Old and forgotten arcade 3D Fighters

[r3ko]

I am planning on writing an article about the older arcade 3D fighting games (pre 2000) , and just hoping to hear some stories and memories on some of these games. Also it would be a great help if anyone could sort out the chronological order of each year.

1994
-Virtua Fighter - march?
-Tekken - December?

1995
-Battle Arena Toshinden 2 (also any info on PSX toshinden 1 would be good too)
-Psychic Force
-virtua fighter remix
-Virtua Fighter 2
-Tekken 2

1996
-Heaven's gate
-Mace: The dark age
-Soul Edge
-Star Gladiater
-Street Fighter EX (I realise its not a true 3D fighter, but i still plan on mentioning it - so, "no flame")
-Virtua Fighter Kids
-Dead or alive

1997
-Tekken 3
-Beastorizer/Blood Roar
-Mortal Kombat 4
-Rival Schools
-Street Fighter EX Plus
-Virtua Fighter 3

1998
-Bio Freaks
-Bloody Roar 2
-Flgihting Layer
-Plasma Sword/Star Gladiator 2
-Soul Calibur
-Street Fighter EX 2
-Dead or Alive++
-Tenth degree

1999
-Dead or alive 2
-Final Fight Revenge
-Street Fighter EX 2 Plus

No doubt i got some of the years wrong and definitely missed loads out. So please correct me, but please no games post 1999, unless you feel they are worth mentioning.
Thanks
r3ko

[goodm0urning]

Fighter Maker - 1998

EDIT:

Okay, so this one was console only. I CAN'T READ.

[caliagent#3]

How could you forget fighting vipers!!!!

[The Granby]

From what I heard from older dudes in VF community, VF2/VF3 days were pretty big.

For older DoA, I'm guessing Tom Brady (MK Bill) would know the most.

Older tekken (1-2) I don't know but I'm sure there are dudes around who can tell you how great the T3/Tag era was.

[-WiL-]

I remember playing Mace on the n64.

It was the shit way back when

[Razorfist]

I still play Mace: The Dark Age. Found a cartridge for sale over at Bookman's and stepped into the late-90's all over again.

Battle Arena: Toshinden was killer, I used to drop all kinds of tokens into that at the local Peter Piper Pizza.

Also, what about Dark Rift and *cringe* Fight for Life?

[INCIDENT]

post error. Please delete.

[INCIDENT]

I remember the 1st time I saw the SF EX games. Played SF EX2+ like crazy back then. I also saw JoJo's Bizzare Adventure in that same arcade.

I would talk about Tobal 2 (1997) but I just realized that it's console only.

[Giza]

Sonic the Fighters came out 1996. It was arcade only until its gamecube release nearly 9 years later. Probably should be overlooked because of its catch up system. I would kill for a sequel using the same basic gameplay concepts and the removable of the catch up system.

[r3ko]

Thanks for the replies so far. Incident bring on the Tobal love.

[EveryFlowerFlow]

Tekken Tag?

[r3ko]

Are yeah how could i forget.

[INCIDENT]

Thanks for the replies so far. Incident bring on the Tobal love.
As you wish.

Me and my bro bought Tobal #1 on a whim and were amazed at it's polish and execution, especially for it's time. I found out that Tobal 2 was being made, I was elated.....Until it was announced that it wouldn't be brought over here. I was devastated. Years later, I learned about modding systems, found Tobal 2 bought it and played it like hell. To this day, I consider it one of the best 3D fighters ever made and has helped make me into the fighting gamer I am today. It got me into importing and for the 1st time, I was driven to learn a fighting game inside and out, even though I had no one to play against.

[yungb254]

Fighting Layer was pretty good. What about Ehrgeiz?

[INCIDENT]

What about Ehrgeiz?
I remember when I saw it arcades for the 1st time. I knew it was from the same developers as Tobal, so I knew it was something special. It wasn't until I bought it on PS1 that I started to explore the game in depth and noticing the blend of roaming 3D fighters like Power Stone and standard 3D fighters like Tekken, VF and Tobal. As much as I enjoyed it, it made me want to get Tobal 2 more.

