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[VGEsoterica]

If you weren't playing games in the early 90s you maybe never noticed the transition from 2D to 3D when classic fighting game franchises went from sprite based graphics to fully rendered 3D worlds...but it was an interesting time full of experimentation, lots of hits...and some big misses.

SNK had been absolutely KILLING IT in the 2D fighting game space with King of Fighters, Fatal Fury, The Last Blade and Samurai Shodown...but when it came time to transition to their own custom 3D arcade hardware Samurai Shodown got the nod for the first game to helm SNK's transition to 3D...and I for one really think the game works and they did a great job. The same methodical pacing in the 2D games is present in 3D except with a bit more "weight" to all of the characters. Throw in some admittedly janky but very stylized and art direction focused visuals and a great soundtrack...and you have a pretty fun example of a company famous for developing 2D games making the leap to full 3D.

It took Capcom even longer to get there as while Street Fighter EX originally launched in 1996 that was developed by Akira and not Capcom proper. But its still a fun look at a franchises transition to a fully 3D space for fighting games.

But if you ever see a Hyper Neo Geo 64 out in the wild (and 99% of you probably wont) throw some quarters in it and play it. Relive the rough days of 3D basically becoming "a thing"

But GAF...what fighting game series transitioned incredibly well to 3D? and which ones failed hard? Because I always love your examples

 

[diffusionx]

nice video, I never really saw Hyper Neo footage.

I don’t think there are a lot of examples of devs trying to transition their franchise into 3D. SNK was pretty gutsy doing what they did. Like Street Fighter EX is decent but never a major focus from Capcom. Mortal Kombat 4 was ROUGH but you can say the same about 3 too lol.

 

[VGEsoterica]

nice video, I never really saw Hyper Neo footage.

I don’t think there are a lot of examples of devs trying to transition their franchise into 3D. SNK was pretty gutsy doing what they did. Like Street Fighter EX is decent but never a major focus from Capcom. Mortal Kombat 4 was ROUGH but you can say the same about 3 too lol.

I mean SNK always had the AES and MVS at the same time so it’s similar to what Capcom did with having 3D and 2D, except SNK made both versions where Capcom hired out for EX

 

[GrayDock]

I played once or twice in arcades, there was one, and afaik, only one arcade of it in Rio de Janeiro. It's a shame that it never had a home version. Incredible visuals for the time and the special finish screens were so cool.

 

[VGEsoterica]

I played once or twice in arcades, there was one, and afaik, only one arcade of it in Rio de Janeiro. It's a shame that it never had a home version. Incredible visuals for the time and the special finish screens were so cool.

It’s definitely a game with strong visual vibes

 

[Celcius]

Megaman had a nice transition into 3d with Megaman Legends. Unfortunately that series seems to be dead though.

 

[VGEsoterica]

Megaman had a nice transition into 3d with Megaman Legends. Unfortunately that series seems to be dead though.

I have Capcom for cancelling Mega Man Legends 3....how dare they!

 

[VGEsoterica]

what could have been

 

[Team Andromeda]

Ninja Gaiden and Metroid's moves to 3D were brilliant

 

[Eddie-Griffin]

Megaman had a nice transition into 3d with Megaman Legends. Unfortunately that series seems to be dead though.

Well Battle and Chase beat Mega Man Legends by a few months. That games actually likely closer to traditional Mega Man than Legends is with the stealing weapons/parts and races with the bosses etc,

what could have been

MML3 being on 3DS was always going to be a mixed release on the lower end, and what they were putting out always looked rough. The story concept was going to make more holes too. Seemed more like to cash in on an impatient audience then putting passion in it despite the inviting fan feedback thing, which they also pulled with other titles. Capcom was in a bad position with reception back then. Thank goodness Infaune gave them a platform to launch off of to reverse that because people kept going on and on about how Capcom would be bankrupt by 2013-2014 or getting brought out .

 

[kunonabi]

We had SS64 in our college arcade and it had the third biggest scene only behind Tekken and CVS2. It's not a perfect translation of SS4 into 3D but a lot of the concessions gave it a really cool presentation that I still prefer to the rest of the franchise. It's also the most fun Hanzo has ever been since his movesets translated the best to 3D especially his grapples and bone breaks.

As for other games MK4 was always an interesting failure. It had some ideas I liked that eventually worked like the weapons but the goofier elements just didn't translate at all and when put next to VF and other games it just came off really amateurish. The following games kind of went into a more distinct 3D direction before trying to more closely emulate the classic game again with MK9. One wonders what would have happened if MK4 had been a much better game than it ended up as.

 

[SF Kosmo]

The MAME team has been overhauling the Hyper Neo Geo 64 driver. Once that stuff rolls over to the public build, this game should finally be pretty good in MAME.

 

[VGEsoterica]

The MAME team has been overhauling the Hyper Neo Geo 64 driver. Once that stuff rolls over to the public build, this game should finally be pretty good in MAME.

Part of this revisit is I’ve been getting captures off real hardware for the dev working on improvements so they can better understand what “should” be happening

 

[SF Kosmo]

Part of this revisit is I’ve been getting captures off real hardware for the dev working on improvements so they can better understand what “should” be happening

Someone lend poor Haze a real board lol.

Seriously, that's awesome though, the improvements have been huge.

 

[Eddie-Griffin]

Taito went nuts with 3D fighters, Fighters Impact and A, Psychic Force,

As for other games MK4 was always an interesting failure. It had some ideas I liked that eventually worked like the weapons but the goofier elements just didn't translate at all and when put next to VF and other games it just came off really amateurish.

