 32X, 32X CD, Saturn, and Pico.

Nintendo’s Third Renaissance
Nintendo on the other hand, only had to worry about the SNES and Game Boy for the majority of the mid 90s period, and thus they weren’t as overstretched. In addition to that, Nintendo had just started development on it’s Ultra 64 platform, the system that would then go on to become the Nintendo 64. It had partnered with a slew of developers and publishers who were committed to producing software for the platform. Among this ‘Dream Team’ were DMA designs, Rare, and Midway. Having learned their lesson from the Mortal Kombat fiasco, and with the establishment of a new ESRB ratings system on the horizon, Nintendo allowed Acclaim to leave the blood and guts intact for the SNES release of Mortal Kombat II. Thus, the SNES release of the game was the closest players could get to the arcade. Well, at least it was without having to buy a pseudo-32-bit add-on, and since the 32X, which was released months later, didn’t exactly move a massive amount of units, the SNES remained the preferred platform for the game. Therefore, Nintendo began to regain some of the fans they lost over the past few years. The period between 1994 – 1996 saw some of the console’s best and most innovated titles as well. Square bought over the classic RPGs Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy 6 (or 3 as it was known over here), Nintendo released Yoshi’s Island, which had cartoon-like graphics and was powered by the Super Fx chip (although you wouldn’t tell, as most games utilizing the device had 3-D Polygonial looks), and then there was Donkey Kong Country. Developed by N64 dream team member Rare, DKC made use of 3-D computer graphics rendering which was unheard of at the time of its release, and the game’s graphics (on a 16-bit system) rivaled those of many games available on ‘next-generation’ systems. At the heart of the game, it was the same hop-n-bop platforming gameplay that had been around since the days of Mario, but it didn’t matter since it was so awesome to look at, and it gave a sign of things to come. Now things weren’t all rosy for Nintendo however. 1995 saw the U.S release of the disastrous Virtual Boy. The handheld, whose screens were in red and black was Nintendo’s entry into the 32 bit market. More accurately, it was meant to tide players over until the Nintendo 64 was released. However, the thing sold so poorly that it was discontinued the following year. Eventually, the end was nearing for both the SNES and Genesis, as one next-gen competitor was quickly gaining leeway into the video game console market.

The Rise of Sony and the Twilight of the 16-bit Years
Sony had been a third party developer for both Nintendo and Sega. When their deal with Nintendo to create a CD-based system fell through, it was strongly hinted that the technology was used in the forthcoming Playstation unit. The PS1 was released in late 1995, and along with the Saturn, was regarded as one of the first consoles to do disc-based gaming right. Sony marketed its product towards the older generation who had grown up with Nintendo and Sega products, and the console was depicted alongside the TV and VCR as being a necessary part of one’s entertainment center. Throughout the next several years, Sony would assume dominance over it’s competitors, although this is another story for another time. You can read most of this story in our Playstation One article.

Sega of Japan’s CEO decided to discontinue all Sega systems beside the Saturn. This hurt the Genesis in North America, where unlike in Japan (where it was a distant third behind NEC), it was still closely following after Nintendo, and there was still a strong user-base for the system. Not only that, third parties were having a difficult time developing for the Saturn, and soon it would be discontinued in favor of the Dreamcast. The next few years saw the prerequisite third party multiplatform ports, the disappointing Sonic 3D blast, and a god-awful Genesis port of Virtua Fighter 2. The last official Sega Genesis (and SNES) release of the era was Frogger, which was released in 1998. Nintendo on the other hand, despite having just released the Nintendo 64 (which was also hard for third party development) continued to support the SNES for as long as it could, and a few third-party developers continued to do so as well. Capcom in particular had originally intended to pull the plug on several SNES games it had in development, including Mega Man 7, Marvel Super Heroes, and Breath of Fire 2 when fans began a massive letter writing campaign, leaving the publisher no choice to put them back on the release schedule. Along with Final Fight 3 and Mega Man X3, they became the original Capcom 5 (my name, not the medias). Of course this became the Capcom 6 when Nintendo published a SNES port of Street Fighter Alpha 2 in the fall of 1996. Square-soft partnered with Nintendo to produce the critically acclaimed Super Mario RPG, and Natsume showed more RPG love with Lufia 2. The last first-party game for the system was Kirby Dream land 3, which was released in 1997 (it’s a shame that Nintendo couldn’t have held out for another year or so, otherwise Nintendo gamers could have seen a North American release of the awesome Mega Man and Bass), and production of the console ceased in 1999. In Japan, support for the system continued all the way until late 2000, and the system’s production ceased in 2003. The last game released for it was Metal Slader Glory Director’s Cut, a graphic novel style game. Like that, the 16-bit era of gaming went out not with a bang, but a trickle and fade.

