[Astrocity Mini All Titles Review] "Dark Edge"

"Dark Edge" is definitely one of the highlights of the Astrocity Mini titles. Like "Arabian Fight" and "Golden Ax Death Adder's Revenge", this is also a highly rare work that has never been ported.

It was 1993 that this work was operated in the arcade. Works such as Capcom's "Street Fighter II" and SNK's "Fatal Fury" were released in 1991, and game arcades entered the golden age of fighting games.

At a time when various manufacturers are churning out 2D fighting games under the influence of "Street Fighter II," Sega is still ahead of the times. It's a surprise because in 1993 they created a "3D fighting game" that no one had ever seen before.

Even though it's a 3D fighting game, it's not a 3D polygon like "Virtua Fighter" but a 2D work. It is characterized by the fact that the character can freely come and go in the battle field 360 degrees (exactly 8 directions, so each 45 degrees). It is a pseudo-3D fighting game that beautifully expresses the space with depth by incorporating the character scaling function shown in "Arabian Fight".

"Dark Edge" is an ambitious work that makes you want to say, "It's 10 years too early!" I would like to talk about this work that many people do not know.

Take full advantage of the zoom function. It's hard to believe it's a flat image, and the way it's shown flying from the back to the front is also very powerful

It's already too innovative for a 2D and 3D fighting game, but the world view of this work is also a fighting game at the time. It was a unique setting.

The time is far in the future. In a world dominated by the giant computer "RULER", six outsiders aim to destroy "RULER" in order to free themselves from its domination. A edgy world view that is completely different from the classic setting of the 1990s, where martial artists clashed with each other in fighting tournaments aiming for the strongest position. It's a style that seems to choose people, but there are many enthusiastic fans.

The devastated world view gives a good taste

There are 6 playable characters in this work. Compared to recent fighting games, it feels less, but unlike normal fighting games, not only sideways, but also front and back pictures for each character are prepared, so considering the amount of data and effort, it is enough. Too many people.

Participating in the battle are American samurai wearing sunglasses, bioweapons created through genetic manipulation, and cyborgs that have remodeled themselves to stop being human. Menz is complete. As an individual writer, these overly avant-garde characters are honest strikes.

Samurai wielding two swords "THUD" Female martial artist "GENIE" Powered suit wearer "GOLIATH" Mysterious biological weapon "BLOOD" Firearms professional "M.E.K." Modified cyborg "YEAGER"

Although it is a game content, in a straight ball, this work is a finish that is hard to say that it is a masterpiece. The first reason that comes up is the very unique operation feeling that is unique to this work.

It's a 360-degree battle that is full of surprises, but when you touch it, there are also harmful effects. Just like in conventional fighting games, you can block attacks by moving the stick behind your character. In a normal 2D fighting game, the basics are horizontal, so the guard input is only left or right, but in this work, you can move in 8 directions, so there are 8 patterns of guard directions. It takes a lot of practice to instantly judge the guard direction that changes depending on your standing position and succeed.

In this case, press down to guard. In this situation, diagonally to the left. Even if you know it in your head, it's difficult to make a quick decision

Special moves are more troublesome than guards. As with the guard, the special move command changes depending on the standing position. For example, if the character is on the left, the Hadouken command will be "236", but if the character is on the back right, the command will change to "987". Right now, just imagining the character's standing position and writing commands is going to drive me crazy, but it's no longer a brain training area to think and input this in a blink of an eye during a dizzying battle.

If you introduce the unique game nature of this work, it will inevitably look negative, but it is by no means a bad work. The threshold is higher and more difficult than conventional fighting games, but if you can overcome the first hurdle, "Dark Edge" has a fun that you can not enjoy in other fighting games.

If you can perform a special move accurately in any situation, you will have a considerable advantage in battle. , The strength of the enemy rises markedly from around the 4th round.

When you defeat 6 playable characters, you will enter a battle with the mid-boss killing machine "RAM-X". This guy's speed and firepower are the highest level of destructive performance among all characters, and even if you fight head-on, you can hardly win. The winning pattern is that RAM-X will always charge after firing four missiles, so put your attacks there. If you can deal the damage accurately, you can defeat it with this action alone, so please give it a try.

Difficulty increases sharply from the 4th round. From here, the strongest character, RAM-X, enters a "Space Harrier"-style mini-game before the boss battle during the continuation hell. Nearly 70% of the damage is done with one set of missiles and rushes. RAM-X's missiles fire evasive missiles by moving while entering guard, and then attack where they fly. The timing is severe, so you need to get used to it

Once you defeat RAM-X, you will finally fight the final boss, "RULER". RULER is a huge computer, so it doesn't move at all, and it's like a fixed artillery that just shoots projectiles. RULER's attack has high firepower, so it is important to keep your distance and dodge the attack left and right. If you fight back with a projectile while avoiding it, you can defeat it relatively easily.

It is OK just to counterattack with a projectile while dodging the "RULER" attack of the final boss who is full of villainy from the lines. The final boss fight isn't that difficult.

This time, I played it for the first time in over 20 years, and although the controls were confusing at first, once you get the hang of it, it quickly becomes interesting, so it's a strange work. is. The character graphics are also very cool, so please pay attention to them.

It is an undeniable fact that the 3D fighting game "Dark Edge" is difficult to operate, but I feel that the sophisticated "Virtua Fighter" was completed because of this work. I imagine. People who like the cyberpunk world view and the characters full of quirks should definitely play this work.

< /tr>< /tr>< tr>< td>Stack Columns< tr>< tr>

Title List
Virtua Fighter
Space Harrier
Radmobile
Dark Edge
Arabian Fight
Golden Ax
Golden Ax Deathadder's Revenge
Cotton
Thunder Force AC
Sonic Boom
Youth Scandal
Quartet 2
Puyo Puyo
Puyo Puyo Tsu
Scrambled Spirits
Colums
Columns II
Flicky
Ninja Princess
Alex Kid with Stella the Lost Stars
SHINOBI Shinobu
Shadow Dancer
ESWAT: Cyber ​​Police Ewwat
Crackdown
Gain Ground
Bonanza Brothers
Ichidantoaru
Wonder Boy
Wonder Boy Monster Land
Wonder Boy III Monster Rare
Fantasy Zone
Alien Storm
Alien Syndrome
Tantual
Beast King
Dot Rikun

Buy on Amazon:

©SEGA ©SEGATOYS