[yungb254]

forgot about Bushido blade another Square fighter but with weapons.

[Ghaleon]

War Gods ... let's keep it forgotten.

[Bacardi]

wheres these 2 sega fighters from that last

holloseum(on the sega hologram arcade cab)
last bronx

[Hayama Akito]

Not really "Arcade" but Fighters Destiny on the N64 was maybe the best game for the genre in the system.

[Bacardi]

ultimate dan? I think that was the name for that random atari fighter

[goodm0urning]

Me and my bro bought Tobal #1 on a whim and were amazed at it's polish and execution, especially for it's time. I found out that Tobal 2 was being made, I was elated.....Until it was announced that it wouldn't be brought over here. I was devastated. Years later, I learned about modding systems, found Tobal 2 bought it and played it like hell. To this day, I consider it one of the best 3D fighters ever made and has helped make me into the fighting gamer I am today. It got me into importing and for the 1st time, I was driven to learn a fighting game inside and out, even though I had no one to play against.Here's a weird story. I was going through boxes of old shit a few months ago, and I got to my PSX stuff. I was looking through all the magazines, loose game manuals, and so forth, and I came across the manual for Tobal No. 1.

I honestly do not remember ever owning Tobal No. 1. I remember reading about it, thinking it looked very cool, and wanting to play it, but I have no recollection of ever purchasing it or buying it. I certainly didn't steal the manual from somebody else, since I'm the only person I know who was into fighting games enough at the time to have even heard of Tobal. I am still stumped as to how I managed to acquire this manual. And you'd figure that where the manual is, the game would surely follow, but no... sadly, I didn't find the game along with it. Just this manual, and its mysterious origin which puzzles me to this very day.

[VariantX]

I recall there being another ps1 3d fighter with robots called zero divide that came out around the systems launch. And i recall that there was feature that helped you avoid ringouts by allowing you to grab onto the edge of the arena and pull yourself back in. Does anyone recall how good the game was or not??

[ShinjiGohan]

first arcade experience with SFEX was back in 99 when I first went to MWC in northbrook. At the time they had a SFEX machine and SFEX2 machine. lol I didn't get any comp play though Dream did yell at me for wadering away from the tournament.

First time I saw tekken and VF was back in 8th grade, we went to Great America and at the time they had several arcades. It seemed like Tekken had a slightly larger crowd than VF, but they had several games back then, from SFA, MK3, Primal Rage, KI etc...

[Mixah]

Sonic fighters? wasn't that a shoot em up?

[Giza]

Sonic fighters? wasn't that a shoot em up?wtf? Where the hell did you that idea?! I would say its an interesting 3d fighter to look at since it is so vastly different than any other 3d fighter at the time.

[Virtua_Leon]

slam dragons by jaleco 1995, terrible game but very funny

wild ambition, buruki one, ss 64, cant remeber the year 98 or 99

[Darkstalker]

wtf? Where the hell did you that idea?! I would say its an interesting 3d fighter to look at since it is so vastly different than any other 3d fighter at the time.

No no, he's right, I believe. There's a shoot em up called Sonic Fighters. There's also a fighting game called Sonic the Fighters or something like that, which is where your avatar is from. :P

What's the catch em up system? I just played it as a kid and kept picking Knuckles and spamming punch a lot. >_>

[Giza]

I will get all the info around Sonic the Fighters for this.

Release Date: June 1996 (Japan), July 1996 (US) [if you want to call it a release...]

Catch Up System- The worst point of the game. No doubt. It makes it so the loser player does more damage. It makes the game overall less competitive because it makes your work at the beginning of a match mean a lot less. Meh... not cool.

Main Differences from other 3d fighters at the time? Well...

As many of you who played the 3d fighters from the time would know that they started using high low mix up guessing game to base the game play off of. Sonic the Fighters doesn't use that much at all. The barrier system makes it so you can only block everywhere at once but it can break. You only got 5 barriers allowed over the coarse of the match (2 out of 3 rounds).

2.5 Gameplay Dodge was another big difference. You could only sidestep one way. Which make it so you could only control certain space on the field by using it, making it easier to control space and protect yourself overall. Which ended up leading to it feeling a lot different from other 3d fighters at the time because it became more about controlling space than the high low guessing game.

