| NeoGeo Battle Coliseum | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | SNK Playmore |
| Publisher(s) |
|
| Platform(s) | Arcade, PlayStation 2, Xbox 360 (via Xbox Live Arcade)[1] |
| Release date(s) | Arcade (Atomiswave) July 27, 2005 PlayStation 2 Xbox Live Arcade |
| Genre(s) | 2D Versus fighting |
| Mode(s) | Up to 2 players simultaneously |
| Rating(s) | |
| Cabinet | Upright |
| Arcade system | Atomiswave |
NeoGeo Battle Coliseum (abbreviated NGBC or NBC) is a 2 on 2 tag team fighting game for the Atomiswave arcade board. The game features characters from several SNK and ADK titles. The PlayStation 2 version of the game has been released in Japan, North America and Europe. The Xbox Live Arcade version was released worldwide on June 9, 2010.
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The official story, as given by SNK, is as follows:
"In February, 2017 of the new Japanese era there is a man trying to rule the NEOGEO World. "I will topple NeoGeo's most powerful warriors and put myself on the throne!". We knew that if he managed to obtain NeoGeo world's awesome power, world domination would not be far from his reach. This man, who sat at the heart of the "WAREZ Conglomerate" with overwhelming financial power behind him, had already set out on his ambitious path to gain NeoGeo World's power. Those who knew the truth of his intentions were already trembling with fear... As NeoGeo World drew closer to the verge of disaster, a WAREZ sponsored fighting competition was announced. This event is called "NEOGEO BATTLE COLISEUM". The Federal Government is worried about the situation, and has secretly dispatched its two best secret agents, Yuki and Ai. A world on the verge of eternal darkness... The future of NEOGEO World is now in the hands of the warriors."[2]
The name of the organization that hosts the tournament, WAREZ, is an obvious play on the word warez, as SNK Playmore blames software piracy as one of the contributing factors to the company's bankruptcy and eventual closing in 2001.
The game system of the arcade NGBC, as previously mentioned, is a 2 vs. 2 tag battle, regardless of how many players are playing. While the 2-player game system is similar to most tag-team systems of other games, the single player system is unusual.
The game's single play is more like a survival battle, where the player must beat enemies after enemies as long as possible. However, the game gives the player 300 seconds, and when time-out occurs, instead of win or lose, the player will face the boss (depending on how well they perform). Only at this point of time is when time out will determine the victor.
During a single-play, the rule is to defeat any member of the team, not both team members. That is, unlike most tag-team systems (but similar to Kizuna Encounter or Tekken Tag Tournament), where all opposition must be beaten in order to win, in NGBC the player only needs to beat up one member of the opposite team to win, without the need to fight the other member if the former is defeated.
The survival battles are divided into rounds of 3 battles, and after a player manages to clear 3 opponent teams, they are given a chance to use one of the three game services provided:
Additionally, if the player loses and chooses to continue, they're given the option to use one of three continue services to help give them a boost getting back into the game:
Also abbreviated as D-Assault, it's one of the new super moves in this game, when the character makes a rush attack that, if connected successfully, calls the partner to perform together a special tag team autocombo, similar to games like Marvel vs Capcom or Tekken Tag Tournament. In addition to that, certain characters have special D-Assaults. Here are some of the possible combinations:
NeoGeo Battle Coliseum was criticized for not making the storyline more obvious in the game and for sub-par graphics. The game seemed starkly behind the times.[4]
"The NeoGeo fighters have always been looked on by the gaming world with a certain nostalgic level of respect. The games weren’t as good as their competitors. The graphics were excellent on the NeoGeo, but that was years ago, and not much has changed in the games... This is a classic late release for a previous generation platform", wrote Blast Magazine. Blast gave the game 3/5.[4]
IGN gave the game a 7.3/10.