Gear Project

In 1999, Humanity was nearly driven to extinction by an Information Organism dubbed the "Universal Will".  This led to the discovery of "Magic", an Unlimited Energy Resource.  Sixteen years later, a theory arose to create the Ecosystem Evolution Project from Magical Science, the Ultimate Evolution of Life. This Theory would later haunt Humanity for Centuries to come, and would be known as the GEAR Project.  Welcome to the World of Guilty Gear!

[gear-project]

I had a one sided fight in Ranked against a Platinum Dizzy player recently and it shocked me how different the matchup had changed from Xrd. So here’s me figuring out why it’s different.

[gear-project]

. . .

Only 6 more levels to go until I get Omnipotent I-No.

I got Testament’s U.I. Skin and Sol’s Haunted Slab too.

I honestly do not know what to expect from future battle passes, but I do hope there are more character skins.

Fighting skilled players above me still gives me very little room to learn, but I do appreciate the occasional patience some players have had with me.

Also was not expecting to get mileage with BBTAG recently, but that game definitely isn’t built entirely for beginners to grasp, even compared to Strive, so, if you or your friends play it, I insist you study the fundamental basics of all the mechanics and learn what moves are safe and which are mostly combo tools.

Just like in baseball, to catch a ball you need to put your glove in front of it: the same logic applies to taking hits and damage in BBTAG: it takes courage, but don’t balk right away. Save Burst techniques for when your opponent uses an Assist, otherwise save your assist for assist cancels and pressure. Taking damage also gives you meter even if you lose health (it’s a good idea to have at least one character with higher HP like Tager, Blitztank, or Hakumen or Waldstein).

But, just as you take damage, swapping to your partner can heal the character who took the hits, so you should take advantage of that. Assist Swap Cancels and Combo Auto Assist also activate the Auto Healing aspect of your partner faster, so try to use the character with the highest HP to shield your damaged partner until they recover a bit.

This was an often overlooked aspect of the Marvel vs Capcom games, as characters who got tagged out or snapped backed out would slowly recover if they weren’t being used as an assist for a while. Dragonball FighterZ does this too.

Also, this goes for most fighting games, but don’t throw out Super Moves that cost meter out randomly, the flashy startup is easy to read and anticipate, and some people can counter them on reaction!

The general goal of tag fighting games is to make use of your partners and combine their attacks with your own, using them as cover fire or a distraction to get close, or just as a kind of reversal if you need help. I know it’s not easy to get used to, but fighting alone as a single character just makes the battle harder than it needs to be.

And this is all stuff that took me months to learn by the way, so I am still not confident!

I said it before, but I often learn more from my victories than my losses, though that may be just the way my ego works, I am unsure. But there is always a reason why you win and why you lose, so study those reasons whenever you get the opportunity.

[gear-project]

Annon-Guy: Got something for you.

Bloody Roar Restrospective by SCXCR (Spoiler for Arcade and Story Mode)

Have fun learning about the series!

It took me several hours to watch the entirety of this, but to save people some time I’ll just say the series peaked at Bloody Roar 2 as is indicative of the VHS promotional video SCXCR showcased.

I won’t say later games were entirely a wash, and 8ing still has a halfway decent reputation if DNF Duel is any indication.

It somewhat baffles me that they put staff in strange positions when making the later games (sound editors were doing the music while composers were doing tasks unrelated to their skill set, Hudson was really either crunching their staff or just didn’t have the budget to think straight).

Also the localization/voice acting is somewhat a similar case to what happened with King of Fighters Maximum Impact that also came out around that time, so honestly expecting a proper English dub for a fighting game back then was asking quite a lot.

Nowadays there is some amount of recognition of what fighting games actually are, especially in the West, but it’s not entirely because of Street Fighter that this genre gets more polished now than previously.

In fact I’d argue we got better dubs almost immediately after BlazBlue made its debut.