Lack of ring outs made a lot of differences to this game from many of the other 3d fighters at the time. Pushing and trying to keep the opponent in a corner could be a big part of the game in most match ups.

It has the same base as the fighting vipers engine, but the game turned out completely different.

Want more information => http://forums.shoryuken.com/showthread.php?t=127454

[ToyRobotTerror]

Iron Phoenix 2005 (http://xbox.ign.com/objects/664/664124.html)

[HP87]

There was Fighting Vipers and something called Last Bronix or something. I've forgotten its actual spelling since its been so long.

[ToyRobotTerror]

There was Fighting Vipers and something called Last Bronix or something. I've forgotten its actual spelling since its been so long.

Last Bronx

[Atomic Moth]

The jump from Tekken 2 to T3 was huge. Adding in faster gameplay, much better graphics, more individual characters and fighting styles (Lei's animal stances, Eddy Gordo), awesome music, deeper gameplay.

TTT added onto this and is now remembered as the most technical and most competitive tekken, but TTT is build off the base that T3 set. T3 would still be played today if TTT didn't come about.


Does anyone else remember how long it took to fucking get up after knockdown in T2?

[{PFH}-Lake]

Mace was a lot of fun

[Mixah]

Sonic Fighters is Aero Wings in america.

EDIT: nevermind, it was sonic wings.

I don't pay attention to my own games.

[katraqueyous]

Did Flying Dragon or Deadly Arts release in the arcade?

[Gorehound]

How dare you all forget..........


Fighting Bujitsu!!

That game was fucking GOD, and wins the title for the best costumes and arcade cabinet in fighting game history!!

I wish I had the chance to play Tenth Degree though, it look pretty good :sad:

[Mr.hitBOX]

I dont see project justice/rival schools 2 there

[NykkoMT]

Fighters Megamix

[JackTenrac!]

Fighting Layer was worst than that of good: It was dazzling. A majority of these fighters are not even forgotten. Not as much as Masters of the Tasei Kewi, mind you.

[Shinkuu Tatsumaki]

Isn't Soul Calibur 2000? 2000 is when the Dreamcast came out, or was it 1999?

[Tone!]

Isn't Soul Calibur 2000? 2000 is when the Dreamcast came out, or was it 1999?

Soul Calibur = early-mid 1999. Dreamcast released 9/9/99.

props to people who mentioned Fighting Vipers and Fighters Megamix. Though i think they were saturn-only, they were still pretty awesome to play.

EDIT:

Since we're going into the non-arcade category somewhat.. Does anybody remember this one N64 fighting game? It had two modes, one with more realistic, and another with chibi/deformed characters. It was pretty cool since the chibi mode had this rpg-style option, where you could earn various items, trophies, etc. I cant remember the name though.. I only remember borrowing it for two weeks and never seeing it again.

[Shinkuu Tatsumaki]

Soul Calibur = early-mid 1999. Dreamcast released 9/9/99.

props to people who mentioned Fighting Vipers and Fighters Megamix. Though i think they were saturn-only, they were still pretty awesome to play.


Ah yeah it was around there.

Man, Saturn was the shit. Had the best games from rpgs to whatever.

[DarkBubble]

Beastorizor FTW! A local Pizza Hut had it just before or just after I got out of high school. It was a masher, but it was a nice change of pace. Had a lot of fun with it.

We rented Bloody Roar when it came out and I thought "I've played this before..." Didn't take long to figure out where.

[pc1x1]

Soul Calibur = early-mid 1999. Dreamcast released 9/9/99.

props to people who mentioned Fighting Vipers and Fighters Megamix. Though i think they were saturn-only, they were still pretty awesome to play.

EDIT:

Since we're going into the non-arcade category somewhat.. Does anybody remember this one N64 fighting game? It had two modes, one with more realistic, and another with chibi/deformed characters. It was pretty cool since the chibi mode had this rpg-style option, where you could earn various items, trophies, etc. I cant remember the name though.. I only remember borrowing it for two weeks and never seeing it again.

Virtua Fighter Kids?