Or did it? (Epilogue)
As the law of conservation of mass dictates, nothing is truly gone forever, and this was true with 16-bit gaming. Although the SNES, Genesis, and Turbografx-16 have been discontinued officially for over a decade and third parties have stopped officially supporting the consoles, the 16-bit gaming scene has been alive as ever, thanks in no small part to the illegal emulation/ROM scene. Rom hackers have provided translations for many Japan-only release such as Final Fantasy 5, and have opened the doors for homebrew development. There were legal ways of keeping the systems alive too. The Game Boy Advance’s library contains several upgrades/re-releases of classic SNES and Genesis titles such as A Link to the Past, Super Ghouls and Ghosts, and Breath of Fire. In many cases, new features have been added to each game. Also, many GBA and DS titles have been created within the spirit of the era, with graphics and gameplay mechanics that are reminiscent of the 16-bit days of gaming. Titles such as Contra 4 and mega Man ZX may be more recent, but they give gamers an excellent throwback to yesteryear. If course the Wii’s Virtual Console service contains many classic releases, not only for NES, N64, and SNES, but for Genesis, Master System, and TG-16, despite all of them being competitors less than a decade ago!

Sega on the other hand, has had the biggest posthumous following. With Sega no longer a console manufacturer, the company has released many of its classic titles by way of the many compilation discs that they have released over the years. The console itself is still around to speak, as it’s possibly received the most hardware revisions out of any console, be it an officially licensed product, an international release, or even a bootleg. Many of these new versions either omitted features with the aims of cutting costs (most of them didn’t support any of the add-ons) and many of them were region-free, meaning they could play most internationally released games. In 1997, Sega licensed the Genesis hardware to Majesco, who released it at a budget price before developing a third version of the console. There have even been new commercial releases for the system. In 2006, Super Fighter Team released Beggar Prince, which was translated from a 1996 Chinese Genesis title. They followed it up in 2008 with The Legend of Wukong, also translated from a Chinese original. A team of homebrew developers are hard at work on the RPG Pier Solar and the Great Architects, which is being developed from the ground up for the Genesis.

More than anything, the SNES and Genesis will be remembered as demonstrating that it’s not about the hardware that you are working with, but what you do with it. When you have games such as Donkey Kong Country and Vectorman outlasting the supposedly more powerful 3DO, then you know you got something special. Many of the lessons learned during these years would grow to shape gaming for years to follow. Sadly, not too many companies have this king of work ethic anymore, not even Nintendo and Sega.

Fire Pro Wrestling Returns (PS2)
Although the Fire Pro Wrestling series has been popular in Japan for nearly 2 decades, this is only the third time that it has hit the US (the first two times were on the Game Boy Advance). Although the graphical sprites look like they’re from an early 90s WCW game, underneath the hood lies the most complex and engaging wrestling experiences on any console in any generation, even surpassing THQ/Yuke’s WWE Smackdown vs Raw series in terms of customization options, variety, and even amount of wrestlers. You can book your own dream cards in match maker mode, create (or recreate) any wrestler you wish, and even create your own wrestling league, complete with face/heel sub-factions, your own referee, ring, and your own custom logo. Weather you’re a casual mark or an insider fan, this game has plenty to offer you provided you can look past the 16-bit era sprites and brave the steep learning curve. Oh yeah, and to the developers of this game, if you’re listening, I think I speak for fans everywhere when I say that we would love to see a sequel with online play and content sharing options that’s downloadable on Xbox Live Arcade/Playstation Network/Wii Ware. We would even settle for a DSi title, as long as we can use the stylus to design our own logos.