Konami also seems to be at least somewhat taking it’s game division seriously with game anthologies it releases (with some really sneaky timing if you compare TMNT Cowabunga Collection with Shredder’s Revenge release date timing, but I digress). Konami seems to be smart enough to outsource for talent, particularly with Castlevania Belmont’s Curse (though 8ing was responsible for botching Castlevania Judgement, not just Bloody Roar games).

The Bloody Roar Manga offshoot was at least mildly amusing for its time, and scanlators have probably already translated it by now, but I still think Bloody Roar would make a nice crossover with a more popular manga named Killing Bites!

The overall flaws in the plot writing can, again, be chalked up to a smaller budget, but I would also argue that the Japanese animal poll Hudson held also played a roll in messing up the direction the series should have gone in.

That, and they over promoted BR4’s cover girl as if they had to compete with Kasumi from Dead or Alive in terms of fan service (Japanese culture can be really out of touch with what Western or even European fans might want out of a fighting game). It also doesn’t help that Nagi might as well have been a clone of a certain Witchblade protagonist. To say nothing of characters that got either axed or cloned from the first Bloody Roar game, blatantly I might add.

Bloody Roar games also got censored, but I suppose that’s true of almost all fighting games save Mortal Kombat or Killer Instinct who refused to ride the bandwagon for the sake of relevance.

As of this writing, that Retrospective is already 12 years old, so expecting a Bloody Roar game on the same level as maybe Virtua Fighter or Tekken 8 is a pipe dream.

Still, rather than Konami or 8ing, I’d sooner outsource a Bloody Roar project to Harada since he works for SNK now. If anyone knows 3D fighting games outside of Sega or Team Ninja, it’s him.

But, that’s just my hot take.

Though it would be something of a dream if they got Daisuke Ishiwatari to compose the next Bloody Roar soundtrack! Just something to think about!

[gear-project]

Was in a good mood today so I decided to share some of the Gallery I unlocked after some of my matches gave me some currency.

Slayer, Dizzy, Lucy, and Jam concept art and animation storyboards.

Also some Digital Figure dioramas I made for good measure!

I think I am about all caught up until Robo Ky drops, but, friendly reminder Dimensional Prison is my other blog, specifically for GG or related fanart I have compiled and collected, I will be updating that site later.

[gear-project]

Annon-Guy: So, out of the StrIVe roster, which changes did you hate or dislike the most?

As I said, I hate how they removed Faust's door teleport as doors are icnoic with him and while his scarcrow does work sometimes, the COU ALWAYS clocks you for trying it and human players always get turned toward you, removing his unpredictability.

May doesn't feel the same as they removed two of her Overdrives and her whale super comes out MUCH slower.

Sol's dragon install gets demoted to a super attack, removing an iconic part of his moveset.

Ramlethal loses her fantastic combo attack system.

Sin's Still Growing is worthless (until the update changed and fixed it thankfully, but he still pales to his Xrd gameplay).

A.B.A. Is TOO overpowered now instead of a high risk, high reward fighter (have yet to beat her as she has an overpowered normal to knock you down.).

The only returning fighters to benefit from StrIVe's overhaul is Elphelt becuase they made her gameplay not as tatical.

I think Team Red got TOO carried away trying to simplify stuff. And that's not going into the floaty falls, especially from those Roman Cancels making the floaty aspects worse and pulling you off the ground.

Ragna: "Me and the Red Devil don't need that BS to pick up our opponents. Noel, Platinum and Terumi at least attack them while on the ground."

It would be far too expansive a list to talk about, though if we were to talk about characters individually it might be easier.

Suffice to say, Accent Core Plus (not Plus R) is the hypothetical “definitive” version of most of the GG roster except for Xrd which is divided between XrdSign, XrdRev1 (Revelator version 1), and XrdRev2 (Revelator version 2, which excludes some characters not in previous versions). Also a few aspects from GG2, Isuka, Slash, and GG1 were also cut, but those are finer points to discuss later.

The big elephant (not Elphelt) in the room is the fact Strive is a sluggish game by nature (slow jumps, slow airdashes, hardly any air attacks or air approach moves and ground movements are restricted, no ground dust combos like Xrd had, either).