[Rhythm1c]

Soul Calibur = early-mid 1999. Dreamcast released 9/9/99.

props to people who mentioned Fighting Vipers and Fighters Megamix. Though i think they were saturn-only, they were still pretty awesome to play.

EDIT:

Since we're going into the non-arcade category somewhat.. Does anybody remember this one N64 fighting game? It had two modes, one with more realistic, and another with chibi/deformed characters. It was pretty cool since the chibi mode had this rpg-style option, where you could earn various items, trophies, etc. I cant remember the name though.. I only remember borrowing it for two weeks and never seeing it again.




I know what you are talking about it was an import game wasn't it? Oh man I've seen it before a classmate had brought it to school once and him and his friends were playing it. I guess they were playing it in the deformed mode. Because that is what I remember. It didn't look realistic at all.

[polarity]

fighters megamix was saturn only but fighting vipers wasnt

[elvis_a_presley]

holloseum(on the sega hologram arcade cab)

Holosseum wasn't 3D. It was all 2D projected onto a high-gloss black 1/4 hollow sphere. The 2D sprites were drawn in such a way that they appeared to float around inside the cabinet rather than being projected onto a screen.

Despite the gimmick, the game was 100% 2D in play (not to mention boring as bat shit):
http://www.mameworld.net/maws/romset/holo
http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?game_id=8132
http://www.system16.com/hardware.php?id=709&gid=1961#1961


Sonic fighters? wasn't that a shoot em up?
You're thinking of Sonic Wings / Aero Fighters?
http://www.mameworld.net/maws/romset/sonicwi2

[edit] Never mind.. you worked it out on page 2. :)

[Fuzzy_Snugs]

Beastorizor FTW! A local Pizza Hut had it just before or just after I got out of high school. It was a masher, but it was a nice change of pace. Had a lot of fun with it.

We rented Bloody Roar when it came out and I thought "I've played this before..." Didn't take long to figure out where.

Omg! I remember having that in my arcade that had no fighters other than it, I played it and had so much fun with it, but then we got Third Strike and Marvel.

[Worthless]

No Tobal No.1 or No.2?

I have no immediate memories but i recently grabbed it.If need be i can contribute somehow.

just...not now (at work)

[Demon Dash]

Fighter's Magamix and Last Bronx are missing from your list... Probably been posted already but whatever...

[ytwojay]

Fighting Layer was worst than that of good
????

[Sosage]

EDIT:

Since we're going into the non-arcade category somewhat.. Does anybody remember this one N64 fighting game?

Are you thinking of Deadly Arts? I don't remember anything you are talking about, seeing as I only played it once. :lol:

[gridman]

I recall there being another ps1 3d fighter with robots called zero divide that came out around the systems launch. And i recall that there was feature that helped you avoid ringouts by allowing you to grab onto the edge of the arena and pull yourself back in. Does anyone recall how good the game was or not??
It was so slow and clunky and terrible. I still have it sitting right next to me.

[BoringRyu]

Soul Calibur = early-mid 1999. Dreamcast released 9/9/99.

props to people who mentioned Fighting Vipers and Fighters Megamix. Though i think they were saturn-only, they were still pretty awesome to play.

EDIT:

Since we're going into the non-arcade category somewhat.. Does anybody remember this one N64 fighting game? It had two modes, one with more realistic, and another with chibi/deformed characters. It was pretty cool since the chibi mode had this rpg-style option, where you could earn various items, trophies, etc. I cant remember the name though.. I only remember borrowing it for two weeks and never seeing it again.

Flying Dragon

Robot Sumo and Wrestler were top tier iirc, with the Aztec kid right behind.

[opips2]

WTF?? Hyper NEO-GEO 64 !!!

- Buriki-One , 1999-05-21
- Fatal Fury: Wild Ambition , 1999-01-28
- Samurai Shodown 64, 1997-12-19
- Samurai Shodown 64: Warriors Rage, 1998-10-16

[DietSoap]

Flying Dragon

Robot Sumo and Wrestler were top tier iirc, with the Aztec kid right behind. Robo Sumo broke the god damn game... Still love it though. I always played as the hurricane girl and the military guy.

Also, the robot ninja.