WH Review

WORLD HEROES

written by Steve

US Title:	World Heroes
Japanese Title:	World Heroes
By:	ADK
Year:	1992
Size:	82 Megs
Home Release?	Yes
MVS Release?	Yes
CD Release?	Yes

Remember 1991? The year of Capcom's mega-blockbuster smash hit, Street Fighter II. It wasn't too long before companies started pushing out their own fighting games, hoping theirs would take them to the Promise Land. In Mid 1992, ADK/SNK launched World Heroes to the gaming public. It was one of the earliest competitors to SF II. Other early competitors included Art of Fighting, Fatal Fury, and Shogun Buster Warriors. So let's take a stroll down memory lane.

Graphics-80/100
It wasn't horrible by any means, but then again, this wasn't poetry in motion either. Unlike SF II, World Heroes went for that un-gritty, rather cartoony look. The characters were big and big in a good way. Some sprites were huge for '92, like take for instance, Rasputin's giant yellow magic hand crush, we're talking HUGE. Some art did look a bit bland, but overall, it wasn't half bad for a 1992 game. The Death Matches looked great. Stages has a certain appeal to them.

Sound/Music-82/100
The sound wasn't special, but the music made up for it. Some tunes were really cool, especially the Death Matches and Muscle Power's stage. Nothing to really to write home about, but it has its positive merits here and there. It has a distinct style, did World Heroes. An acquired taste if you will. Pretty good to me.

Gameplay-73/100
World Heroes was plagued by its turtle-like speed and a lack of a rock solid combo engine. The engine itself was a little awkward at first. Also, there was a bug where if you use Brocken and kneel down and hit 'jab' multiple times, the opponent will be stunned and you can repeat this cheap technique until the match is over. I remember GamePro's Doctor Dave saying "That's a fighting game no-no!" in their August 1992 issue. The Death Matches though, provided innovative play and a most welcomed feature.

Replay-75/100
8 fighters, some cameos from a professor, and the boss is a morphing maniac, Neo Geegus. The Death Matches helped distinguished World Heroes a bit, but not enough alone. The game is good to play every now and then for that classic feel and old memories. When everyone was crowding up SF II, me and my best friend Nelson were busy supporting this game and other SNK fighters in those early days. Although WH is lacking in replay value due to a rather lackluster game engine, it's not that bad to play once in a while to remember the days of innocence and youth.

*Best Memory* The "Aftershock" feature in WH. In the Death Matches, when
you defeat someone, the game slows down tremendously and the opponent does
the usual fall back gig, well, if they happen to fall back on the spike wall or the electrical ropes, they will suffer that final insult. And, still in its slow motion phrase, he/she will fly back the other way. The electrical ropes were exceptionally awesome in this aspect! ADK was a master at the sweet "aftershock" factor. "ORA!"

Fuuma

Overall-74/100
In a tough crowded genre, World Heroes didn't accomplish too much. There was some potential and WH did develop a bit of a cult fan following. A decent fighting game with good nostalgia feel. And with the fighting game era moving into its full stride, ADK knew time was money and would go back to the drawing board for Round 2...

-Steve

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by Kazuya_UK/NeoBodah - Courtesy of Kazuya's