If Strive has a highlight going for it, it’s the implementation of Roman Cancels, which are far more advanced than Xrd. I honestly didn’t mind Wild Assaults, though they pigeonholed certain characters like Goldlewis in to relying on them too much, though arguably Counter Blitz is not optimized yet, either since some Counter Blitz moves can be blocked at long range. Defense Shield isn’t built for mid air exchanges either, so unlike a Blitz Shield in Xrd, air parries aren’t possible (limited air approach basically). Reversal attacks are generally nerfed to oblivion as well, so Strive isn’t in a balanced state right now.

Compare/Contrast with GG1 that had Charge Cancels, Low Airdashes that were fast, a FREE AND OPEN combo gatling route tree, more jump and air options, Charge Attacks that were far more effective than ANY Wild Assault, faster walking speed and ground speed, DASH ATTACKS for rushdown, and every character had at least one easily executed Instant Kill.

[gear-project]

Annon-Guy: So any thoughts on Ingrid officially being a cosmic god like being now? Think she's on the same level as Susano'o, Izanami, Happy Chaos and Omnipotent I-No, or would she squash them like bugs as she threatened Bison (meaning Bison will never truly succeed in his plans and Rose and G's vision for the end of the world will not come to pass)?

For now all I can really say is that Street Fighter’s standard for what a Demigod might be is different from BlazBlue or Guily Gear standards.

For that matter, I’d hazard to assume that characters in games like Red Earth (Warzard) or Cyberbots/Plasma Sword are more powerful than first glance would suggest. Same for Strider Hiryu and his nemesis Meio.

I-No was borderline Omnipotent, but she lived as a human for the majority of her existence.

Susanooh was an object that spawned a soul which became Terumi, and he was forced to live like humans but never did comprehend them. Powerful though the Sankishin are, they are still influenced by emotion born of humans. It’s the reason Amaterasu became afraid of human conflict and enforced her near never ending loops. Ragna had to become human and convince her that humans weren’t as bad as she feared.

Happy Chaos lived as a human, but became disillusioned with Humanity that he gave up being Human because to him it was just more interesting. Though it initially wasn’t his choice, he embraced his own flaws.

Sol Badguy is a different case, some might say the Flame of Corruption approached divinity, but to Sol it was more of a curse than a blessing. No matter how powerful he was, it wouldn’t change his tragic past, and was getting in the way of his future, that’s why Asuka saved him.

Likewise with Jack-O’, she has the brain of a supercomputer goddess, but can hardly express her childish immaturity when she wants to, and even if she exists to be replaced by someone, she had to come to terms with the idea that she is who she is, and there is no replacement for her. She also had to come to terms with feelings she didn’t know she had and kept denying they existed.

I guess what I am saying is, the concept of a God is vastly different in GG or BB or any other game. Even a proxy like the Universal Will was treated like a God, even if it was more approximate to a Robot with an intangible body.

Even Raven, during his immortal past, was revered beyond logic.

Humans fear (and worship) things they don’t comprehend.

Same goes for a being like Ingrid.

[gear-project]

. . .

Friendly Reminder:

If for any reason I give gaming advice, do not take it as me patronizing you or anyone else.

If I see something that could use improvement, it’s a suggestion, not an order. I’m not getting paid to train other players, even if I absorbed a certain amount of gameplay knowledge over the years.

I just have a strong urge to help people, even if it seems like I am meddlesome, please don’t take it harshly.

In my own play style, while I do grouse about issues I struggle with or just overall situations that are one sided or hard to overcome, I am by nature not a perpetual complainer or quitter. If anything most players get sick of me hitting the Rematch button and walk away.

But let me ask you this: do you have anyone who will always hit Rematch to play against? If so, you should count yourself lucky to have someone with that level of fortitude and endurance.

As for myself, I have yet to find a player who keeps trying as much as I do. Like I said, most walk away either because they’re satisfied, or they don’t want to put up with me, even if they’re more skilled.

