If you're a fan of video games from Japan, you may have noticed that the visual style of many games tend to be heavily influenced by anime and manga. We thought you might like to check out the anime versions of a few of your favorite SNK series, so we compiled a list of the major titles we found.
Art of Fighting (1993)
Fans of the Art of Fighting game and King of Fighters will recognize their favorite Ryo and Robert as they try to outrun the mob after accidentally witnessing a murder in this OVA (Original Video Animation). The tagline says, "They've been shot at, run off the road, and nearly blown to pieces - but now it's getting personal." Personal, indeed. Apparently, the mob boss after them decides to kidnap Ryo's sister Yuri, so it's up to them to get her back and save the day.
Should you see it?
I'm not sure I could fully recommend this title to you and feel right about it. If you're a seasoned anime watcher, chances are you'll see this movie for what it is right off--a fairly cheesy, low-impact action film with a dated look. In fact, chances are, you've seen many, many anime films like this one of varying quality. However, fans of the series who view it as a piece of nostalgia and aren't normally into anime might be less harsh on the overall 'light' feel of the disc. The review at Animeworld.com rates Art of Fighting a 2 out of 5, stating that it's more of a buddy movie than a martial arts anime, which seems about right. However, the plot of the anime doesn't seem to diverge too much from the plot of the game, which should make fans of the series happy.
You might like this disc if you also like: cheesy 80's action flicks, buddy movies, comedies.
Fatal Fury
If you're into anime, you may have long ago noticed the Fatal Fury anime series at a Blockbuster near you. Featuring sharply distinctive character design by Masami Obari (Gowcaizer, Tekkaman Blade), the Fatal Fury anime series consists of two OVAs and a feature-length film, all of which have been translated and ported to North American home video and DVD. Because the series is a fighting game with a partially developed plotline, the makers of this series did't have to go far to stay within the plotline of the original games, but managed to make all 3 films feel like fairly complete stories.
Part 1 - Fatal Fury: Legend of the Hungry Wolf (1992)
The first video in the series introduces the story of Terry and Andy Bogard, who witness their father being brutally murdered by crime boss Geese Howard for scrolls that supposedly hold the secrets to their family's martial arts abilities. Ten years later, they return to Japan to compete in a martial arts tournament held by the man that killed their father in order to beat him and take their revenge.
Part 2 - Fatal Fury: The New Battle (1993)
This second installment introduces a cool new bad guy that Terry and Andy have to beat up, and introduces the lovely Mai Shiranui as well. The plot involves Terry and Andy attempting to stop the menacing German nobleman Wolfgang Krauser from beating people nearly to death in his quest to be the best fighter in the world. Though the story follows the usual, "beat the bad guy, save lots of people" formula popular in action films 'round the world, The New Battle also focuses on developing the characters with a depth unusual in fighting-themed anime films. And, of course, it has killer fighting scenes that surpass those in the original OVA.
Part 3 - Fatal Fury: The Motion Picture (1994)
If you don't feel like watching the previous two videos but are still interested in watching an animated Fatal Fury, this movie is for you. Though the plot may seem a little far-fetched, it hardly is considering that it's typical in this genre for junior high school boys to pilot giant robots and save the world. So, it should be nothing but typical that this movie involves Terry, Andy, Mai and their buddy Joe out to save the world from a man who wants to achieve world domination by becoming the god Mars. Well, not literally, but by piecing together parts of a mystical set of armor that is supposed to give the wearer the powers of a god. Anyways, Fatal Fury the Motion Picture makes for a great adventure film as the heroes set out to prevent the bad guy from collecting the entire set of armor (gotta catch 'em all!), and also features some pretty u
nbelievable-but-impressive fight scenes. Overall, the animation quality of this film is for obvious reasons far superior to that of the previous two OVAs and pretty slick-looking overall.
Should you see it?
Out of all the series mentioned in this article, Fatal Fury is probably the one I'd recommend most to you, whether or not you were a huge fan of the series (which hasn't had a stand-alone title since 2001's Fatal Fury: Mark of the Wolves for the Sega Dreamcast). And of course, people who watch anime for cute girls will love Mai. Mai, Mai, Mai. Bouncy bonuses aside, the Fatal Fury anime series is by far the superior one when it comes to character development, art style, and action, so I would recommend checking at least one of these flicks out if you're curious.
You might like this series if you also like: Martial arts films, fighting games, bouncy girls.
Samurai Shodown
Though the Samurai Shodown series of games has been a favorite of mine ever since it first hit arcades, the anime series is another story. It consists of two movies (actually a movie and a set of OVAs) that suffer from a lack of continuity and character development. However, it's still worth writing about them so you'll know what to avoid.
Samurai Shodown (1994)
This movie follows a typical action anime plot pattern that involves an assortment of heroes from around the world who unite to defeat a villain hell-bent on taking over the world. Yawn if you must; I certainly did. The characters and the plot seem haphazardly thrown together as if everyone involved in the making of this refused to play the game or take anything from it. The result, as you can imagine, is nearly unwatchable.
Should you see it?
Why sure, if you like pain, torture, and overall suffering. I shouldn't forget to mention that the weak, hole-y plot also over inflates itself and the importance of its characters by adding in the totally unnecessary detail that the heroes are all reincarnations of warriors that were killed by the main baddie Amakusa Shiro (named after a saint-like figure in Japanese history in an ironic twist) a hundred years before. Overall, the production quality seems pretty poor, the dubbed voices are irritating and the plot is clichéd to a fault. Perhaps you may disagree, but I want my 63 minutes back.
Samurai Spirits 2: Asura Zanmaden (1999)
This set of DVDs actually never came out in North America, but the first movie was so bad that I felt it necessary to provide some sort of alternative. This second attempt to make Samurai Shodown as an anime was far less painful, though still lacking in character development and had a fairly confusing storyline. The plot of this series basically involved each character fighting a 'dark' version of themselves, which was a feature added to the later installments of the game series. For the life of me, I can't remember too much about this OVA, but I found the addition of newer characters from later installments of the game series and the revamped character design to be an improvement.
Should you see it?
Whether you want to or not, you probably won't be able to find it, because this OVA series was never sold here. Some sellers were selling region-free versions from Hong Kong on eBay, but you won't find this at your local Blockbuster. It's not terrible, and as I said earlier, a marked improvement over the first film, but it's not really worth the trouble of finding it and translating it. Save your money for Samurai Shodown V instead.
If you like the Samurai Shodown series, let me recommend these anime titles to you instead: Ninja Scroll, Rurouni Kenshin, The Hakkenden, Samurai Deeper Kyo.
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