"Unsatisfactory"

In the early nineties, it seemed like every unknown developer tried to ride the new wave of success created by such titles as Street Fighter 2 and Fatal Fury. Unfortunately for you, the avid fighting fan (who else would be reading a review on a super obscure fighter?), this lead to an incessant barrage of humdrum fighters that we can all sum up with one word: unsatisfactory.

Fighting Masters falls into this accursed category full of failures and misfits. We can compare its unequivocally detestable game play to that of a diluted and crippled version of Street Fighter 2 minus the variety of moves. The battles are one-on-one and take place on horrendously animated stages. Attempts by Fighting Masters to combine elements from other successful fighting franchises into its own fails pathetically as well.

Never mind any opening movies that might show something the player could care about; Fighting Masters cuts right to the chase with allowing you to choose a character. I picked an odd character named ''Rotundo.'' His gigantic blue man-boobs and cerulean cape with tawdry, burgundy balls tickled my fancy for some reason. After playing around for a short time, I started to notice a pattern. I found myself using the same three moves repeatedly. I thought to myself, intrigued ''I can't be that lame can I?'' Well, luckily, it wasn't I being lame for once.

All ten or so bizarre contenders in Fighting Masters have a repertoire of attacks pulled off by using the same button sequences. Some more prominent techniques that are repeat are: the throw, the punch, and the standard special move. The punch will deal out a barley noticeable amount of damage, while the throw can, seemingly, take away a massive amount of life. Throws are often multi-hit; you throwing them, them hitting the wall, hitting the ground, and getting back up again. Not to mention the game pauses each time the enemy crashes into an object followed by turning them bright yellow like to emphasize specifically a throw happened. A problem is that only throws seem to do enough damage to make the slow battles go quicker, and you and the enemy have many bars of health to take away.

Another aspect that makes Fighting Masters bottom-of-the-barrel material are those slowly paced battles. The battling characters will languorously make their way across the dreadfully animated stage. Once you and your opponent meet up, the fighting, as well as the influx of problems, will begin. You’ll have to rely on endless button-mashing and a rather good amount of luck to defeat your opponent. Of course, the opening few fights will be pose no challenge. Like usual, the A. I will progressively get harder as you continue in the game. Soon, the battles will be near-impossible and make you resort to cussing and turning the game off (a recommended way of dealing with the fact you suck.)

What makes it so difficult is your character is very lethargic and the process of evading is simply too hard. In a balanced fighter, such as SNK vs. Capcom: Match of the Millennium, before the rival hits you, you had numerous ways to strike back or defend yourself. You could block, jump over the attack (if it were a projectile), or even retort before the enemy’s attack even touched you. During a battle, you’ll have to take the damage, as all the characters are too slow to defend themselves effectively. You’re a sitting duck that can only attack.

I’ve discovered a rather noticeable flaw, this time in those atrociously illustrated backdrops. Keep in mind that you’re portraying a 3000-pound colossal beast. For one reason or another, you’re surrounded by edifices that are noticeably larger and more staggering in size than you. Are all old-style Japanese statues suppose to be larger than sixty-one-foot beasts fighting for world domination? I guess so. There’s always stuff that’s larger than your character in each level that shouldn’t be, such as trees and doorways. Never mind logic. It’s obviously not an issue here.

Since I’ve been bashing the backdrops for quite some time, I suppose it’s time for me to elaborate. A certain level comes to mind, as there’s the same scenery repeated over and over. Two towering trees in five shades of brown followed by some kind of greenery that’s placed multiple times in a row. To top it off, there’s soaring green mountains in the background with a placid river in front of them. Notice how I said “green mountains.” Are mountains that seem to have a peek around ten-thousand feet suppose to have an abundance of life at the top? I don’t think so.

The last of the three stages includes a gladiator-esque arena excluding the huge, screaming crowds. The whole stage is composed of nothing but off-shades of grisly brown. The sky appears as though someone wiped their butt with it. The ground looks like you’re fighting on a big piece of fudge candy. It’s more than evident that the developers half-assed everything.

Fighting Masters is complete and utter waste of your time. The fact that all the levels look horrible and are illogical is amusing. That, combined with the fact that the characters are too slow to do anything with and the fighting system is unbalanced makes this game one of the worst in the genre. Stay away!

Final - 2

Reviewer's Score: 2/10, Originally Posted: 12/22/03