ESPN NFL 2k5 (PS2, Xbox)
What Fire Pro Wrestling is for wrestling fans, ESPN NFL 2k5 is for football fans. The game was only $20 when it was first released, although many fans would have gladly paid full price for the content it included. You can set your team’s weekly practice regimen in a revamped franchise mode, customize your crib with various cool stuff, battle against stars like Funkmaster Flex and Carmen Electra, or just hit the field for a game of pigskin with a friend or the computer. Xbox owners can even use their custom soundtracks as stadium music. NFL 2k5 gave EA’s Madden some serious competition this year, and had them scrambling back to the drawing board. Want proof? Just months after this game’s release, EA Sports bought up exclusivity rights to ESPN, the NFL, NCAA football, and even Arena Football, thus locking Visual Concepts and Sega out of the video game football ring. That is a shame too, as an NFL 2k6 would have pushed the envelope even further.

Capcom Classics Collection Volume 1 (Xbox, PS2)
Capcom may not be a console manufacturer, but they have created so many memorable intellectual properties that they have become almost as well known as a Nintendo or Sony. I’m willing to wager money that every gamer worth their salt has played at least one Capcom game during their life. Weather you’ve pwned chumps in Street Fighter, Unleashed an insanely cheap combo in Marvel Vs Capcom 2, blown apart zombies in Resident Evil, or even beat apart thugs in Final Fight, nearly every gamer has an entry from Capcom on their shelf. Capcom Classics Collection is a compilation of arcade hits from Capcom’s early days. Most of their classics are on here, from Final Fight, to Ghost ‘n’ Goblins, and even 3 versions of Street Fighter 2. The disc includes artwork, remixed music, and special hints and tips. For older gamers, this is a trip down memory lane, and for younger gamers, this is a look at how gaming was like before 3-d graphics, Havok physics, cell engines, or online play.

Also check out:
Capcom Classics Collection Volume 2 (Xbox, PS2)
Capcom Classics Collection Remixed (PSP)
Capcom Classics Collection Reloaded (PSP)
Mega Man Anniversary Collection (Xbox, Gamecube, Playstation 2)

The King of Fighters 94 – 98: The Orochi Saga (PS2)
I could have put any of SNK’s recent compilation packs on this list. Between them and the recent home releases of KOF XI and Neo Geo Battle Coliseum, there are almost enough for SNK to make up this list themselves. Be that as it may, what better way to represent SNK’s presence than it’s flagship fighter, King of Fighters? When it was first released, KOF shocked the world by introducing 3 on 3 gameplay in the fighting genre and teaming up characters from several SNK franchises. This compilation disc represents the first 5 entries of the series, from the debut of badass SNK villain Rugal to the mysterious Orochi, KOF’s storyline held many twists and surprises. The 98 ‘Dream Match’ allowed a break in the series by removing the storyline and bringing back characters who were either killed off or incapacitated in earlier KOF games. This disc also contains a challenge mode where you can unlock music tracks and artwork.

Also check out:
Fatal Fury Battle Archives Volume 1 and 2 (PS2)
Samurai Showdown Anthology (PS2)
Metal Slug Anthology (PS2, Wii, PSP)

Taito Legends Volume 2 (PS2, PC)
Taito may not have been as recognizable as a Capcom, Midway, or even an SNK, but they are responsible for some of the most significant games of our hobby. Where would be gaming be without Space Invaders, Qix, Operation Wolf, Bust-a-Move, or Araknoid? At the very least, without a starting point for student developers, that’s for sure. This disc has around 40 games from Taito’s past. They have a better variety of games than any of the other recent compilation titles, as you’ll get everything from beat-em-ups, to puzzle games, to shooters, and even a few sports games thrown in for good measure. Some of the standouts here include G Darius, Elevator Action 2, and Arabian magic. There is something here for everyone.

