Why did Savage Reign never catch on

[LoneSage]

a 1995 Neo Geo game that no one really cared for and was never anyone's favorite.

why is this game so bland and unloved

 

[oliverclaude]

Nomen est omen, it had that brusque, atavistic and unsophisticated look with primeval low animated characters. This alone overexerted most players, as satirical undertones were a bit too ahead of the times to acquire vogue to their then stunted tastes. It had to compete with Fatal Fury 3 & KoF '95 and lost to them. On top of that, one year later came the follow-up, Super Tag Battle, which surpassed it's little brother on every level.

There you have it, just take your pick.

 

[b-blanco]

It's really not that bad of a game for what it is. It had some cool features that made it unique but it lacked polish that a lot of the best fighters from that era had.

 

[oliverclaude]

It was indeed an interesting approach, a mash-up of Fatal Fury's two-line concept along with Samurai Spirit's idea to use weapons. It reminds me of Fire Suplex... taken to the next level, though. All in all, I like it, but would choose Kizuna over it anytime.

 

[Ip Man]

average game with goofy characters,has that world heroes feel to it.i guess it falls into the same rank as games such as 3 count bout,aggressors of dark combat and fighter's history dynamite.

kizuna encounter>>>>> savage reign

 

[kitkit.com]

Characters in Savage Reign do not have enough charisma. I would rather play FF, AOF or KOF.

 

[evil wasabi]

The artwork was not very good.

But gameplay was admittedly better than Galaxy Fight.

 

[SuperGun]

Ready for the answer?

As a huge fan of Art of Fighting 1, I have always enjoyed Savage Reign, more so then the average neogeo fighting game fans, because it obviously seems to me that it uses the same engine, and possibly shares the same design team, because they play and sound so much alike. However, those are mostly opinions, now time for the facts; as they were told to me many years ago at the 1995 AMOA in New Orleans.

Savage Reign never had a fighting chance. Don't let the 1995 copyright confuse you. It's a 1993/4 game that suffered massive delays and was reworked several times. It was supposed to compete with games like World Heroes 2 Jet, Fatal Fury Special, and KOF '94. Not with KOF '95 & Samurai 3, etc.

Revenue wise, it bombed at both arcades & on the streets. At one point SNK was pricing the kits at almost half the price points of other kits available at the time from the distributors. Just like thousands of unsold Power Spikes 2 carts were recycled and used for Puzzle Bobbles, Savage Reigns were repurposed as well. And for years to come! Kizuna was designed to use Savage Reign roms for example, and the unsold carts themselves had the boards removed labels slapped over them; I have 2 jap Twinkle Star Sprites carts with English savage reign stickers underneath.

So there you have it. The game bombed. With both operators and gamers.
But hey, I like it! Always have!

 

[oliverclaude]

It was supposed to compete with games like ... Fatal Fury Special, and KOF '94. Not with KOF '95 & Samurai 3, etc.

That still was a very optimistic and ambitious plan on behalf of SNK, regarding how congenial those two titles are, well, verging on wishful thinking I'd imagine. But, as always, very interesting information. Thanks!

 

[evil wasabi]

Ready for the answer?

As a huge fan of Art of Fighting 1, I have always enjoyed Savage Reign, more so then the average neogeo fighting game fans, because it obviously seems to me that it uses the same engine, and possibly shares the same design team, because they play and sound so much alike. However, those are mostly opinions, now time for the facts; as they were told to me many years ago at the 1995 AMOA in New Orleans.

Savage Reign never had a fighting chance. Don't let the 1995 copyright confuse you. It's a 1993/4 game that suffered massive delays and was reworked several times. It was supposed to compete with games like World Heroes 2 Jet, Fatal Fury Special, and KOF '94. Not with KOF '95 & Samurai 3, etc.

Revenue wise, it bombed at both arcades & on the streets. At one point SNK was pricing the kits at almost half the price points of other kits available at the time from the distributors. Just like thousands of unsold Power Spikes 2 carts were recycled and used for Puzzle Bobbles, Savage Reigns were repurposed as well. And for years to come! Kizuna was designed to use Savage Reign roms for example, and the unsold carts themselves had the boards removed labels slapped over them; I have 2 jap Twinkle Star Sprites carts with English savage reign stickers underneath.

