If you were playing games during the early '90s, chances are you remember the faint existence of consoles other than the Genesis and SNES. TurboGrafx is a no-brainer. Some of you may have actually known people who had one! Neo Geo, however, was an illusive game machine due to its unusually high retail value. The console retailed for somewhere between $500 and $700, a price point gamers thought they'd never be willing to swallow – until PlayStation 3 arrived.

Neo Geo didn't last long in America, preventing most gamers who lived outside of Japan from experiencing all that it had to offer. Most significantly it contained an alternative to Street Fighter that wasn't entirely a clone, but a trilogy by the name of The Art of Fighting. 

Interestingly, The Art of Fighting 3 came out around the same time as Soul Blade, the precursor to Soul Calibur. Although the first two Art of Fighting games stuck to hand-to-hand combat, many of the characters in The Art of Fighting 3 use weapons, including a woman named Sinclair, who moves an awful lot like Soul Calibur’s Xianghua. She’s a feisty gal, waving her sword as she retreats. She can spin in a feverish circle and strike with a fast, forward-lunging stab. Sound familiar? It should to any Soul fan, even if you’ve only touched the arcade or Dreamcast original. Sinclair’s moves are nearly identical to Xiangua’s. Prior to this anthology, I was not aware of her existence. I couldn’t believe that she came three years before Soul Calibur’s release.

Could The Art of Fighting 3 have been the source behind Namco’s inspirational sequel? It certainly gives fighting fans something to think about. Most American gamers haven’t heard of The Art of Fighting series, as it has not received the kind of attention (or a mass nationwide release, if any release at all) that Namco, Capcom, and Midway games receive.

And she’s not the only character worth examining. The Art of Fighting 3 contains other exceptional ideas, most of which were not seen prior to the game’s release and have not been attempted since. 

Anthological

The Art of Fighting Anthology includes three games from the arcade (which were later ported to SNK’s Neo Geo system): The Art of Fighting, The Art of Fighting 2, and The Path of the Warrior: Art of Fighting 3. The latter is the best, the former is the worst, and the second game falls somewhere in the middle. This review will not focus on the first game, which, even by the standards of fighters released during the early ‘90s, is a blatant and poorly constructed Street Fighter clone. Instead, the more impressive Art of Fighting sequels will be the focus.

The Art of Another

Originally released in 1994, The Art of Fighting 2 brings that late-gen SNES feel to the franchise. Character size was an important development at the time (and still is today for some games), leading to a lineup of larger, tougher-looking warriors. And a laughable clown that looks like Street Fighter 2’s Vega.

Combat is based on two key elements: normal and special attacks. The normal attacks are not out of the ordinary – kicks, punches, uppercuts, footsweeps, etc. Unlike other fighting games from that era, The Art of Fighting features a Rage Energy gauge that limits the number of special attacks that can be performed. Players must recharge their Rage to regenerate their powers, a move that leaves you vulnerable to attack. On the flip side, you can reduce your opponent’s Rage by using Provocation moves.

Though you must recharge your Rage manually in The Art of Fighting 1 and 2, the third game added a feature where the gauge gradually recharges on its own. Granted, auto-recharge is much slower than manual. But it doesn’t leave you open to attack, allowing you to kill time and stay safe to regain what was lost. 

The controls in both the second and third games are solid, but the third is easily the most responsive. Though unique in on-screen execution, the way attacks are performed does not differ from Street Fighter. To shoot a fireball, for example, you’ll push down, down + corner, and toward the opponent + punch. You can hardly call that a Street Fighter knock-off though when every single fighting game on the planet has used that move.

Similarly, there are moves with a forward, back, forward + kick motion, and the expected half-circle rolling motion for really big attacks.

What sets The Art of Fighting apart – and what makes the third chapter a very important part of fighting game history – are the weapons that each character wields. Lenny uses a lasso to whip her enemies into submission. Wang knocks people around by thrusting his oversized body in various directions. Karman has stiff, single-hit kicks and punches that, while mainstream now thanks to Tekken 3, were not as common back in 1996.

All three Art of Fighting titles have their share of characters who come off as being Street Fighter clones, but that was the norm back then, just as most polygon fighters in the late 90s copied Tekken and Mortal Kombat. 

Ultimately, this is not a collection for fighting fans in search of another modern-day classic. But if retro is your thing and you have a strong love for all kinds of fighting games, The Art of Fighting Anthology is worth adding to your collection.

Gameplay: 7
Street Fighter-style combat with a hint of Soul Calibur-style weapon fighting. The Art of Fighting 3 rocks, the second game is decent, and the first is terrible. That means the series has gotten better with time, not worse as most fighting games do.

Graphics: 5
These games are dated. But they should be – they’re old! Having said that, each one has a distinct look from its era. The first is very low-level 16-bit. The second is clearly from the Genesis and SNES days. And the third and final Art of Fighting game appears to use some of the 32-bit power introduced in 1995 to improve character animations.

Sound: 5
Nothing standout or particularly memorable.

Difficulty: Easy
With only a handful of moves per character, The Art of Fighting doesn’t take long to grasp – or master.

Concept: 6
A bare-bones collection of games that date back to ’92, ’94, and ’96. The Art of Fighting 3 was innovative for its time, but this version is merely a port.

Multiplayer: 7.5
Though the first Art of Fighting game is well past its prime, there is still great value in its two sequels. Fighting aficionados will get a kick (and a punch, footsweep, and fireball) out of this one.

Overall: 7.2
Solid retro fun. As a complete anthology, this is not your best collection. But individually the third game prevails, earning the title of “must-play” for any diehard fighting fan.