Also check out:
Midway Arcade Treasures 1 – 3 (PS2, Xbox)
Taito Legends Volume 1 (Xbox, PS2)
Taito Legends Powered Up (PSP)

Mass Effect (Xbox 360, PC)
Simply put, this game is a masterpiece. It hits on all levels, from storytelling, to character development, art direction, and dialogue. Anyone who has played Knights of the Old Republic or Jade Empire can tell you that Bioware is good at crafting an engaging storyline in an rpg game, but with Mass Effect, Bioware has crafted a sci-fi universe that is as deep and epic as Star Wars and Battlestar Galatica. The way the game allows you to shape your character is nothing short of brilliant as well. You have complete control over Commander Shepard’s looks, gender, abilities, personality, background, and skillset. The only thing you can’t change about him (or her) is his (or her) last name. What is even more amazing is that this is only the first part of a 3-part trilogy. If you haven’t played this game yet, now is the time to do so, as many surprises are in store for the sequel. Oh and check out Powet’s top 5 things to do in Mass Effect.

Silent Hill 2 (Xbox, PS2, PC)
There has been lots of debate about weather videogaming can be considered a viable literary art form. I say, all you have to do is pick up a copy of Silent Hill 2 (along with the game above and below this entry). It has one of the best narratives in gaming, and it provides a unique brand of survival horror that you just don’t see in other games in the genre (or even later games in the series for that matter). James Sunderland’s quest to find his wife (who is believed to have been deceased) in the town of Silent Hill contains many twists and turns, its endings leave a lot to the player to interpret. You can even go on Gamefaqs.com and find a number of plot analyses in the FAQ section which dissect this game. Mark my words, in the near future, when gaming IS considered a literary art form, students will take literature classes where they will have to play the game, then do reports and homework assignments which take aim at its plot.

Eternal Darkness (Gamecube)
This is another Survival Horror game on the list for a completely different reason. Eternal Darkness is an amazing game on Gamecube, and it would be the last good Silicon Knights game that wasn’t a remake (Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes). Featuring 3 different storylines complete with their own enemies and endings, a dozen playable characters, a do-it-yourself spell crafting system, and a storyline that spanned over several centuries, Eternal Darkness was in a class by itself. However, what really put it over the top was the fourth-wall breaking hallucinations that occurred when your character’s sanity meter got too low. You’d walk along innocently, then watch as your body suddenly fell apart piece by piece, your TV suddenly shut off, the blue screen of death suddenly popped up, the game seemingly deleted every save on your memory card, the screen starts tilting, and other fun stuff. A lot of people wonder why this game didn’t do the numbers it should. If you think about it, it was quite easy for this game to slip through the cracks. The Survival horror genre contains many copycats, so it’s hard for a good title to be noticed unless it has the name Resident Evil or Silent Hill. Also, it was on a Nintendo system, and Nintendo systems are unfairly stereotyped as being ‘just for kids’. Even so, Eternal Darkness provided some much needed M-rated action on the Nintendo Gamecube. It’s too bad that Silicon Knights is too busy with the lackluster Too Human to give us a proper sequel.

Command and Conquer: The First Decade (PC)
Sure, the Command and Conquer series isn’t as deep as Starcraft or Age of Empires, but Westwood/Ea’s real time strategy series helped pioneered the basics of the 4x (eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, eXterminate) gameplay that has driven the genre. This compilation title contains every game up to and including Generals Zero Hour (except for the online game survivor). You’ll witness all the high and low points of the franchise, from the first battle against Nod in C&C 1, the alternate reality battle with the Soviets in the Red Alert, and even the FPS spin-off, Renegade. Make sure you go to the website and download the latest updates and patches, especially if you use Windows Vista.

