How popular was World Heroes in Japan?

andsuchisdeath

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You have three sequels.

Super Famicom, PC Engine and Sega Saturn ports. A gameboy title.

Laserdisc releases.

I've never had a grasp on how low (or high) the bar is set to reach "kusoge" status, but, my guess is that World Heroes was considered legit?

I mean, perhaps playing any Street Fighter alternative was considered questionable during these times, but to what degree?

Oh I wanna know.
 
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BIG BEAR

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It had to be extremely popular to justify releasing JET & PERFECT. I know back in '92,World Heroes II was very popular here in the US so JET was highly anticipated and it laid an egg.
BB
 

Shanadria

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I think World Heroes was considered the "cheap" one of SNK fighting games.

His style didnt change much considering WH2, JET etc while the other fighting games were evolving. I think japanese ddidnt like much that franchise
 

andsuchisdeath

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I think World Heroes was considered the "cheap" one of SNK fighting games.

His style didnt change much considering WH2, JET etc while the other fighting games were evolving. I think japanese ddidnt like much that franchise


Alright, but do you have any evidence?


Also, the mechanics of the series changed a great deal. Look at World Heroes Perfect. While the series evolution may not be glaringly obvious at first, WHP had an engine that was perhaps a bit too ambitious for it's time.

But, for the most part, people likely see the game as "World Heroes 2 with a super gauge and no death match mode".
 
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Missile

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I think World Heroes must have been popular in Japan because it never seemed to be in the West! Every review I read of it growing up was kind of like "it's ok but...."

I really enjoy World Heroes Perfect. I think it's the hidden gem of Neo Geo games. That and Zedblade.
 

Shuri

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I remember having fun with it with friends back in the days, at least with the snes port. SF2 was starting to feel played to death so it was a neat diversion for a while
 

city41

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I remember having fun with it with friends back in the days, at least with the snes port. SF2 was starting to feel played to death so it was a neat diversion for a while

Did you live in Japan at the time?
 

andsuchisdeath

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There are several elements that beg my question....

But I think what many don't realize (Including myself for a long time), or have simply forgotten, or rarely vocalize, is that the original World Heroes is such an over the top game. Tame Neo Geo fighters from that era like Fatal Fury 2 and Art of Fighting shouldn't even be mentioned in the same breath as world heroes...yet so many neo geo fans (and fighting game fans), have this perception of World Heroes as if it's some fumbly, crusty cruddy, pre-SF II relic.

The reality is, SF II makes World Heroes 1 look like Marvel Vs. Capcom 2. The flexible combo engine, the jump cancelling, so many other elements that lead to a very aggressive play style... This is a very dangerous (and obviously imbalanced) game! But, that's usually not good for business, right? It must have earned well in Japanese game centers. Was this due to what has been described above...I don't know.
 
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[OCEAN]

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One way to check it out could be going through the Gamest Magazines from the early 90's. IIRC, the last pages contained rakings of games popularity and even high score lists by arcade centers. Could be a good indicator.

I don't recall seeing World Heroes in Japanese game centers that have classics though (like Try, Hey or the already gone ones from Shibuya and Jimbocho). Instead other Neo classics, such as FF Special, SS2, LB and, obviously, Garou and KOF, do get some love.
 

oliverclaude

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This game very much resembles a Hollywood high-concept movie, with the entire story contained in the title and the typical what if scenario: What if we can make a Street Fighter rip? I love high-concept, so do others and so World Heroes ended up being a blockbuster, which spawned many sequels and ports. Maybe there lies the secret?

Jokes aside, it came out very early in 1992, along with the considered 8-bit Andro Dunos and the too experimental Art of Fighting. The only other versus fighter to compete with was Fatal Fury a year before. Maybe it was the right game at the right time? WH2 followed only 9 months later to cash in on that surprise success, Jet was just a remake and by the time WHP saw the lights of the day, the hype was over.

It could also be that this was the best SFII rip on the Neo, not too faithful like Karnov's Revenge to become a joke, not too original like FF, AoF or weapon based SS to scare off. The next best thing for a broader audience was the KoF series, released 4 months after WHP. There was no reason to continue World Heroes after that.
 

SouthtownKid

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It had to be extremely popular
It was not.

It was a fighting game, so it made money the way any halfway competent fighting game released at the time did. But it was never popular in Japan the way Street Fighter or Fatal Fury were at the time. But to be fair, neither was Art of Fighting. A game like WH 1 or 2 or AoF 1 or 2 would come out, there would be curiosity and the games would make an initial burst of money, and then people would all go back to playing the latest Street Fighter or Fatal Fury. Or Samurai Shodown, once that started. Then it became Street Fighter or KoF, once FF3 kind of dulled casual interest in that series.

And yeah, I was living back and forth between Japan and the US close to a dozen times during those years, so I saw it firsthand.
 

