Art of Fighting 2

Art of Fighting 2
Developer(s)	SNK
Publisher(s)	SNK Saurus (Super Famicom)
Director(s)	Akira Goto
Producer(s)	Eikichi Kawasaki Hiroshi Matsumoto
Programmer(s)	John Guso
Artist(s)	Ayumi Tsuzaki Higashi Pon Kimura Ken
Composer(s)	Yasuhiro Naka Yasumasa Yamada Yoshihiko Kitamura
Series	Art of Fighting
Platform(s)	Arcade Neo Geo AES, Neo Geo CD, Super Famicom
Release	1994 Arcade WW: 3 February 1994 Neo Geo AES JP: 11 March 1994 NA: 11 March 1994 EU: 11 March 1994 Neo Geo CD JP: 9 September 1994 NA: October 1996 Super Famicom JP: 21 December 1994
Genre(s)	Fighting
Mode(s)	Single-player Multiplayer
Arcade system	Neo Geo MVS

Gameplay screenshot showcasing a match between Yuri Sakazaki and King.

Art of Fighting 2 was released in 1994. The second installment in the Art of Fighting series added the "rage gauge"; similar to the "spirit system" of its predecessor, it limited the use and effectiveness of special attacks.

The game's story is set a year after the original in 1979. Geese Howard, a rising star in South Town's criminal underworld, summons all 12 fighters both veterans and newcomers to the city for a martial arts tournament, "The King of Fighters". Geese was the final boss and series original antagonist of SNK's other related fighting game franchise Fatal Fury, whose story took place two years after the events of Art of Fighting 2 where the late Jeff Bogard had been murdered by the hands of his former Hakkyokuseiken sparring partner Geese, which sparks the revenge of Jeff's adoptive sons Terry Bogard and Andy Bogard to fight in Geese's next King of Fighters tournament which takes place a decade later in 1991. The events of all three Art of Fighting sagas is canonically a prequel trilogy to the Fatal Fury series.

Art of Fighting 2 was the only time Yuri Sakazaki was a playable character in the series. It also marked the only time that she donned her trademark outfit, which was made famous in The King of Fighters series. This game also marks the debut of Takuma Sakazaki without his Mr. Karate persona, as well as Eiji Kisaragi, who both appear in the King of Fighters series. Ryuhaku Todo, the first character the player fights in the original Art of Fighting, is the only character not present in the sequel. All of the playable characters are selectable from the beginning in both single player and two player mode. The final boss by default is Mr. Big, though it is possible to fight Geese Howard as a secret boss if the player meets specific requirements in single player mode; Geese is not a playable character, however, with the exception of the VS mode in the SNES version.

Bonus stages

This time the bonus stages are reworked: to increase the rage gauge, the player's character has to chop down a tree with one punch, to increase the maximum health meter, the player's character must defeat a number of punks under a certain time limit, and the Initiate Super Death Blow stage has now been adapted for each character's super special move.

Art of Fighting 2 was re-released for the Wii's Virtual Console in North America on 28 July 2008 and Nintendo Switch's ACA Neo Geo worldwide on 11 January 2018.

Reception

The game was praised by both GamePro and Electronic Gaming Monthly for having far better graphics, sound, character selection and gameplay technique than the original Art of Fighting, though three of EGM's four reviewers complained that in single player mode the opponent AI is "incredibly cheap". GamePro gave it ratings (out of 5) of 5 for graphics, 5 for sound, 4.5 for controls, and 4.5 for fun factor. Electronic Gaming Monthly's four reviewers gave it ratings (out of 10) of 8, 8, 6, and 8. Computer and Video Games gave it a 95% score, calling it "easily the best beat-'em up to appear in recent years", comparing it favorably with recent Street Fighter II incarnations but criticizing its high £150-175 cost.

References

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