Also check out:
Starcraft Battle Chest (PC)
Empire Earth 2 (PC)
Rise of Nations Gold Edition (PC)

Contra 4 (Nintendo DS)
Now as much as we love today’s current crop of games, I think we all miss the glory days of 8 and 16 bit gaming. Back then, there were no CGI cinematics, online leaderboards, Havok physics, or motion sensing controls. It’s just you blasting through waves of enemies trying to take down the final boss. Contra 4 is a throwback to those days. Picking up where Contra 3 left off, Contra 4 gave gamers all the challenging gameplay they could handle while introducing Contra to a new generation of gamers. The game is also noted for its minimal use of the DS’s two screens. Instead of shoehorning in lame stylus gameplay, the second screen is simply used to extend the vertical length of the battlefield, upping the challenge even further. Numerous unlockables, including the original NES Contra and Super C, make the package even sweeter. This is a must have for any DS owner.

Also check out:
Mega Man 9 (WiiWare, Xbox Live Arcade, Playstation Network)

That’s it for our feature. Make sure you keep checking out Powet’s weekly $20 Game of the Week column for more cheap gaming ideas.

Unfortunately, its high price points kept the system from acheiving anything but cult status, leaving many gamers to wait for versions of popular titles to be ported down to consoles such as SNES, Genesis, Playstation, and Saturn. Say what you will about M$ and $ony, but when the Neo Geo was released, its premium package went for $649 and a basic went for $399. That may be manageable by today’s standards, but when you factor in that the games STARTED OFF at $200, then it’s easy to see why the system didn’t do to well compared to its peers. SNK faced an early demise in 2000, only to be bought back by Playmore. Though the system has long been discontinued, it lives on through Playstation Store/Xbox Live Arcade/Virtual Console releases, sequels to popular games, and most of all, compilation packs such as this.

Throughout its existence, SNK would be known for fighting games such as Fatal Fury, King of Fighters, and Samurai showdown, making them second only to Capcom in the fighting game arena. Before they started pumping out fighters, they created several classic shooters, platformers, and sports titles. SNK Arcade Classics Vol 1 contains 16 titles pulled from the company’s history. You have several fighters such as Fatal Fury and World Heroes, Sports games such as Baseball stars 2, shooters such as Shock Troopers (which was features as a Lost Classic a while back) and even beat-em-ups such as Sengoku. Although there isn’t as many games on this disc compared to compilations from Capcom and Taito (indeed, the fighting games have been included on other compilations), there is something on here from everyone. While there are several games that I would have liked to see included on this disc, this is still a pretty good compilation, and there is always hope for a volume 2.

Little known fact: the hardware debuted in 1990, and the final console game using the hardware (Samurai Showdown V Special) was released in 2004, giving the Neo Geo the second longest lifespan of a console system (with the first being the Atari 2600, which lasted from 1977 – 1992). Even after that, SNK still offered maintenance and support to the console (along with the handhelds and games) until late 2007.

BTW, this is also available on PSP, but it’s for $30, and it has longer loading times.

The Orichi saga contains the original KOF 94, which introduces the series, along with villain Rugal. 95 allowed players to pick their 3 fighters for the first time in the series, and it serves as the introduction to the Orochi storyline. It also introduced Kyo’s arch rival Iori Yagami. 96 and 97 introduce even more new characters(including new faces Chris, Yashiro and Shermie) and fleshed out the Orochi storyline further, culminating with its end in KOF 97. KOF 98 is a ‘dream match’, which is an out of continuity entry that allows for characters who were killed or incapacitated in previous entries. The games are as good as you remember them, and an all new challenge mode allows players to unlock artwork, special characters, and arranged versions of the soundtrack. The challenges are fun, and beating each of them unlocks multiple items. You may be spending even more time in the challenge mode than in the games themselves.

The NESTS saga, which encompasses KOF 99 – 2001 will be released in Japan soon if not already. Given SNK’s current track record with their compilations, I wouldn’t be surprised if it shows up over here as well. Until then, these five games will be more than enough to keep you happy. This PS2 disc is a must-own for any fan of the series. It demonstrates the innovative concepts and characters that have made SNK one of the kings of the fighting game genre.

SNK PLAYMORE USA CORPORATION, the U.S. publishing arm of the SNK PLAYMORE CORPORATION, today announced SNK ARCADE CLASSICS: VOLUME 1 for the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system and the PSP(r) (PlayStation® Portable) system.

