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Burning Fight |
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1991 SNK
I remember loving scrolling beat-em-ups. I have no idea why. Anyway, this is a perfect example of such a game - tedious, repetitive and slow, with nothing really to distinguish it from any other scrolling beat-em-up save for a lack of quality or imagination.
A scrolling fighter should always have at least one little thing that makes it different to all the others; the gimmick in this one amounts to the occasional mid-level bonus round, where the player can walk into a shop and break things for points and health. Whoop de friggin' doo.
If there's a plot, it isn't explained at any point during the attract mode or the first few minutes of play. Just walk around and beat folks up ad nauseum, to the background of terrible music and even worse voiceovers (the subtitle reads "Come and get me," while the speaker says "HUURRRRR!").
Don't get me wrong, I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with a nice scrolling fighter. It's just that this one in particular was so determined to disappoint in every fashion that it seemed to suck my soul out through my eyes.
It started off interestingly enough, with cars and vans turning up that needed to be destroyed, enemies coming out of the background, even the occasional non-aggressive NPC (that you could still beat the crap out of, natch). It's a Neo Geo game, so unusually for a beat-em-up it uses three buttons (punch, jump, kick), but there don't seem to be any interesting combos you can pull off, apart from the two-button "Super" attack that drains your health.
After the first thirty seconds, the tedium started to get to me. When somebody threw a stick of dynamite at me, I thought "Ooh, great, explosions! That'll address the monotony!" The stick flashed, and flashed faster, and faster, and then... well, it didn't so much "Explode" as "Pop like a soap bubble with a sound like a wet fart, causing damage only to stupid enemies standing directly upon it." Meh. A let-down that perfectly represents the rest of the game. Hit "Read More" for the final judgement.
FUN
2. It's a scrolling fighter, and not a very good one. Not even for 1991. A two-minute distraction, no more.
NOTABILITY
1. There is absolutely nothing new or innovative about this game. It feels like a shallow, cynical cash-in, which it probably is.
PRESENTATION
3. Decent enough graphics for the time, and a nice attention to detail. If only it was actually fun to play.
ADDICTION
1. Playing this thing feels like work.
SURVIVAL
1. No, this wouldn't make any money in a modern arcade, nor has it aged well. That's a problem inherent with most scrolling fighters, but this game isn't getting away from the contempt it deserves just because of the natural problems with its genre, I'm afraid.
OVERALL
(2+1+3+1+1)/5 = 1.6
I remember loving scrolling beat-em-ups. I have no idea why. Anyway, this is a perfect example of such a game - tedious, repetitive and slow, with nothing really to distinguish it from any other scrolling beat-em-up save for a lack of quality or imagination.A scrolling fighter should always have at least one little thing that makes it different to all the others; the gimmick in this one amounts to the occasional mid-level bonus round, where the player can walk into a shop and break things for points and health. Whoop de friggin' doo.
If there's a plot, it isn't explained at any point during the attract mode or the first few minutes of play. Just walk around and beat folks up ad nauseum, to the background of terrible music and even worse voiceovers (the subtitle reads "Come and get me," while the speaker says "HUURRRRR!").
Don't get me wrong, I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with a nice scrolling fighter. It's just that this one in particular was so determined to disappoint in every fashion that it seemed to suck my soul out through my eyes.
It started off interestingly enough, with cars and vans turning up that needed to be destroyed, enemies coming out of the background, even the occasional non-aggressive NPC (that you could still beat the crap out of, natch). It's a Neo Geo game, so unusually for a beat-em-up it uses three buttons (punch, jump, kick), but there don't seem to be any interesting combos you can pull off, apart from the two-button "Super" attack that drains your health.
After the first thirty seconds, the tedium started to get to me. When somebody threw a stick of dynamite at me, I thought "Ooh, great, explosions! That'll address the monotony!" The stick flashed, and flashed faster, and faster, and then... well, it didn't so much "Explode" as "Pop like a soap bubble with a sound like a wet fart, causing damage only to stupid enemies standing directly upon it." Meh. A let-down that perfectly represents the rest of the game. Hit "Read More" for the final judgement.
FUN
2. It's a scrolling fighter, and not a very good one. Not even for 1991. A two-minute distraction, no more.
NOTABILITY
1. There is absolutely nothing new or innovative about this game. It feels like a shallow, cynical cash-in, which it probably is.
PRESENTATION
3. Decent enough graphics for the time, and a nice attention to detail. If only it was actually fun to play.
ADDICTION
1. Playing this thing feels like work.
SURVIVAL
1. No, this wouldn't make any money in a modern arcade, nor has it aged well. That's a problem inherent with most scrolling fighters, but this game isn't getting away from the contempt it deserves just because of the natural problems with its genre, I'm afraid.
OVERALL
(2+1+3+1+1)/5 = 1.6
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