Up from (Super) Obscurity
permalinkWant an alternative to the Street Fighter II fighting game hegemony? How about another series that also hit its stride with its second installment...introducing both the ability to play lots of different characters AND the franchise's most memorable and "well-rounded" fighter?
Well, look no further than...
Fatal Fury 2
What, are you going to review a fighting game now?
Fear not, gentle reader! Your ol' buddy CarlMarksGuy is just going to turn his Attention Deficit Disorder-y eye on one of the key figures introduced in this game -- perhaps the most popular, and definitely the most "well-rounded", who is pictured to the right:
Yes, that's right, hold on to your socks because we're going to talk about --
Cheng Sin Zam!
Fight!
An unlikely competitor, this tubby mustachioed fighter seems more like an over-the-hill high school teacher than a kung fu master. However, he's (somehow) able to school his opponents, via beatings handed out courtesy of his feet, belly, forehead and strangely-glowing fists:
Surprisingly (or unsurprisingly, if you've ever experienced any fighting game physics), Cheng's humongous gut does not prevent him from leaping twelve feet in the air, lithe as a young gazelle...though I guess they kind of pay lip-service to the fact that Cheng looks completely out of shape: his "victory pose" involves mopping his brow with a handkerchief.
Character Design!
If Cheng can't win with his bulk and fighting alone, he has a back-up plan: his wardrobe's Christmas Ninja color-scheme and bizarre antics may blind or demoralize his opponents!
Also his victory boast suffers from rather badly-placed "word-in-quotes" syndrome:
With those quotes, I can't help but think that "spirit" must mean something else.
Well, THAT seems kind of creepy.
Yep, indeed. What else is there to say?
Well, I guess we could look at his "alternate palette brother", facing him in their home country of Taiwan or Hong Kong or something. Wherever it is, they're doing battle in front of a fancy pagoda-temple with a sign that says "JUMBL..." or "JUMPU..." on the front:
Oh yeah, we could talk about his Game Ending!
Yes, indeed -- the fighting game tradition of adding replayability by having a different Epilogue for each of the potential protagonists, allowing you to see how they respond to their new-found stardom/world conquest/reign as Fighting Tournament Grand Champion!
Of course I couldn't be bothered to play through Fatal Fury 2, because really, who has time to memorize all those ridiculous "quarter circle + medium punch" special move nonsense? Not me, I'm far too busy beating the computer 52 to 4 in a fast-paced game of Bill Laimbeer's Combat Basketball.
However, I'm pretty sure his game ending would be something like this:
So that's a wrap!
Any pearls of wisdom, Pitfall Harry?
"Who lost? Cheng AND Video Game Journalism, if you ask me!"
— carlmarksguy, 2013-01-11
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Glad to see you're getting so much mileage out of such a crappy sprite...I swear I just realized that the blue lines on his hat are the band of his hat, and not eyes!