SNK ARCADE CLASSICS: VOLUME 1 will include the following SNK games:

• ART OF FIGHTING – The first game in SNK’s second fighting-game franchise, set in the same universe as FATAL FURY.
• BASEBALL STARS 2 – The sequel to SNK’s popular baseball arcade game.
• BURNING FIGHT – New York detectives battle organized crime in this fighter.
• FATAL FURY – First released in 1991, FATAL FURY introduced the two-plane fighting system.
• KING OF FIGHTERS ‘94 – The first game in the popular KING OF FIGHTERS series.
• KING OF THE MONSTERS – In KING OF THE MONSTERS, giant monsters fight for power in epic battles.
• LAST RESORT – A challenging futuristic shooter.
• MAGICIAN LORD – Players help the wizard Elta save his homeworld in this platformer.
• METAL SLUG – Known for its humor and fast- moving gameplay, this run-and-gun side-scroller was the first in the popular series.
• NEO TURF MASTERS – A golf game which debuted on the Neo Geo Pocket Color in 1999.
• SAMURAI SHODOWN – Set in the 18th century, SAMURAI SHODOWN features bladed-weapon combat and an international cast f characters.
• SENGOKU – In SENGOKU, players face off against undead feudal Japanese armies.
• SHOCK TROOPERS – In this run-and-gun adventure, players save a scientist and his granddaughter from the Bloody Scorpions.
• SUPER SIDEKICKS 3 – A soccer game featuring teams from all over the world.
• TOP HUNTER – Bounty hunters protect colonists from space pirates in this futuristic action game.
• WORLD HEROES – This classic fighter pits players against historical figures in a tournament enabled by time travel.

“With 16 of our most beloved games, SNK ARCADE CLASSICS: VOLUME 1 is a must-have addition to any arcade fan’s collection,” said Ben Herman, president of SNK PLAYMORE USA CORPORATION. “It’s the most comprehensive SNK compilation to date.”

SNK ARCADE CLASSICS: VOLUME 1 will be available for PlayStation2 system and the PSP(r) (PlayStation(r) Portable) in the first half of 2008.

This almost makes up for being four months late about the rest of our video coverage!

There’s no mention of a Wii title in the release, but we’re confident there will be one eventually (as per our video report), and various other sites have mentioned finding an ESRB rating for a Wii version.

Thanks to sites like Nintendo Wii Fanboy for giving credit where due.

The game progresses a bit differently than other fighting games. The arcade mode has you beat three teams per round, and you only have 300 seconds to do it. If the time runs out during a match, you’ll face the boss rather than the usual ‘time-out’ victory. It takes a while to get used to to say the least. Who you fight depends on how many matches you’ve won at that point. The game makes use of Sammy’s Atomiswave arcade board, but many will find the background graphics lacking. Thankfully the sprites hold up well, and you’ll see a number of zany characters and special attacks. There are secret attacks that can be discovered by teaming up certain characters, such as Mr. Karate and Robert Garcia. Like many recent SNK home games, this features options for remixed music, enhanced graphics, a survival mode, color edit, and a gallery featuring unlockable artwork and endings.

Gamers who are unfamiliar with SNK will wonder what the big deal was. Critics will pick apart its graphics, while 2-d fighting games will find another worthy addition to their library. For SNK fans however, this is the perfect trip down memory lane. What this game lacks in graphics, it makes up for in its sheer amount of fan service.

The roster isn’t the only thing that received some major changes this year. The tag system from KOF 2003 returns, however, there are some new ways in which players can make use of it. Along with the regular super meter (known as the power stock), a new meter known as the “skill stock” has also been added. Building up gradually over time, the skill stock allows access to maneuvers such as the Saving Shift and Quick Shift. The former allows players to change their character as soon as they are hit, and the latter allows players to change their character in the middle of a combo, prolonging it. Also added to the combat system are the Dream Cancels, which allow players to use their stock bars to interrupt an opponent’s attack with an even more powerful attack of their own. These additions serve to add more depth to an already deep fighting system.