MK4 wasn't a failure though (Gold was) it was just mixed received, praised for graphics mixed on gameplay. It did more than VF too (outside of Japan).

Some of the more entertaining cutscenes in the series however.

 

[kunonabi]

Taito went nuts with 3D fighters, Fighters Impact and A, Psychic Force,

MK4 wasn't a failure though (Gold was) it was just mixed received, praised for graphics mixed on gameplay. It did more than VF too (outside of Japan).

Some of the more entertaining cutscenes in the series however.

Didn't mean financially but more so in terms of translating the experience. The arcade cab was super striking and I almost always played it for the experience despite not liking the actual game play at the time.

 

[marquimvfs]

I used to fix a Roads Edge for a client about 10 years ago. He sold the thing and I never figured out where is it. It was a good game, but not great.

 

[VGEsoterica]

I used to fix a Roads Edge for a client about 10 years ago. He sold the thing and I never figured out where is it. It was a good game, but not great.

The racing games are the weakest of all the games by far. All fun but nothing special

 

[ReBurn]

SNK fighters were some of my favorites in the arcade. I was disappointed with Samurai Shodown when it went to 3D because it felt so slow to play compared to the 2D version. Many games felt sluggish in the early days of 3D polygons and for a long time I felt the switch ruined a lot of games. It's hard for me to look back on the transition with fond memories. It was much easier to accept games made for 3D than to see what happened to games I loved. Mortal Kombat 4 was a travesty.

 

[Kruza]

Oh man... I have to admit that I enjoyed 2D Samurai Shodown very much! But I was also far too stubborn to give the 3D version of this game a fair shot at the time it was released. In my very immature mindset at this time, I didn't bother trying to play any game from SNK that associated with anything 3D.

Taito did create a few 3D arcade fighting games that seemed interesting to me. But again... I really didn't give these type of games that came from another company I immediately associated with 2D a fair shot.

 

[Scotty W]

I see this game in an Akihabara arcade (Hirose). It seems to have a few hardcore players.

 

[K' Dash]

This is a personal opinion of course, but compared to Shodown 1,2,3 and 4 this game is complete shit.

I mean, it suffered from the growing pains of any dev trying to translate their IPs to 3D, I don’t blame them, it’s a product of it’s time but certainly not one to go back to unless it’s for study, then it becomes fascinating.

Edit: I always preferred SNK fighters, don’t get the undying love for Capcom tbh.

 

[MrA]

This is a personal opinion of course, but compared to Shodown 1,2,3 and 4 this game is complete shit.

I mean, it suffered from the growing pains of any dev trying to translate their IPs to 3D, I don’t blame them, it’s a product of it’s time but certainly not one to go back to unless it’s for study, then it becomes fascinating.

Edit: I always preferred SNK fighters, don’t get the undying love for Capcom tbh.

Because everybody played street fighter 2 and it was everywhere, where as i think snk didn't start out shining capcom until 94 with samurai shodown 2 and the other series both took til 96. Fatal fury didn't move away from being a street fighter knock off till real bout, kof 94 and 95 were clunky as all get out with kof 96 going to amazing
And by that time the ps1 just couldn't handle decent ports of snks games and sonys hatred of 2d meant snk didn't have a chance
Also I was playing the last blade on a good crt. Man I say it and last blade 2 are the best looking fighting games
Also best transfer to 3d, outrun, outrun 2 is like the best game ever

 

[Heimdall_Xtreme]

Ninja Gaiden and Metroid's moves to 3D were brilliant

And Mario.... And Zelda

 

[RAIDEN1]

SNK fighters (aka their fighting games) are legendary, and Samurai Showdown is no exception

 

[UnNamed]

It took Capcom even longer to get there as while Street Fighter EX originally launched in 1996 that was developed by Akira and not Capcom proper.

Star Gladiator was released 6 months earlier. But it's not based on a previous 2D franchise. Just, sayin.

 

[VGEsoterica]

SNK fighters (aka their fighting games) are legendary, and Samurai Showdown is no exception

SNK is just legendary in the 2D fighting game space. Its SNK and Capcom...then everyone else

 

[SpiceRacz]

I mentioned it in your other thread already, but I had a chance to try the cabinet out a few years ago. I thought the game was pretty damn fun. Wish I had spent more time playing it tbh. If you're ever in Payson, Arizona it's at a place called Pizza Factory lol.

Post in thread 'Samurai Shodown 64 beta gameplay and story on where the one of a kind prototype was found' https://www.neogaf.com/threads/samu...nd-prototype-was-found.1596632/post-262760717

 

[Team Andromeda]

I felt what really hurt SS 64 was the art. SNK was art was always the best and 2D Sprites could carry SNK amazing art in the game, not even polygon boards like Model 3 would have been able to pull off the look of SNK art at the time.

Also It might have only been really one game, but Duke move into 3D was amazing

 

[Team Andromeda]

And Mario.... And Zelda

TBh I rather the 2D Mario's and Zelda games, but they did make a great jump to 3D. So did Rayman

 

[Labolas]

SNK fighting games generally led the charge of peak character design as well imo. It's no surprise that their transition from 2d to 3d with an established was a huge gamble for them. Capcom, though with the Street Fighter Ex series gave us some gold. The music and gameplay was pretty damn good to boot.