Fightcade at Vortex Gallery pt. 2

Vortex Gallery enters its second week, so here's another post detailing the games you can join on Fightcade. If you're not familiar, Fightcade is a platform that lets people play arcade games online - 90% of the time, that's fighting games. This is why we're here.

Week 2 registration closes Feb 15th, with tournaments Feb 17-19th.

Friday, February 17th, 2023

3pm PST - Double Dragon (NA+SA)

Double Dragon is a fighting game, often referred to as "Double Dragon NeoGeo" or "Double Dragon '95" (this one's from the game's special credits). In a bizarre inversion of Street Fighter: The Movie, Double Dragon is a game based on the live-action movie (1994) that opts for a more typical anime artstyle. This game's a favorite of mine for how easy it is to pick up and play, with simple mechanics, unique characters (aside from Billy and Jimmy), and ridiculous damage. There's a total of 10 characters, but only the bros. and Marian and Abobo are from the movie, while other characters are recurring Double Dragon foes like Burnov.

Let's talk about how this game actually handles. Double Dragon changes up your typical movement by adding a double jump. Your dash is more like a hop, allowing you to use an air normal - these are generally mids, except dash B remains an overhead. The ability to dash and attack, double jump, and/or air block means a lot of airborne fighting, which shakes down in a totally different way to an airdasher. There's also a mechanic known as "hitstun stacking", where hitting with multiple C normals or a D normal causes further attacks to have extra hitstun. This enables infinites, some easy and some hard, but damage is naturally high so you don't need infinites to play.

This game is also surprisingly popular in China. It's consistently played by around 100 users on X-zone, a platform similar to Fightcade that requires a Chinese phone number to use. I wish I could say more about that, but it's just as much a mystery to me. My favorite character is Cheng-Fu, an obvious nod to Jackie Chan's drunken master appearance. One of his gimmicks is his throw, that blows sake in your face to stun you. Consequently, he's one of the few characters with no air throw.

5pm PST - Samurai Shodown VI (NA)

The advent of Flycast rollback, enabling people to play Dreamcast and arcade games on Atomiswave and NAOMI, has led to a lot of games being "discovered". Samurai Shodown 6 is one such game, initially dismissed as an ugly spot in one of SNK's flagship series. While I won't go to bat for its art style, it's a really fun game in its own right. If you're used to any samsho game, you'll like it... after getting over the differences. Note that on Flycast the game uses its Japanese title: Samurai Spirits Tenkaichi Kenkakuden

In this game, you pick Spirits that have unique mechanics, down to the rage build and damage dealt (think CvS Grooves). Samsho has always struggled to find a comfortable button layout, alternating between "press AB simultaneously to heavy slash" and "input 216D to deflect". Seeing as the Atomiswave supports 5 buttons, the controls were able to be simplified. Now the E button takes the place of the D button for mechanics like rolls, ducking, and deflect (236E). Generally speaking, the best spirits are IV (4) for the combo system (press AB to start), VI (6) for a typical meter that builds when you attack and doesn't go away until you use it, or V (5) for movement or the time slow mechanic. That said, I and II have their own fun gimmicks, just don't play III (play the real Samsho 3).

The changes to the core game are also numerous. I'd honestly say this feels closer to a Street Fighter game, so if you didn't like another Samsho game it might be worth trying. These include lower damage, corner crossups, and more emphasis on oki. The last one is due to the removal of delayed getup - instead you can tech with a short or long back roll.

Saturday, February 18th, 2023

11am PST - Asura Buster: Eternal Warriors (Global)

I don't know much about Asura Buster since I haven't played it, but this is a sequel to Asura Blade by Fuuki. That doesn't give you a lot to work with, does it? Anyway, Asura Buster comes with a bunch of combo mechanics, like a global launcher (any 2 buttons) that can be used in the air. Damage isn't too high, which stands out for a game of its age, but it means it can be fast-paced without being overwhelming.

There are no throws, with every character having an unblockable that stuns for a free followup. In addition, everyone has a different meter length, which can be used for EX/super moves that generally launch for combos. There's also Boost Mode, performed with 22ABC, unique to each character. Yashaou, the protagonist, gets a typical "shadow" for custom combos. Goat, the man with a sword that rivals Guts from Berserk, gets super armor on all attacks. Finally, if you fall in battle, you have the option to go for a Last Stand. This is an all-in move that leaves you with 1 HP, giving you 10 seconds to potentially steal the game.

12pm PST - Vampire Savior (NA)

Vampire Savior is an absolute classic that needs no introduction - if you don't recognize the name, it's usually called Darkstalkers 3. For whatever reason, Capcom USA made the titles confusing, but the competitive scene sticks to the Japanese titles. Anyway, VSav is one of the forerunners of the anime fighter subgenre, and it's an incredible game to watch at a high level. You can expect to see a good variety of characters, too, despite there being obvious winners (Sasquatch, Zabel, Gallon) and losers (Morrigan, Victor, Anakaris).