As with most recent SNK home versions, there are options to adjust the aging Neo Geo graphics and music with several different graphical settings and an arranged soundtrack. Along with the standard VS and arcade modes, players can also choose from challenge and survival modes. An art gallery features endings and artwork that have been unlocked during the course of the game. Disappointedly, there is no online functionality. Many KOF fans would have found it nice to be able to take on fellow KOF fans worldwide. Even so, you can never go wrong with SNK and the king. KOF XI is another solid entry in a solid franchise. Even with new technologies, SNK has proven that there will always be room for classic 2-D fighting.

Vinnk came running up to me after talking with SNK staff about one of their upcoming Wii games. It made me excited, and I didn’t even know what he was talking about! So I made him repeat again for the camera.

Straight from the Tokyo Game Show floor:

$20 Game of the Week: Fatal Fury and Art of Fighting

After producing a number of NES games including Chrystalis and Baseball Stars, SNK developed the Multi Video System, or MVS for short. It allowed multiple games to be stored on one arcade unit, making it affordable to arcade owners. All they had to do to switch games was simply change the cartridge. Tapping into the desire of gamers to play the arcade games at home, SNK developed the Neo Geo home console. At first, there were several side-scrolling shooters and beat-em-ups, but before long, SNK would get into it’s real bread-and-butter, fighting games.

From the early 90s forward, Capcom was the leader in 2-D fighing action. Fighters came at a dime a dozen, but besides with the exception of Midway’s Mortal Kombat, few of them could compete with Capcom’s games, and even fewer would be recognizable today. However, if there is one company that can be mentioned in the same breath as Capcom, it was SNK. Fatal Fury was their second fighting game (a game called Street Smart being the first), and it would set itself apart from other games of the period with it’s story based gameplay. You picked one of three characters: Terry Bogard, his brother Andy, and their friend Joe Higashi, as you fought to avenge the death of your father at the hands of Geese Howard, a major crime boss. Although you fought against all sorts of characters, you were only able to pick from the three, even in two player games. This made the character selection limited, although this would be corrected in the next installment. Fatal Fury 2 gave the series the Street Fighter 2 treatment, in which players can now choose from one of several fighters, each with their background and abilities, including the lovely Ms Shirunai, shown in the image above. You even battled three bosses before meeting the game’s big villain. The Fatal Fury series featured innovations such as desperation moves, background dodging, and a two-plane fighting system. Sadly the two-plane system would be removed from later games in the series, but the games still managed to add their twists to combat, such as the “Just Defend” countering system in Mark of the Wolves.

The Art of Fighting series further expanded upon SNK’s formula. Set a decade before the Fatal Fury series, Art of Fighting told the tale of Ryo Sakazaki as he attempted to rescue his sister from a crime organization. Even though it took place in the same universe as the Fatal Fury series, Art of Fighting had it’s own special innovations as well. Not the least among them was a a super meter which allowed players to pull off super moves. In fact, this was the first game that featured super attacks, a feature that would later show up in the dozens of fighters that have been released since. As many fans know, characters from both games would show up in the King of Fighters series. (By the way, it should be noted that the KOF continuity is separate from Fatal Fury. This is so characters from the two games can interact with each other without the AOF characters having to look older.)

Now the big issue with a lot of these games, as well as the Neo Geo period, was the price. At the time of its release the system carried a price tag of $649. This wouldn’t be that much of a bad thing, but the games themselves carried a price tag of around $200 each. This meant that only a select few could afford it. The rest of us had to rely on port-downs or the games to systems such as Super Nintendo, Genesis, Playstation, and others. This is where the $20 GOTW part comes into play. SNK/Playmore recently released two Playstation 2 compilations of these games: Fatal Fury Battle Archives Volume 1 (which contains Fatal Fury, Fatal Fury 2, Fatal Fury Special, and Fatal Fury 3) and Art of Fighting Anthology, which contains the three Art of Fighting games. Beside remixed soundtracks, a color edit, and a smoothed graphics option, the games don’t contain much in the way of extras. Even so, fans will be happy to get the games. Some fans may be dismayed that there is no Mark of the Molves or Real Bout on the Fatal Fury comp, but remember, this is volume 1, and volume 2 is already out in Japan. Also, Fatal Fury Special hit Xbox Live Arcade this past week, and will also be among the many Neo Geo games hitting the Wii Virtual Console later this year. Whichever way you choose, fighting game fans owe it to themselves to check out these classics.

