World Heroes Anthology

A scientist by the name of Dr. Brown uses his time machine to gather up 8 fighters, and holds a tournament with the purpose of crowning one of them as the greatest fighter of all time. -summary

The story is no doubt just as lame as most of the games. For those whom may not remember, and don't feel bad if you don't. World Heroes was another arcade style fighter by ADK for Neo Geo, that was meant to overthrow Street Fighter II in the arcades as the king of fighters back in the mid 90's; but make no mistake, in the wake of SF and Mortal Kombat, World Heroes never really gained the momentum to truly pose a threat to either of them. However, that did not stop ADK though, they would go on to make 3 more sequels but to their credit, the series would show slight progression.

Now the first World Heroes wasn't only, and still is a bad fighting game; but what made it worse is that it clearly copied Street Fighter with no shame at all. From the fusion of the Dhalsim/Bison clone named Brocken, to the male version of Chun-li named Dragon, and most notably, the two cheap clone ninjas who wouldn't even exist if it weren't for two certain martial artist who wore white and red karate gi's.

Despite the mediocrity, SNK playmore has decided to reward the faithful fan base of this series, by releasing it as a 4 game anthology for the PS2. The games are perfect ports from what I remember; from the graphics to play mechanics. Fans of the franchise will more than likely be pleased with this set.

Gameplay:

World Heroes is a 2 D one on one fighter, and the bouts are decided in 2 out of 3 rounds with a time limit. It features 8 playable characters and all of them resemble Street Fighter in some way; either in appearance or play style; and when concerning the play style, I mean seriously, I don't know how this company wasn't some how violating copyright laws. I mean the AI for the two ninjas named Hanzo and Fuuma utilize the exact same fight patterns as Ryu and Ken. Hanzo is the patient one who makes you pay for mistakes exactly like Ryu, and when Fuuma is losing, he relies on his version of the shoryuken exactly like Ken. I would actually laugh if it wasn't so pathetic. Even their BGM's sound like exact replicas that captures the exact same personalities. The other characters feature a Joan of Arc style female named Janne whom wields what appears to be a broad sword, a wrestler who resembles Hulk Hogan, and different others, as well as a shape shifting unplayable final boss. Most of the characters have movesets, albeit flashier, are some how similar to the characters of SF.

The fighting set up is a very simple three button control scheme; punch, kick, and throw. Similar to Art of Fighting, the strength of the punches and kicks are determined on how hard the buttons are pressed. There are only two attacks; light and hard, and this also decides the speed, power, and range of the special moves. The game is incredibly slow and sluggish, with some bad hit detection making it damn near unplayable. However, it gets a small amount of credit for introducing the Death Match Mode. This is actually a pretty creative twist; the battles take place in a ring with an electrical current or fire replacing the ring ropes, or the ring is littered with land mines that sets you on flames with a single touch. This can also be worked into a strategy, and it's cools to end a match in a blaze of glory.

World Heroes 2 features 6 new characters with maybe only two being noteworthy; a pirate named Captain Kidd, who hurls ghost ships as his projectile, and a quick female judo expert. This time the game goes through a slight upgrade with faster frame rates and a more intricate fighting engine. The attack set up is still the same, with the addition of the attacks linking into a combo string. I really like this feature, because you can really work this in for moderate damage, plus give yourself some breathing room.

There's also a feature to repel projectiles by blocking with precise timing, as well as being able to counter grabs with a grab. The only problem with both of them is that there's really no depth to them, and they become leverage games that the AI will win almost every time. Death Match Mode appears once again, with the match decided in a 10 count ko victory, and the characters life bars are shared in a tug o' war style. This is really interesting here, as it adds another dynamic to the game play, and I enjoyed this mode the most.

World Heroes 2 Jet, features 2 new characters and this one takes place in a ranking tournament. The player will face three opponents per match in a gauntlet, and the goal is to win two in order to advance. Game play is smoother this time with a faster frame rate, along with forward and back dashing. The characters even have new attacks making this game a much better improvement than the last two. We're finally getting somewhere now.

World Heroes Perfect is the best of the series hands down. It drops the tournament-gauntlet style, and goes back to one on one, two out of three. This game drops the previous three button attack style, and goes with a 6 button set up exactly like Street Fighter. There are also two special move bars that can be used when near death, and another that can be used when the power gauge is full; but the best feature is the faster game play and other mechanics. Players can now perform guard breaks, feints, aerial blocking, projectile killers, only to name few. The game has far more depth then the previous games, and the player will be able to plan different strategies.

Unfortunately, all four games have two common flaws that will definitely turn away players who aren't fans of the franchise; difficulty and balance. Like all fighting games that have ever fell under the SNK banner, the AI is a complete cheap bastard and you will be mandhandled often. It seems as if the AI has an answer for everything, and it can go from superior defense to highly aggressive offense in a heart beat. It will win most grab situations and the lack of balance will get anyone ticked; and let's not even go there with the boss battles. Excluding the first game, they are incredibly cheap and are much harder than the regular line-up. The two player co-op is the only time you will find some type of balance here, and the death matches provide that variety with the second game being the best here, since it's always possible to stage a comeback in the 10 count battle. There's also a practice mode for all four games to learn the moves.

Controls:

The controls see some progress as the sequels continue, with the first two being the most sluggish of them all. It feels as if they have to be exaggerated a bit much. Going for harder attacks in the first three games, by pressing the buttons a little harder really isn't an issue though. World Heroes Perfect has an awkward control set up, and it's a good thing they can be configured; but once you get them down with much practice, pulling off combos and performing moves are pretty easy for the most part.

Graphics/Music/Sound:

The first two games reuses the same pixelated sprites, while the last two make some minor changes with different poses and move animations. The background stages are fine and most of them reflect the characters styles or personalities; such as Hanzo's stage in WH2, where the battle takes place in a bamboo tree forest, with two of his ninjas taking off in the background, Captain Kidd's stage that takes place in what appears to be a hidden cavern is truly fitting for him, because it gives off a certain atmosphere suitable for a pirate. There are smaller details like two girls in the background embracing each other, whenever judo expert Ryoko wins a match in her stage. The Death Match stages features cheering crowds in the background, and the outside of the ring engulfed in flames. World Heroes Perfect has far better stage designs, but I wouldn't say they're anything to brag about.

The soundtrack for the individual characters is pretty good and captures a fighting mood I think. There's plenty of memorable songs that have stuck with me throughout the years. Sound effects have their moments, Captain Kidd's projectile attacks have this ghostly wind sound effect that stands out to me. Other than that, I can't think of anything noteworthy.

Overall:

World Heroes Anthology is something that will only appeal to die hard fans of the series. The first two games will feel unplayable to many and just too outdated. World Heroes Jet is barely cutting it despite the faster game play, and World Heroes Perfect is the only one really worth playing. Unlike many others, I always understood how come this series was canned years ago. There were so many other fighters out there that were just plain better in so many ways. While this one felt like the bastard child of almost everything.

In any case, one good game is not enough reason to recommend World Heroes Anthology. It was barely good even for its time, and personally I think it's something that can be left on the shelf. However, if you're a serious fan of 90's fighters and SNK's anthology releases, then give this a shot.

Overall Rating: 5/10

Pros: Four games in one collection, slight progress through each game, extra modes

Cons: Massively cheap AI, 1st and 2nd games, 4th game has awkward control set up