Art of Fighting 3

"An excellent end to an excellent series!"

Ryo and Robert have to go on a search once more and their route will be blocked by villains whose wish is to make both of them eat dust, both literally and figuratively. Yep, Art of Fighting 3 starts just like its prequels but the question remains : Is it any better than its prequel which was so disappointing ?

Besides Ryo and Robert who are set again to represent the Kyokugen art, new characters have arrived with new fighting styles and each having a different reason for his or her presence here. The cast now consists of Rody with his annoying sticks, Sinclair and her sword, Kasumi Todoh who is set to appear in SNK's major title later, Wang [nothing to do with the guy from Soul Calibur !], Lenny, Karman and the frightening Jin. All these happy men and women seem to have nothing to do and thus, they'll put their skills up in AOF3 and try to amaze you with their talent.

This time, they're on the search of a lady called Freia and you'll know why once you defeat the game. Ryo is accompanied by Yuri most of the time and we still have those intros that are so characteristic of SNK's second series they ever came up with. Some of those are really funny too like when Ryo has to battle Wang and these are always a pleasure to watch. Playing with Ryo also seems to be interesting since more is unveiled with him than while playing with Robert !

The graphics are outstanding for this last AOF and at last, SNK proves that the MVS is well worth it. All the characters are finely drawn and look bigger. The colors now mingle together in an excellent way and those ugly parts that were so common in AOF2 have disappeared, which is a major relief for all the fans of the series. Everything is now more detailed from the outfits to the backgrounds and the animation is excellent this time. There's no slowdown and all the moves are great to watch.

The backgrounds are as extraordinary with some excellent ones such as the Trainyard which really seems an exploit for its time and it will surely amaze you with all its crisp details. All the backgrounds are fine but I'm only using this as an example because I feel that it's the best out of the many stages available in the game. They are pretty detailed too and all this just makes you think that although the series died, it did so beautifully !

I was a bit deceived with the music though. Sure, there are some good themes but I still get that uncanny impression that AOF2 has much better music. Sinclair's theme is probably the best in the game but it isn't that wonderful either. AOF3 has just an average soundtrack with sensible themes that will get you in the mood to fight but overall, there's nothing exceptional…Maybe a honorable mention for Kasumi's music too but since she's a real pain in the ass, you're more likely to hate her after playing the game.

The controls haven't changed in the least from the prequels. A, B and C are used for fighting and for the combos while you may press D to taunt and reduce your opponent's gauge and also to charge your power. Each special move you do will take some of the power away and once the power gauge is fully depleted, your tricks won't be doing any damage. Of course, you are very vulnerable while charging which means you must know when to perform your special moves or you're just gonna die after the first match. And watch out for the extreme moves once the opponent flashes red which will take most of your life out.

The control is way better than in AOF2 but it still is not perfect and has some major flaws. Most combos and moves are easy to pull off and there's no problem here but my indignation concerns the extreme moves which are even harder to pull than Zangief's close moves. Truthfully, something seems mighty wrong here and can thus prevent you from really enjoying the game since they're still what made the game so damn popular and if you can't even pull those ,where the hell does the interest lie ?!
Thankfully, this only concerns the flashy moves and it's OK for the rest !

As for gameplay, this is probably where AOF3 shines the most. There may be quite a ''small'' cast but each character has its own plot and this makes beating the game with all of them essential. These personal storylines are revealed in the form of intros before the battles start and also through the quotes if you would care to take attention. And taking the time to master each character is well worth it since every single one of them has lots of combos and they're all a real beauty to watch thanks to the rapid animation and the top-notch graphics.

This may be the last Art of Fighting but yet again, SNK manages to produce an outstanding title and anyone will like this crazy game where combos are what'll make you win the game. For an end to a great series, the title has excellent graphics, decent music but most of all, an outstanding gameplay and replay value. A must for fans and a sure try for everyone else. Be sure to play this game just for the fun of knowing how Kasumi came to know Ryo and Robert and lots of other stuff too !!

PLOT : 8.0/10.0
GRAPHICS : 9.0/10.0
SOUND : 6.0/10.0
CONTROL : 7.0/10.0
GAMEPLAY : 9.0/10.0
REPLAY VALUE : 7.0/10.0
OVERALL : 7.0/10.0

Enough said ! You should be playing the game now ! An excellent end to an excellent series ! I love this stuff !

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 10/07/01, Updated 11/09/02