Aggressors of Dark Kombat

• Release Date: 1994
• Genre: Fighting
• Style: 2D Fighting

Game Description

Aggressors of Dark Kombat offers virtually no storyline to explain its fights. In fact, the prefight conversation sequences show that the fights are not much more than chance meetings. The player's chosen character will advance through a series of stages fighting a series of opponents because he doesn't like the way the other guy looks.

The game is viewed from the side perspective that virtually all 2D fighting games use. One player can fight against a computer-controlled opponent, or two players can fight against each other. Each character's life bar appears on the upper left or right of the screen, depending on starting location. A timer is located between the two life bars. When one character is drained of energy or the timer runs out, the match is over and the character left standing (or with more life, if neither characters were drained of energy) wins.

Fighting is done in a plane. Characters can move back and forth (left and right on the screen), as well as sideways (into and out of the screen). From time to time onlookers in the background will throw objects like bottles and shovels that the characters can pick up and use to inflict more damage on the opponent.

Players have eight characters to choose from, ranging from a redheaded ninja to a midget with a basketball. Each character has a distinctive stage to fight in. The game has no final boss. Instead, players win when they beat every character in the game including a mirror image of their chosen character.

Review: Overall

Aggressors of Dark Kombat is a pseudo-3D fighting game set in a graphically 2D world. It attempts to set itself apart from all other 2D fighter games with its three-plane fighting system. In addition to the X and Y, players are given the ability to move along the Z-axis. While this introduces some new strategy elements in trying to approach the opponent, it isn't enough to redeem the game from its overall mediocrity.

Graphically, the game is slightly above average. The player-selectable characters are average looking at best, and their move animations definitely won't raise any eyebrows. But that is offset by the amount of background animation in some stages. While some stages only have one or two pedestrians moving about in the background, others have crowds of onlookers and even moving vehicles. It's not enough to make you drop your jaw and lose your concentration, but it might tempt you to look away from your poorly animated characters at times.

As mentioned before, the game attempts to stand out with its three-plane fighting system. Unfortunately, in giving players a third axis to move along something has been simultaneously lost. Because moving the joystick up and down now corresponds to moving he character into and out of the screen, one button had to be assigned as a jump button.

And because the Neo Geo only has four buttons, the control scheme ends up having one button each for punch, kick, and jump. While a simplistic control system isn't the touch of death for fighting games, it does become a problem for Aggressors of Dark Kombat because the developer has made no real effort in refining the controls and fighting system. Character move lists are sparse, and there's not a lot of skill involved in winning fights. The fighting system's shallowness will manifest itself quickly, and fights tend to degenerate into button mashing.

The game doesn't really feel like a polished 2D fighter. Instead it feels more like playing a 2D side-scrolling beat-4em-up game where you only fight one enemy at a time. Adding to the beat-4em-up feel, at times onlookers in the stage background will throw things into the fighting arena which you can then pick up and use on your opponent. But even as a beat-4em-up type of game Aggressors of Dark Kombat doesn't really measure up.

With its innovative three-plane fighting system and weapons being thrown in from bystanders, Aggressors of Dark Kombat had the potential to be a fighting game based on strategy in addition to pure reflexive skill. But despite the promise, ultimately the shallow fighting system makes the game a mediocre experience at best.

Review: Enjoyment

Throwing a Molotov cocktail can be fun, but the button mashing gets old fast.

Review: Graphics

Interesting stage backgrounds, but the characters aren't very well animated.

Review: Sound

It works; that's about it.

Review: Replay Value

The character stories aren't very interesting and there's not a lot of depth to the system.

Review: Documentation

Good in-game explanation of the fighting system.