I liken this mindset to be called “Gamer Maturity”. It’s the idea that you face a challenge in a way that is earnest with a goal in mind, even if it’s just winning a single round.

That said, these days I do get more easily frustrated, depending on the game. But, if you find someone who can impress you, make you laugh during a fight, make you examine new ideas and techniques, or just keep things fresh, I highly recommend not letting that person go as a sparring partner!

In Xrd back in the day, I met a guy who was obsessed with fighting Bedman, and he just kept wanting to understand the matchup and the character more. What was a guy like me to do, but acquiesce to his persistent requests?

I try to keep my skill level high, but I am by no means the best player out there. But it seems enough that some players really and genuinely want to learn from me. I try not to get a big head about it, though.

People also think I am odd for playing 5/9 round sets, but that stems from my Arcade days. I just got tired of waiting in line, so I got obsessed with playing more, so that it was always my turn to fight.

During long sets, you can at times feel tired, but consider how you engage the fight during a long set. The Burst Gauge functions very differently in longer battle sets, what was once lost could soon be found again, and turn the match around!

Longer sets mean players have to think their way out of a jam, and not use the same patterns they normally use, as even if you can ambush a player who never fought you before, there’s no guarantee they didn’t fully observe what you did last time and came up with countermeasures.

While it does involve endurance, longer sets are genuinely more paced, and not always a game of speed chess. Consider this when you play, so as not to rush a fight result and really get used to thinking while you play.

Well, even if you prefer default settings, please consider that players want a session they are satisfied with. Myself included!

Gaming in a Fighting Game isn’t a Hit and Run session, even if many might think it is, you do play how you want to.

But, no matter how you play, consider what works and what does not, and don’t get upset if what you do doesn’t always work. Instead, simply observe what happened, and figure out how to solve the problem. Like Math, there is a solution, you just have to find it!

Enough rambling out of me, just know that I like a fun game session like anyone else.

[gear-project]

https://youtu.be/AdglhzSN7Ck?si=2pY1EkhIA7dEwfN8

https://youtu.be/CRtyOAwsuVg?si=CKEKc8WgW-xOMOFQ

Considering how easygoing Ingrid is about explaining this, she either has faith that it doesn’t make sense, or, has no expectations that Mr. World Tour can do anything with the knowledge.

On the subject of Code Holders, the Flame of Corruption and Scales of Juno combined function as a kind of Code Sequence, one that could destroy all life in the Universe. However, it’s because the Backyard itself still exists that there is a limit to that very code.

Even if all life went extinct at one point in a time long past, it appears it was not a permanent state, as is evident by Life continuing to exist and potentially becoming immortal (at least as far as Gear Cell structures go).

Ingrid’s explanation about rewriting the world Street Fighter exists as so that it does not pose a threat to other universes is similar to what Bedman did for the sake of his sister Delilah, though he wrote this code (called a Theory in GG magic terms) directly in to Delilah’s existence so she could exist and manifest in the physical world.

It suggests the idea that even if something can be scripted on a large scale, the “language” or “code” itself remains unchanged, as in the nature of universes cannot be easily altered.

Either that means Ingrid is not as powerful as she implies to be, or it means she carries enough responsibility to not use her power in harmful ways unless absolutely necessary.

Compare/Contrast Asuka R. Kreutz who sealed a similar power in to his own body: the Tome of Origin which can script the world in any way anyone saw fit, but he chose to simply use it to provide raw information and the truth.

Regardless, considering the possibility that Street Fighter’s world has the potential to damage other worlds, while hypothetical, the same could be potentially stated of any other Fighting Game Universe (GG not the least of which).

I would personally say that no matter how much chaos exists in our world these days, we still have people making a difference and that’s a fact. This world at least, won’t be damaging other worlds any time soon (at least if we lowly humans can help it!)

And regarding her threat to Bison, while I don’t think she would not take her all seeing eyes off him, I don’t necessarily believe he is her priority.

[gear-project]

What are some Guilty Gear stories or characters that live in your head Rent Free?

