I grew up with Capcom fighting games. Titles like Street Fighter II just had the luck of getting better home console ports. Not all of us could head down to an arcade to play, and even less could afford a Neo Geo home console. Additionally, if you weren’t Street Fighter or Mortal Kombat chances are no one cared. At least in North America in the early and mid 90s that is. I’ve had great luck with Neo Geo fighting games. This holds especially true for those I’ve never previously heard of. Aggressors of Dark Kombat looked like a typical and very generic fighting game but I went in with high hopes. It’s unique, but it’s just okay. It’s kind of weird actually. Let’s take a look.
Right off the bat Aggressors of Dark Kombat is departure from typical fighters. There’s no story. Sure, the characters talk before and after matches, but you have to use your imagination to figure out why they’re all here and why they’re fighting. I’d like to think it’s over hamburgers. Yummy hamburgers. Either way, it’s strange, and a little off-putting to be honest. Even the smallest developers took their time to scribble some kind of scenario, and the fact that they just didn’t here is so weird.
What’s also strange, if not downright bizarre, is the fact that characters do not have names. Seriously, they are not referenced or called out at any point in this game. I suppose you don’t need labels when you don’t know why people are fighting, but that’s skimping on the easiest part of making a game. Well, I suppose one of these guys does have a name; Fuma, but I only know that because he’s been brought over here from the World Heroes franchise. Why is he here? We’ll never know, because as I said earlier there’s no story to tell us why. These are really weird things to omit from a fighting game to be honest. I can look past it if you can though. Let’s try together.
Because the characters have no name I’ll just have to describe them as we take a look at the roster. You have eight different fighters to choose from, and they pretty neatly fit into typical tropes of the genre. Here you’ve got the likes of colorfully dressed greaser guy, basketball kid, flamboyant tiger tamer, Fuuma from World Heroes, strongman, street punk, and open shirt tough guy. They sound like quite the bunch, am I right? Each character has their own special attacks and move at different speeds. It’s pretty typical, but I did notice that the heavier guys feel like they have more weight to them than in most other similar titles. That’s pretty neat. They also hit a lot harder, and it feels like in this case you need to compensate and plan a little better than usual when using them.
The fighting engine in Aggressors of Dark Kombat has one major element that sets it apart from almost every other 2D fighter. Within each stage you can freely move around the play area. This means you can walk left and right, or even up and down. The game even encourages you to in order to avoid enemy attacks. The trade off is that one of the three face buttons on the controller is designated for jump. This gives you less options right off the bat, but it doesn’t feel terribly limiting to be honest. It’s a neat gimmick overall that makes Aggressors of Dark Kombat feel different from any other Neo Geo fighter.
This unconventional approach does bring a major issue with it. While there’s more freedom of movement it can be tough at times to actually hit your opponent. Aggressors of Dark Kombat is pretty forgiving as far as lining your character up with your foe, but it’s not perfect. Occasionally I was left frustrated. This holds especially true when performing special moves only to find you’re just a little too high or low. Speaking of these, they use traditional input methods like sweeps on the joystick and attack keys. There’s a focus on physical attacks instead of fantastical projectiles and the like. Grapples are a huge part of gameplay. They’re strong, and easy to connect. It also helps that they’re flashy as all heck.
Speaking of flashy attacks each character has a super move of sorts. These are called “Crazy Attacks” and require different inputs based on whom you’re playing as. You can’t perform one of these until a meter at the bottom of the screen charges and this happens from dealing and taking damage. They’re fun and add an additional layer of strategy to the game. This aspect is enhanced by the fact that fights aren’t determined by rounds. Instead both characters have life bars that change color when drained until they’re completely empty. Your crazy attack meter remains throughout the match and this element is enhanced because of the single round nature of the game.
Aggressors of Dark Kombat is a pretty game. It’s a clear step above anything on 16-bit consoles at the time. The character models are very large and feature colorful designs and a plethora of different animation frames. Where this game excels, at least visually, is in the backgrounds. In typical SNK fashion they’re full of character and rife with animation. Even simple everyday scenes are made interesting here. The soundtrack fares a little worse. It’s the typical bouncy Neo Geo fare, but it’s ultimately forgettable. I liked it plenty, but this isn’t a soundtrack I would ever consider seeking out.
I have somewhat of a soft spot for Aggressors of Dark Kombat. It’s certainly not perfect, and the lack of story (or even character names, I mean what’s up with that) makes it feel like the developers didn’t put their heart into it. Besides this we have a solid fighting engine though, and I can always appreciate a grapple fest. This game certainly stands apart from the rest of the Neo Geo fighting library. I understand why this one has the cult following that it does, and honestly, I’m now a member of it.