Lost Classics: World Heroes (Neo Geo, Sega Genesis, Super Nintendo)
World Heroes was one of the other fighting game franchises on Neo Geo. Although it was created by ADK instead of SNK, Wrold Heroes stood among other classic games on Neo Geo. After all, ADK was one one of the few major third party developers that made games for SNK’s system. The plot wasn’t very deep. A scientist uses a time machine to gather some of history’s greatest warriors, including Hanzo Hattori, Joan of Arc (named Janne D’Arc), Kotaro Fuma, and Rasputin in order to combat an alien invasion. This game didn’t have any major gimmick, it was just a solid fighting game. However, one fun thing it had (at least the first 2 games in the series did) was the deathmatch mode. Inspired by the extreme deathmatches in Japanese Pro Wrestling, these matches contained electrified ropes, spikes, and other hazards. The deathmatches in WH2 contained even more variety, such as an enclosed arena, and a jungle-combat arena with land mines. The sheer fun of this mode kinds of makes you wonder why similar features weren’t included in other fighting games. Even the ‘interactive’ environments in today’s 3-d fighters can’t compete with the all out action of a barbed-wire deathmatch with land mines and bombs.

Sadly, this series died with ADK. Thankfully, SNK/Playmore snatched up their intellectual properties and is making use of them. Characters from World Heroes have shown up in the recently released Capcom vs SNK Card Fighters DS. Moreover, characters from the series will make an appearance in Neo Geo Battle Colosseum, due to be released stateside later this year. As for the game itself, ports of the game have shown up on Super Nintendo, Genesis, Game Boy, and Saturn, courtesy of companies such as Takara and Sunsoft. Even so, there is a slim chance of the game showing up again on Virtual Console. However, with Neo Geo games hitting the service soon, you’ll never know. Of interest to importers is the World Heroes Gorgeous compilation for PS2. It’s scheduled to be released in Japan this October. Hopefully a US Release will be announced soon. World Heroes is one of those games didn’t didn’t do a whole lot that was new. However what it did do, it did it quite well.

In 2000, Capcom and it’s biggest rival SNK combined thier forces together to make one of the biggest fighting game crossovers since, well, Marvel vs Capcom.  The result had lots of potential, but the point system made the gameplay painfully unbalanced.  Thankfully, it was followed up upon a year later with what to this day remains the biggest 2-d fighting game ever.  Lots of cast members joined from both companies’ various catalogs, from Fatal Fury and Street Fighter to Samurai Showdown and Darkstalkers, and even lesser known games like Rival Schools and Last Blade.  Capcom adopted SNK’s playing system well and managed to integrate it’s own.  With the 6 grooves, players could play thier favorite characters how they wanted.  In short it was fighting game bliss.

A side note, the Xbox version is the only version with online play, and it was one of the first games on Xbox Live.

This double pack is a compiliation of the 9th and 10th entries in the series.  KOF 2002 is a “Dream Match”, which is a break in the series’s main storyline.  As such, there is no real plot or endings, but the nature of this game allows for the return of several characters who were either killed off or M.I.A. in the previous installments.  (Most notable of which are Yashiro, Chris, and Shermie of the Orochi team as well as long time SNK villain Rugal.)  KOF 2003 makes the biggest impact however, as it adds a brand-new tag team system as well as lays the ground work for a new storyline featuring the return of the Orochi.  Both of these games are filled with extras, such as hidden artwork, remixed music and backgrounds, and online play (for Xbox only of course).  Anyone who considers themself a fan of fighting games needs to pick this up, and learn some history.  Hopefully we’ll see Neo Geo Battle Coliseum and King of the Fighters XI over here in the near future, but until then, this will definently tide fighting game fans over.