Art of Fighting 3... good or bad?

I've read the reviews around the Internet and it seems people either like this game or they don't. So I'm looking for opinions. It seems to be unanimous opinion that the game looks nice aesthetically, and it does from what I've seen of it, but how is the game play? The thing I've read that puts me off most is the constant knock downs a few reviewers have mentioned. Is it really that bad?

Any opinions, good or bad, about this game would be helpful.

Well, on a TECHNICAL basis, it's the best looking fighting game on the Neo.

Character designs are ugly as sin. Greasey Robert, stupid Roddy, fat Wang, etc. Kasumi was the only good new addition to the Neo Universe.

The gameplay is okay but it feels to stiff. I don't know. I was playing the ROM, so my opinion is somewhat worthless with that known.

For the record, I think Art of Fighting blows. All of em. I'm glad they did justice to Kyokugen in the KOF World.

I've heard tah AOF3 is the best, even though I haven't played it yet.

Fow what I experienced it doesn't really have the feeling if you know what I mean. It's a bit dull actually.

Some might think differently, maybe I should give it another try some time. Too bad it's so expensive.

the best fighting game for neo geo in my opinion

A little more in-depth opinions would be appreciated. If you like it a lot, say why.

AOF 3 is a good game regardless of what anyone else says about the AOF series.AOf 3 is nothing at all like the other 2 aof games.AOF1 and AOF2 both suck but 3 is pretty darn good.Animation is top notch,graphics are simply breath taking.

Some in-depth opinions comin your way!

First off, AOF3 is one of the Neo's coolest fighters.

GFX- Awesome, motion captured graphics. Looks almost like hand drawn 3D (If that makes any sense...). Some of the absolute best BGs in any fighting game ever. Ryo and Robert look better here than in any other game- big, macho muscle-bound freaks. I'd even go so far as to say that Ryo and Robert are probably the 2 best looking and animated sprites on the Neo. Other characters range from excellent (Kasumi, Rody) to mediocre (Wang, Karman), but these characters are some of what makes the game so unique.

And if there's one thing AOF3 is, it's UNIQUE. Probably the most unique and unusual fighter on the system.

Gameplay: Pseudo virtua fighter. Like a hybrid mixing the 3D style gameplay of VF with 2D visuals. Plenty of tap-tap moves, including 'hit 'em while they're down' moves. Knockdowns are plenty and often frustrating (i.e.: you stay down for as long as several seconds) but this does make the gameplay seem more 'realistic'. Overall, I really like the way this game plays.

Story Wow. A very cool and detailed story focusing on Robert. Very cool American Southwest/Mexican theme throughout the entire game. Of all the Neo games has probably the most important relationship between storyline and game theme. Really ads an super thick atmosphere and level of fun that makes the game really stand out from the crowd.

Overall, a super unique and graphically splendid fighter that hails from SNK's golden year of 1996. One of the most ambitious departures for SNK sequel-wise. IMO an A+ Neo title with some of the best visuals and BGs on the Neo (Or any system- arcade or home).

[ October 21, 2002: Message edited by: neobuyer ]</p>

It's cool.
And it has Kasumi.

Thanks for the in-depth review. Sounds interesting enough to me... seems more people give it praise then say it just plain sucks.

I'll have to snag up an MVS kit some time soon here.

It's got a damn good storyline if you're into that, but a decent game IMO.

[ October 21, 2002: Message edited by: Hidden Character ]</p>

It's an ok game, you need to play it for a little while before you can really get into it. It just has a different feel than other fighting games I have played, there's just something about it that's....I dunno, can't explain it
After the first bleh impression I felt it was a good game nonetheless after playing it an hour or so.

Ok, guys read carefully: I'm currently looking for a copy of this game to add to my collection.

I will take me a while as I need a mint copy complete with the survey card.

But when I'll find it I'll write a review which I'll post here before asking Bobak to publish it.

So stay tuned.

PS. My reviewing skills can be seen reading my SB2020 review.

[ October 22, 2002: Message edited by: Hakkun ]</p>

Sounds good Hakkun. I'll probably put off picking it up for a bit so I'll await your thoughts on the game.

I really like it; it's the best of the AoF games for sure, but I don't enjoy it as much as, say, the KoF series.

Some of the character designs are not to my liking.

I've had it on NeoCD for a while, but it looks better on MVS (which I just received).