The fact Frederick saved a bunch of Scientists from a collapsing elevator before he discovered his Gear powers.

The fact Asuka R. Kreutz knew Terrorists were messing with him but used a Batman Gambit to save his two best friends, even if it meant they would no longer be human and hate him for it.

The fact Dizzy looked like a normal human as a little girl, no wings or tail. And the fact Unika can hide her wings and tail!

Testament can turn their face in to a Skull, and Dizzy’s fingernails can grow to Edward Scissorhands lengths.

E.X.E. Beast Arbiter Sign/Calamity One has a Headguard plate just like Sol’s but it has mysterious unreadable text on it.

The fact Leopaldon plays Bongo Drums in its mouth.

The fact Elphelt survived a satellite laser that could destroy an entire city.

That Venom has Ki so strong it can trap people inside it and detonate them.

The joke that everyone in Chipp County knows Answer’s face, but we only ever see him wearing a mask scarf.

The fact Potemkin’s walking animation originally made not only the screen shake, but also make players’ controls vibrate.

The fact Faust is still on speaking terms with Chronus who originally tried to assassinate him.

The idea that Millia loves cats but is bad at babysitting or dealing with children.

The idea that William likes making maps in Damon & Baby but Axl likes collecting maps.

There’s probably more but this list is plenty long enough.

[gear-project]

Those players beat you legitimately fair and square. It shows your tactics don't always work.

I accept my losses and the reasons why, but I also know those same tactics I lost to only work in a game like Strive (for the time being).

Is throwing a fit because I eventually beat them at their own simple pattern justified?

Said pattern would work even less in games where the parry mechanic is more prevalent. You don’t play a game like Street Fighter III Third Strike with the expectations that you can zone a player out.

It also doesn’t help that Negative Penalty in Strive limits how much air projectile tactics you can use, especially when certain situations require you to USE a Projectile to keep someone else from using theirs. A Snowball Fight is a Snowball Fight, so why get penalized for that?

My tactics are built around observing my opponents’ actions and countering them. Their tactics are basically “don’t touch me/let me win through chip death” / “I don’t want to do combos, I just wanna win”.

So, excuse me for not respecting a player’s winning strategy when it doesn’t always win.

P.S. In Xrd Bedman has a parry literally built to counter projectile spam, so consider the possibility.

Also speaking of what is “fair” and what is “square”:

I said it before, Pong is probably the only game in existence that resembles a balanced game.

[gear-project]

https://youtu.be/Iv_kCL6IJIE?si=Pguir53bKvtIhGh_

There’s things I agree with and things I disagree with about this video.

Yes it’s fine to play a game on your own terms, but saying that what everyone else is doing is “Gatekeeping” is Beginner Enablist.

For example, you don’t go to College just to screw around, you go there to learn from Professors and Teachers and take various courses on how to improve yourself in the fields and careers you invest time and money in.

Now you CAN go to College and do absolutely nothing in that situation, but consider exactly how little return you get for deliberately wasting your time and money? And on top of that possibly end up in debt with no credentials or way to pay back all of that wasted effort?

Now obviously that’s an extreme case of not taking advantage of a situation as it is presented, but this is quite literally how serious players interpret the games that they play.

It would be fine if fighting games are built with casual players in mind, but consider how much of that content is built from a teaching and mastery perspective? Some of the most fun games are STILL built around the idea of teaching players how to play them.

If players refused to jump in a Mario game, exactly how hard would that game be for them?

This is what an execution barrier is on its basic level.

And to be fair, I do tout the idea that casual content SHOULD be in fighting games, but there are LAYERS AND NUANCES to that very content that developers consider every time they make said content.

If you force a kid to eat only vegetables without meat or potatoes, it’s hardly palatable for them. Ignoring treats like candy or snacks it’s the same idea. A game needs just as much balance in content as someone’s diet might be, especially in a competitive multiplayer game.