Lee Gray

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I cant find the article now but I do remember seeing a black and white magazine ad that had top ten arcade games in Japan and world heroes was number 1 and street fighter 2 championship edition was number 2 and it said after 5 months we have a new arcade champion in Japan.
 

Shanadria

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I cant find the article now but I do remember seeing a black and white magazine ad that had top ten arcade games in Japan and world heroes was number 1 and street fighter 2 championship edition was number 2 and it said after 5 months we have a new arcade champion in Japan.

Maybe it was like the other user said: maybe in the first week World Heroes was the "famous one" and then everyone returned to SF. I think its very clear that World Heroes cannot be compare in terms of popularity with giants as SF or KOF. Its the way it is, World Heroes was funny and good but didnt "evolve" properly if you compare with others like the Fatal Fury franchise. From 2 to 3 or Garou, there is a big leap in terms of gameplay, graphics, characters....
 

andsuchisdeath

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Its the way it is, World Heroes was funny and good but didnt "evolve" properly if you compare with others like the Fatal Fury franchise. From 2 to 3 or Garou, there is a big leap in terms of gameplay, graphics, characters....

This is simply an opinion. How informed is it? I am unsure.

Fatal Fury 2 (1992) to Fatal Fury 3 (1995). A lot "evolved" for sure (Fatal Fury Special released in between of course was the turning point here). Redrawn sprites, new line system, chain combos.

World Heroes 1 (1992) to World Heroes Perfect (1995). A lot "evolution" here too. New button scheme, guard crushes, ABC moves, super meter, desperations. Were a lot of the original sprites just reused, touched up, and given new frames? Yes. Perhaps that's what hurt the game's appeal the most. A lack of "visual evolution". If everything was redrawn and redone, maybe people would have "felt" like they actually received a "truly new" world heroes game, and interest in the series would have grown.

Then you jump to Garou haha. If there was a World Heroes game in 1999, maybe it could have made Third Strike look like stick figures in a flip book? Nobody knows.
 
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snes_collector

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Did World Heroes receive any official merchandise? A quick search of YJA doesn't show much other than telephone cards and a Muscle Power gashapon
 

SouthtownKid

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If there was a World Heroes game in 1999, maybe it could have made Third Strike look like stick figures in a flip book? Nobody knows.
Saying nobody knows that is like saying nobody knows who would have won if Ali came out of retirement in 1989 to fight Tyson, since we never got to see that. Yeah, nobody knows... but we have a pretty fucking good idea.
 

andsuchisdeath

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Saying nobody knows that is like saying nobody knows who would have won if Ali came out of retirement in 1989 to fight Tyson, since we never got to see that. Yeah, nobody knows... but we have a pretty fucking good idea.

Yeah no mother ****ing s**t.

"LOL"

Well, what do you have to say about the rest? I know you understand world heroes, STK. Don't be so coy

What do YOU think was the downfall of world heroes (other than ADK going under)??
 
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YeldellGW

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Did World Heroes receive any official merchandise? A quick search of YJA doesn't show much other than telephone cards and a Muscle Power gashapon

Do OSTs, Arranged Soundtracks and Image Albums count?

Aside from those, I discovered that there was a World Heroes manga that came out a few years back. It focuses more on Hanzou's history and upbringing than the actual series though.

Also, as I mentioned in the action figures topic, Storm Collectibles are doing figures for Hanzou and Fuuma.

That's about all the World Heroes merchandise I'm aware of...
 

LoneSage

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mother ****ing s**t.

WOAH BRO CHILL

BRAH

CHILLLLLLLLLLLLLAX

UNCALLEDFORBRAH

edit: World Heroes 2 is the fan favorite, but Perfect is the better-made game. Also, Japanese kids liked it the same as American kids, that is they played it when SFII was occupied at the arcade and bought it on SNES/SFC cuz why not.
 
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Axl

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A good way of knowing how popular it was in Japan is knowing how many sales the World Heroes games got in AES, then comparing it with other AES fighting games, just common sense.

Here the first World Heroes was unpopular in the few arcades it was, but the second one was well played everywhere it was.
But for some reason Jet and Perfect never arrived, and we had titles like Kabuki Klash, Fight Fever and Gowcaiser, but never WH2 Jet and Perfect...
 

andsuchisdeath

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A good way of knowing how popular it was in Japan is knowing how many sales the World Heroes games got in AES, then comparing it with other AES fighting games, just common sense.

Overall, that's a rather poor barometer.
 

ballzdeepx

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World Heroes was the first AES game I purchased (this was around 1993 or so)
What it lacked in flashy menus, endings etc, it made up for with two game modes, double jumps, pressure/duration strikes for lack of buttons. It was obvious ADK was trying to emulate sf2 but they were also starting their own time travel mythos at the same time. I still play through it a few times a year, and the game holds up, especially the music and the tit flexing of Geegus.
See if you can pick up the similarities in his theme when compared to stage 2 of Mag Lord.

 
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