The Art of Fighting series was one of the mainstream fighting draws of SNK (next to Fatal Fury and KOF).This third installment (Path of the Warrior) has some new characters, an enhanced engine, and a basic storyline. Choose your characters from a line up of eight standard choices, with the additional two "bosses" after they have been defeated (in the home version; they are already enabled in the arcade). Some others are seen throughout the game (Freia and Yuri), as part of the story.

Here are the ten players:

The eight way stick is standard, with the four buttons - punch, kick and a power button, with the "Raz" as D - being somewhat similar to Real Bout. Tap up for a hop, twice forward for the dash, and so forth... the unique control is the reverse direction, where you trip your opponent when they are on the offensive (back+C up close). Avoid high attacks with A+B, refill spirit level with A+B+C (more on this later), and drain the challenger's spirit with D (multiple taps for ticks, or let the full anim run for a whole lot'o'drain).

This graphical adventure is worthy of prolonged looks. There is little flashing, sparse blood, nice lighting effects, interactive objects, some 3D rendered images (for winning aftermath screens) and kewl music (if you use Wyler, some tracks will be changed). The character animations are some of the smoothest and detailed on the Neo Geo to date (AD 2000), and the backgrounds are not very far behind (detail is lacking, but they are suited just as well). Each punch, each kick, and each twitch has a good bit of motion supplied, which may ultimately lead some to think that this game is rather slow. You didn't see me nodding my head here now, did you?

The entire scoring system is more of the timed feature, like Soul Calibur. So, fight as fast as you can, and any way you can (you won't see any cheese spoiling your record as in SFEX2 :). Challengers give rise to your "wins" count; there is no point-based system anywhere here. In the end, either your winning streak or the time of completion gets you a signature.

The fights are entirely based on a fixed storyline for each character (besides Wyler). You see a large map of the area, a triangle representing your character, and the movement about the tracks'n'trails which determine the stage (you get a name), and then your opponent. Dialogue is never translated well (SNK of America? I saw no real English version there!), but it is necessary to give a reason why you fight, and then to boast after the fight. As you progress, you learn more about your character's story, and (obviously) you have an increasingly tougher time.

Special moves are now controlled; no more scrubs playing in this game. There is a fixed spirit limit for each character, and when a special move is executed, a portion is drained. When near empty or entirely vacant, your special moves are no longer as powerful and may have very short ranged effects. Rebuild the spirit level as mentioned before, but remember that the lag is risky. Most of the time, excellent characters do not need to use their specials often (Jin, Robert), and the damage can be still up to par with normal chain-combos.

Combo material's pretty hard to master, and necessitates dashes, quick button taps, and intricate timing. Most of the damage can be done by juggling (all characters can juggle) and chaining (Jin is a master here). All in all, the game is not very combo-friendly, but cheap Wyler can keep whacking with A up to six times, for good damage. The major moves (desperations) are really powerful; they use about 90% of the gauge, can be activated when you flash red, and can hit for the "Ultimate K.O.", where the screen goes black, etc. What's special about this is that it has to be used as a counter, and you effectively KILL the opponent (ripping those clothes to shreds... Oh yeah, Kasumi, your pappy does not have to know about this, hehe), getting a stage completion after as little as one round! Otherwise, you get the normal rounds.. particularly with Ryo, Robert and Wyler (never got to kill them yet - is this a pre-determined event?).

Strength is evenly spread, with the standard powerhouses (Ryo'n'Robert) not being able to entirely dominate the match-up. Wyler, however, is the exception. He is THE powerhouse (that tonic seems to have a little to do with it, and he can't be thrown normally by anyone - he breaks the grip) and you do not get a story or an ending for him, but rather a wealth of fights, where Robert is the last man. His only quotes are seen with human challengers. Most of the other characters are looking for Ryo or Robert for some reason or the next, while the R's have their own little dispute to sort out. Jin wants to kick Ryo's tail, Kasumi wants to avenge her father (remember the original AoF? Damn, now he won't want me near his daughter.. ahem..), Karman looks for Robert, and so forth. Basic story is emphasized, but you can easily bypass any scene with A... if you don't care about reading, that is.

This game is well worth it if you like good graphics and music, and you care about the continuing story of the raging tiger and the invincible dragon. If you are looking for a replacement for a Street Fighter slot in your life, however, don't look here. It is worth some time in the arcades, and has a good range of moves to master and experiment with, but the game style is unique, as far as I can see.

Review done by LChrysler for EmulaZone exclusively. No part of this compilation may be duplicated in ANY form without permission from the Zone.