| Aggressors of Dark Kombat | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | ADK |
| Publisher(s) | ADK |
| Distributor(s) | SNK Playmore |
| Designer(s) | Kazuo Arai |
| Platform(s) | Arcade Game, Neo Geo, Neo Geo CD, PlayStation 2 |
| Release date(s) | Arcade July 1994 Neo Geo CD 1995 |
| Genre(s) | 2D Versus fighting |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, 2-player |
| Arcade system | SNK Neo-Geo MVS hardware |
| CPU | 68000 (@ 12 MHz) |
| Sound | Sound CPU : Z80 (@ 4 MHz), Sound Chips : YM2610 (@ 8 MHz) |
| Display | Horizontal, Raster, 320 x 224 pixels, 4096 colors |
Aggressors of Dark Kombat, sometimes abbreviated as ADK, and known in Japan as Tsuukai GANGAN Koushinkyoku (痛快GANGAN行進曲 lit. Thrilling Intense March) or simply GanGan, is a 1994 one-on-one fighting arcade game developed by Alpha Denshi Corp. (ADK) and published by SNK. The English game title is a pun on the developer's initials and also parodies Mortal Kombat, spelling the word combat with K instead of C.
Contents |
The game's major innovation is the ability to walk into the background, in a similar manner to some 1980s arcade fighting games like Taito's Violence Fight, SNK's Street Smart and Atari's Pit-Fighter. Because of this, unlike many other 2D fighting games, the game uses one action button to jump, and does not use the "D" button, unlike many SNK fighting games. Only two action buttons are used for attacking (punch and kick); instead, grappling and grabbing opponents is the focus of the gameplay: opponents can counter being grabbed and break free as well. Also featured is weapon play (another mechanic akin to beat 'em ups). Weapons can be picked up and thrown, or used in special and standard attacks. Weapons are thrown into the ring by spectators in the background. Another (unusual) innovation of the game is that characters begin to sweat profusely after fighting for a while.
Characters have unusually high health for the genre with a health bar that has several layers of colors to indicate the health. There is also a "Crazy Meter" at the bottom of the screen. It is built up as characters attack; this gives the character a special – and often very bizarre – attack that will kill the opponent outright. It is called the "Gan Gan Attack" in Japan, and "Crazy Attack" internationally.
Battles are joined by irreverent, sometimes humorous pre-fight banter from characters. The dialogue differs from opponent to opponent, and the fight is immediately presaged by a clash of two small images of the combatants' eyes in the center of the screen. There are almost no differences between the Japanese release of this game and the International versions aside from the rather drastic name change, but it is worth taking notice that there is blood to be found when you use a critical hit on an opponent on the Japanese release only.
The game features eight selectable characters. The characters are not named anywhere during gameplay, which is unusual for the genre. Seven of the characters are new to the series, but Kotaro Fūma returns from World Heroes.
The game was later ported to the Neo-Geo AES console, then ported a year later to SNK's Neo Geo CD. In 2008 it was also ported along with a few other Neo-Geo titles also by ADK to the PlayStation 2 as part of the ADK Tamashii Game Collection released in Japan only.
Aggressors of Dark Kombat is a somewhat less-known title compared to SNK's other fighting franchises such as Fatal Fury, Art of Fighting, and their signature fighting title The King of Fighters, and even ADK's other fighting game franchise, World Heroes. It was not found in great numbers in arcades, nor did its home console version sell well, and it was generally considered by reviewers and fighting-game fans of the time to be a mediocre title.[1] More recently, Aggressors of Dark Kombat is considered a cult game, recommended for players that want a different experience from SNK's more normal fighting game franchises.[2]
Aggressors of Dark Kombat was awarded Strangest Game of 1994 by Electronic Gaming Monthly.[3]