Those who were interested in yesterday's Street Fighter post may well want to know about this. SNK Playmore has confirmed a UK release for its SNK Arcade Classics Vol. 1 collection. Due out this autumn on PS2, Wii and PSP, the disc packs in 16 absolute legends of the 2D era, including several of SNK's beautiful hardcore fighting games.
Beat-'em-up connoisseurs will get to enjoy Art of Fighting, with its Spirit Gauge innovation, Fatal Fury, with its odd two-plane dodge system and brilliant co-op mode (later employed in the IK+ series), the original King of Fighters title (KoF 94, of course), the blood-splattered Samurai Shodown and the cult NeoGeo gem, World Heroes (actually developed by ADK, also responsible for Ninja Master's(sic) and Magician Lord, which is also included in the collection).
To casual observers, SNK's 2D fighters were mere imitators of the Street Fighter series, but this is not the case. The combat systems are totally different, with SNK's Art of Fighting series introducing the whole concept of the super special move that would go onto to become a beat-'em-up staple. Also, although both employed luxuriously rich, detailed 2D visuals, SNK's backgrounds were more expressive, and often filled with comic touches. It's also worth pointing out that staff have switched between the Capcom and SNK camps over the years, with original Street Fighter creators Takashi Nishiyama and Hiroshi Matsumoto, going onto to work at SNK, notably in the King of Fighters and Fatal Fury series', while famed illustrator Shinkiro started at SNK but now works for Capcom.
Aaaanyway, the package also includes the original Metal Slug, fun proto-footie sim, Super Sidekicks 3 and the sadly almost forgotten, King of Monsters, a sort of Rampage-style destruct-'em-up. US reviews hint at some emulation issues, which is disappointing, but I'll reserve judgement until I get a Pal copy...