Every character has unique movement options, with only a few being able to airdash (Zabel, Q-Bee, Lei Lei, Jedah). One of the core mechanics is the oft-misunderstood pushblock, or "Tech Hit". Unlike later Capcom games (including JoJo's, mentioned later), you have to press different buttons. As in, you can't press and hold LP, then press MP... you have to let go of LP, and you have to hit 6 inputs to guarantee a pushblock. Properly utilizing pushblock allows you to reverse the flow of offense and defense, and nothing is cooler than two player who know how to use it.

Vampire Savior has one of the most dedicated communities out there, not just among retro games. It says something that people have been keeping this game alive despite Capcom largely ignoring it for the past 10 years. Tune in and you might just be convinced to pick up VSav right then and there.

5pm PST - Landmaker (Global)

PolarBair explains a puzzle game challenge.

Taito is likely a familiar name to any arcade enthusiast, and they had success in every genre (except fighting games - more on that later). One of their many puzzle games, Landmaker puts an interesting spin on things. The board is isometric and this literally informs how you build things. I can't fully explain how the mechanics work, but I don't have to.

The basic rundown is this: you want to slide blocks together to build Structures. Square layouts give bonuses, called Bronze (2x2) up to Platinum (5x5) Structures. There's familiar concepts of garbage (push damage), and the game makes it pretty clear where to aim. If you match the glowing corner of a structure with your current piece, you'll complete it and send stuff to your opponent. If you toss a different color between two blocks, they can change the color of adjacent blocks. Naturally, each character has their own patterns, and things can go pretty back-and-forth.

Sunday, February 19th, 2023

12pm PST - JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Heritage for the Future (NA)

It's hard to talk about this game when I know a lot of people who were mistreated by its community. At one point I spoke up about the racism endemic to the HFTF scene and had people respond by making BLM jokes and raiding some of my discords. A problem user I was pointing out had a racist joke in their banner and was making antisemitic posts. Meanwhile the lead TO, Bill, was telling someone else who was complaining about the racism that they "make up stuff for clout".

It's a damn shame, because the game itself is really good! As a later Capcom game, it reaches a similar level of quality to Street Fighter 3, and you'll be able to enjoy it even as a non-fan. The stand mechanics are deep, with different kinds of stands (Active, Passive, and Weapon) having their own options. Generally, active stands are the best for their Tandem Attack, where you dial in a series of inputs for about 1 second, allowing your stand to attack independently.

I view this a lot like Hokuto no Ken: Not balanced, but very cool and technical. Don't interact with the community, but play it with a friend if you like anime games.

12pm PST - Red Earth (Global)

Thanks to a recent port in the Capcom Fighting Collection, this game has a bit of a scene now. Of course, Fightcade is still the best way to play it, but that's beside the point. A lot of people didn't know about Red Earth, seeing as it's the other other CPS3 title (after SF3 and JoJo's). Unfortunately, it's not hard to see why. This game wasn't designed with much intent to be a 1v1 fighter, being a game with 4 characters and 8 or so bosses.

Combos are short and decently damaging. There's a parry-at-home mechanic called Ultimate Guard. The notation is complicated a bit by the need to stick to the password screen, which uses the numbers 1-6 for LP, MP, etc. This is because you need to enter passwords to have max-level characters out the gate, so you can use all your special moves. Red Earth was designed like an RPG with constant boss fights to level up. Still, it speaks to the will of players to dig into games and find everything they can.

4pm PST - Toy Fighter (NA)

I could say that Toy Fighter is one of the games that got a new lease on life thanks to Flycast. That would be severely downplaying how wacky and weird this game is. I was actually first exposed to it on Kusoge Advent Calendar, before netplay was viable. This is a 3D game with 3 buttons: Punch, Kick, and a mysterious third button.

The Dodge button can variously avoid highs, lows, and throws, but certain attacks will catch the dodge. You can jump on the literal ring you fight in to attack, or kick it to bump the opponent towards you. Start a throw with P+K, and the opponent can escape or reverse it, with repeated reverse-throws getting harder. However, the way health work really incentivizes using throws, because they take two life points instantly. On the other hand, a normal KO only takes one life point. You can draw a line connecting this and the Fighter's Destiny series, it's such a strange, beautiful game.

5pm PST - The King of Fighters 2003 (Global)

KOF 2003 was made when SNK was firmly in their flop era. It marks the introduction of tag mechanics to KOF (short-lived) and Ash Crimson, among others. You can "shift" to your other teammates with BC or CD, or multi-shift with 236BC/CD to attack and continue combos. It seems overshadowed by KOF 11, a game that would fix the lack of buffer and make some wild picks like Jyazu from Kizuna Encounter.

Anyway, I couldn't really sell you on KOF 2003, but for such an underplayed game, maybe there's something in there. It did add some fan favorites, like Gato from Garou: Mark of the Wolves. He's top tier along with newcomers Adelheid and Duo Long.

Ryyudo

@Ryyudo

That "I Fucked Up!" guy