So there you have it. The game bombed. With both operators and gamers.
But hey, I like it! Always have!

1994 wasn't exactly a watershed year for games. I think that other than SSII, the most popular release from that year was probably Bust a Move. You might have better data on this, but I think BaM probably grossed more money in arcades than KoF94 did. The game was everywhere.

 

[oliverclaude]

1994 ... I think that other than SSII, the most popular release from that year was probably Bust a Move.

Due to the '94 World Cup in the US, probably Super Sidekicks 2 was pushed within the arcades, too. Released just two days after this event's opening in Windy City. Imagine who became top scorer then: Олег Анатольевич Саленко .

 

[mehguy]

Because Kizuna Encounter is a way better game.

 

[Yagyu Jubei]

The market was so saturated with fighters, no one cared when Savage Reign came out. SamSho 2 already established itself as the top notch Neo fighter. Street Fighter III was still 2 years away. Both Mortal Kombat II and Killer Instinct were killin it in the arcades. It really didn't have a chance...people had better alternatives for their quarters.

 

[Xian Xi]

Because 4 player kizuna was way better.

 

[BerryTogart]

What does that 4p Version actually do? Provide additional controllers? (Is it completely the same game gameplay wise?)
As for savage reign I like it a lot.

 

[Xian Xi]

What does that 4p Version actually do? Provide additional controllers? (Is it completely the same game gameplay wise?)
As for savage reign I like it a lot.

Yup, 4 people playing. Back in 1994 I wanted a tag version of SF2:CE where 4 people would play so when I found out that Kizuna had 4p capabilities I was all over it.

 

[Yamazaki]

Everyone missed the main issue here...

Karate + Boomerang is gay!

Now if it would have been Karate + Rollerblades with real blades - then it would have taken off immediately..

 

[xsq]

Because 4 player kizuna was way better.

I whish I could get my hands on one of the 4p boards or cables... would be so much fun at meets.

 

[RetroTechRewind]

Savage Reign always felt a little off to me. I agree with some of the others, in that the fighters don't have a lot of charisma. Plus the boomerang thing, that was odd. I enjoyed playing it, but I'd play SSII or Kizuna over it any day of the week.

The FUUUNNN KEN at the beginning always makes me chuckle though.

 

[grendelrt]

I whish I could get my hands on one of the 4p boards or cables... would be so much fun at meets.

I've been playing a lot of Kizuna lately so I looked up the 4player stuff. NTM made a board but then cancelled at late stage because someone else released one. I don't see any more info on that board though, just lots of dead eBay links. I would love to be able to play 4 player Kizuna using my blast and two aes sticks. Wonder if anyone will ever revive the project.

 

[Shanadria]

Savage Reign was very bad, in my opinion : bad design, gameplay very different if you compare with the kings like SF or Fatal Fury and the characters...come on! a clown, a cheerleader...

 

[ForeverSublime]

I like the idea of the weapon, but I don't know enough about the gameplay to not say the controls couldn't have been refined a bit (are 5 types of melee attack really needed?). The game looks like it would have made an interesting Double Dragon type of beatemup, more than a fighter. That'd be the difference between popping in a quarter to see how it handles and popping in another to see what's next. The aesthetic couldn't find the charming part of being silly.

 

[xsq]

I've been playing a lot of Kizuna lately so I looked up the 4player stuff. NTM made a board but then cancelled at late stage because someone else released one. I don't see any more info on that board though, just lots of dead eBay links.

Yup, that's all I know, too.

 

[oliverclaude]

The mighty Kiz in 4p? Now I really miss the simplicity of the link-option. 2 x console, game & monitor was hardcore back in the 90's, but now that seems like a mediocre standard set-up. Would have been nice...

 

[NeoTurfMasta]

I've been playing a lot of Kizuna lately so I looked up the 4player stuff. NTM made a board but then cancelled at late stage because someone else released one. I don't see any more info on that board though, just lots of dead eBay links. I would love to be able to play 4 player Kizuna using my blast and two aes sticks. Wonder if anyone will ever revive the project.

HPMAN made a much better version than what I did. Mine only worked on MV1C/1B systems, but his was able to work on home system as well. After he released his I scrapped mine, I was pretty unhappy with the design/layout of it.