Trash And Treasure: Fatal Fury Battle Archives Vol. 1

Hello again, kidnappers and kidnappees (which is totally a word, despite what Firefox spell check will tell you), welcome to the second edition of Trash and Treasure, where I look at the best and worst for the budget gamer. In case you didn't read the first blog, I look at games that can be bought on the low budget of the current gamer down on his luck. I grade not only on game quality through the usual factors of gameplay, graphics, sound and replay value, but also on the affordablity front as well. These scores are not averages of the 5 categories, however, they are just simply placed into 3 categories...

Pawn Shop Paraphenelia (The Low End)
- These are games that are either simply horrendous games that aren't worth any amount of currency no matter what or games that are hideously overpriced for their value. As the budget gamer, these are titles to avoid.

Decent Value Deal (Middle Of The Road)
- These are either merely OK games at a great value or great games at a value that may not be affordable to the budget gamer. These are games that the budget gamer should consider, but they aren't completely must-buy titles.

Tremendous Gaming Treasure (The High End)
- These are great games at great values. Tons of fun to be had at a low price point, these are the budget gamer's Nirvana and should be picked up at any cost. Even the gamer with a ton of expendable income should look into these high-class titles.

With that said, let's get cracking on our next title, SNK Playmore's Fatal Fury Battle Archives Volume 1 for the PS2!

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If you're a budget gamer, you're certainly familiar with the concept of the "compilation disc". Take a bunch of old games, put 'em on a disc for a low price, add in a couple of extra features for the hardcores and call it a day. Instant profit. I'm not going to say that SNK Playmore's offering of Fatal Fury Battle Archives Volume 1 doesn't follow that exact formula, but those couple of extras are very well done.

For the uninitiated, during the big Street Fighter arcade craze, there were plenty of competitors to Capcom's undisputed throne. While most were just blatant knockoffs of the real deal, there was one key competitor that broke that mold: SNK. With their powerful technology for the age and their idea of a "multi-planed battle field" to attempt to create a 3D experience in a 2D playscape, the Fatal Fury series released in the early 1990s was Street Fighter's biggest competitor and the preferred option of a sect of SNK loyalists. Now, the first 4 games in the original series, Fatal Fury 1-3, plus the Special edition of Fatal Fury 2, make their way onto this disc, along with some nice features.

As far as the games themselves, the 4 in the collection are somewhat hit or miss. Fatal Fury 1, the original in the series, has its fun qualities, but it's largely just a nostalgia trip. While the challenge to get to the series' eponymous villian Geese Howard is substantial even on the lowest difficulties and you'll feel quite the sense of accomplishment when you take him down, the archaic trip is probably best taken only by the hardcore SNK fight fan who has never experienced the original. Similarly, Fatal Fury 3 falls short in this collection as well. While the most graphically impressive of the 4, the fights seem slow and unresponsive. It seems like the lightning fast characters of the other 3 games had 200 pound weights attached to their ankles, as the entire style of the game is simply slow and mundane battles of "block, hit, block". After playing the other 3 for extended amounts of time, you'll never want to come back to this game.

However, the other 2, Fatal Fury 2 and it's expanded sequal Fatal Fury Special, truly shine. The fights are fluid, with responsive controls and speedy back-and-forth action. Even to the SNK novice like myself, basic combos were very simple to understand, but with a great deal of challenege and depth underneath. I'm really putting both games together because they are exceedingly similar in nature, with the exception of Fatal Fury Special's inclusion of playable boss characters and possibly a few gameplay tweaks and tightenings. But both games are very fun, solid fighters that deserve some play time for those who haven't experienced it.

All 4 games in the collection are emulated to the PS2 system very well. SNK vets might notice some differences in some little intricracies, but the first time players and the average gamer will find all of these games graphically sound and nearly perfectly translated to the PS2 system. A major warning to those SNK novices, however: SNK fighters are notoriously difficult, and these games certainly are no exception. Geese Howard, Wolfgang Krauser and the like will have you sent into fits of rage of drunk Mel Gibson proportions. Even the normal fights seem absurd on higher difficulties. This applies to all 4 games, so be prepared for a challenge!

Now that we've talked about the main games, let's dig into those extra features...or not. Honestly, there's not a lot to discuss here. There's a costume color editing feature for all 4 games, which is nice. There's also a beautifully redone Arranged soundtrack, the real highlight of this entire compilation. The music and sound in general is excellently redone, with the original soundtracks being perfectly retranslated and the arranged tracks being beautiful modern remakes of those classic songs.

Replay value-wise, you're not looking at a lot here. All of the characters in all 4 games are already unlocked for you. Unless you're a completionist who wants to beat all 4 games with all the characters, you're not going to find much past one playthrough. The standard versus mode is fine if you have friends to play against, but you're not finding much else here in replay value. Some special unlockable videos about the making of the games or something else to that effect would have added a lot more to the package. It just feels very barebones.

The price point is solid, however. New copies are currently going for $13 at retailers like Gamestop, usually within the $10 range used. Cheaper prices can be found online, with our great pay-per-click sponsors Amazon.com offering some used copies for as low as about $3! $3 for 4 games is always a good price, no matter how you look at it.

All in all, there are some definite flaws within these titles. The games themselves are pretty hit or miss, with only 2 of them deserving any prolonged playtime. The presentation is very barebones and leaves quite a bit to be desired, and the difficulty of all 4 of these titles can border on ridiculious. However, two very fun games in Fatal Fury 2 and Special, plus a very well done soundtrack at a ridiculiously low price point if you deal hunt saves this from being Pawn Shop Paraphenelia and places this collection barely into the category of Decent Value Deal. There are definitely better fighting game compilations out there (matter of fact, there are much better ones made by SNK Playmore themselves), but it's certainly a serviceable compilation for those fight fans looking for a change of pace for just a few bones.

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That'll do it for me this time. Next time, delve with me into the gates of madness as I review TNA iMPACT! for the Xbox 360! You won't want to miss this one, so we'll see you next time with more trash and treasure from the deep depths of the bargain bins!

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- Kidnapped By Ninjas