Graphics are amazing, I think it has some of the best looking backgrounds in any Neo game. The motion capture looks cool as hell, but it moves kind of weird... animation is a bit choppy to me, not terrible, but not great either. I just think it plays to slow, and is really a lot differnt the AOF 2 or AOF in general. It is a good game, and on MVS it is so cheap, it looks great, but I just can't really get into it like I can the other AOF games.
-Nick

AOF 3 is a great game and a must have. May be at the beginning you could feel a bit disappointed if you are used to AOF and AOF 2 games, as the third part is quite different from them, basically because the fighting system is more realistic, not as arcade as the previous AOF games. I personally prefer AOF 2, however AOF 3 has better graphics and it is also a great fighter, with a good plot and quite long.

A very particular aspect of AOF 3 is that opposite to the fact that normally all the Fighting sequels or sagas use to more or less maintain the same characters introducing some new ones, AOF 3 just keep Ryo and Robert (as far as I can remember) and the rest of the characters are new. This is good, because it is not the typical sequel where the only novelties are some stages, the music and a pair of characters; but at the same time is a very radical change, because AOF 3 gets ride of great characters as Eiji, Lee, Takuma, John or Mr. Big. So it is a great game that will not disappoint you, however I think it should not have been changed that much.

If you really want it. I would suggest buying it from
<a href="http://www.gamedude.com" target="_blank">Gamedude</a>

here's a copy that's going on ebay <img src="graemlins/drool.gif" border="0" alt="[Drool]" /> ...

<a href="http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1392523076" target="_blank">http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1392523076</a>


$300 seems to be a fair asking price

aof3 is way diff i think from the others

I played a bit of the rom, and was intrigued enough to seek out and buy it (thanks NBM). I should get it in a couple days, but for now here's what I feel about it:

It plays pretty slow. Coming from playing AOF2, this is a drastic change. AOF2 is a lot more fast-paced, such as being able to do a lot of weak sweeps and follow up with a super to combo into. AOF3 is polished.. perhaps too polished (possible?). Ryo has a roundhouse kick that probably has more frames of animation than the whole AOF1 game put together (exaggerating here). It looks cool though when it hits, but all the moves seem to take a long time to recover from. Being knocked down a lot hinders the gameplay IMO, because it takes a good 2 seconds to get up, and in that time frame your opponent can hit you.

A lot of people say this plays like Virtua Fighter, which is a game I never got into. This is a very unique game though (like stated before). I've never really played a game quite like this. I still prefer AOF2 out of the series, but AOF3 has a lot of different stuff to offer. There's probably a lot more stuff in the game I haven't been able to do, but that will change once it's in my hands.

The price for this usually runs from $200-$250 You can probably get towards the higher end if you're a domestic seller, because all of those Japanese sellers have been having theirs end at around $200, because after shipping it's a lot higher. I'm now waiting for LB2 to drop down in price

It’s certainly the best AOF of these Series. It has nice Sprites. The Game is not so good as the Last Blade Series and KOF Series. But as It’s a nice game.

AoF3 is an awesome game. It only feels "stiff" if you play it like KoF since it's counter-based (like the aforementioned Virtua Fighter), but that statement alone doesn't do justice to AoF3's elaborate engine.

I've seen many ppl playing it for the first time, and most of them immediately try to do some qcf's or hcb's+button moves, but IMO, AoF3 doesn't live off of these standards but of string combos, fast counters and a strategic use of supers.

neobyer mentioned the motion captured anims, and I think this is where the "lags" and stiffness come from; most charas in AoF3 do -complete- movements, not the type of short-cut animation other fighting games have.

Take Ryo's standard qcf+A projectile. If you do the move, it will take nearly two seconds before the fireball comes out. Ryo puts back his arms in a smooth round movement, builds up energy and then moves his arms forward to throw the projectile, all in one nicely animated sequence. This takes a lot more time than his KoF flame punch, so doing the move during a close up situation will create a hell of a lag and more than ample chance for your opponent to hit you.

If you insist on this style of playing, AoF3 will seem slow and jerky to you, and you will never be able to beat it. To solve this, concentrate on the string combos, don't do too many jump attacks and only do supers if chances for connecting is high or chance for immediate retaliation is low (opponent is a screen away/in a juggle/knocked down, etc.).

I think there's hardly another fighter with an engine as deep as AoF3's. I like technical fighters, and if you do too, you will love AoF3.