If a game is built around winning at the push of a single button that’s one thing, and some games like Divekick are even built to explore that philosophy, but most fighting games are much more diverse and nuanced to the point where there are multiple philosophical arguments to be made on HOW to win a fight, and ignoring those arguments is a detriment to a game’s further evolution.

The people who use the term “Gatekeeping” don’t want to hear the discussion or debates at all, they want to “vibe” with their simplistic ideas on what only they consider is fun.

And okay, vibing with a game is ONE WAY to play it, and that would be fine if by itself, but what this video is doing is forming a counter argument against the foundation of many fighting games within the genre they were built in.

Most developers have played the games they make, and by that consideration, actually have a certain level of skill in said games. So making an argument that you don’t need to play these games based on the way the developers MADE THEM is fine if you simply want to break a game’s rules, but saying that the people who follow those rules are wrong for doing so is also very incorrect.

In fact I have talked a lot about games that bend their own rules: MK11 augments, Accent Core’s Extra Menu, CvS2 Groove Editor, Libra of Soul in Soul Calibur, Career Mode in Bloody Roar, there’s a lot of games that open the floodgates of what is possible for a fighting game.

But the key thing to consider is the philosophy of the fighting game being played and how it was built. And each game has a VERY DIFFERENT philosophy!

Simply put: you can do whatever you want, but don’t expect others to let you beat the game on your own terms when it comes time to fight them online!

[gear-project]

. . .

If anyone asks, I got Sol’s Concrete Slab in Strive.

I unlocked Jam’s and Goldlewis’ Battle U.I., but I am still bothered that the U.I. doesn’t change Life Gauge, Tension, or Burst.

Also fought a really frustrating pair of players. A Faust player who only spams jump moves and Love, and a Venom player who baffled me with Carcass Raid and Q Five moves.

I understand that you like zoning people out, but sheesh, do you even realize how frustrating it gets to earn a combo off you? Dizzy players too. If they reduced to Burst gauge cost of Defense Shield to 1/4th I’d be using it all day.

And then the Faust player ended the session by earning a deliberate Negative Penalty and practically lost on purpose as if to say I couldn’t beat him unless he did that.

Sure Bedman? is gimped, but if you have no grace in trying to win, what are you even playing that character for?

I’m sorry, but I feel like some players don’t think about the idea of actually respecting other players during a fight. I’m trying to perfect my combo and counter techniques while these people would rather steal wins and run away. Bedframe isn’t even inherently rushdown, even compared to Sol or Giovanna or Leo.

No combos, no real tactics, just button mashing, chip damage, and Burst at a wiff of trouble.

Granted, the reasons I lost are because I didn’t constantly Faultless Defend, but consider the reasons YOU LOST:

Ignored recovery, no Tension use defensively, mash P or 6P after blocking an attack once, no attempt at a Perfect Block either, only spam meaty normals and jail attacks, no confirms at all, no combos, constantly hit by jump P or 6P, forcing situations without thinking, barely any RCs except on block, and just plain no attempt at solid offense, just hit and run tactics.

Even if it worked the first few times you do it, there’s a reason it doesn’t always work. If you can’t figure that out, you’ll be in a loop.

Reasons I don’t give up and reasons I win is because every time I actually THINK while playing and try new things! Time to break out of your patterns, even if you think they help you win.

Okay, sorry for the rant.

I played Millia a lot more recently and started advertising Team of 3 on my R Code, hopefully it will encourage players to try more things.

I am all done with my Weekly challenges for now. Also beginning to unlock Digital Figures in earnest now, so if you have a request let me know.

Also my Bedframe is Platinum 1 Rank, so I broke out of Gold Rank, though Millia is still Gold Rank. I have other characters I haven’t played in Rank yet, so we’ll see how that goes.

In other news, I am relaxing by playing a mix of V Rising, Soul Calibur 6, and finally got past the Crab Elevator boss in Order of Ecclesia. Any Castlevania tips for that game would be appreciated.

[gear-project]

One thing I have learned about my training sessions is that I am by nature a passive Defensive player, but that sometimes when I get frustrated my play style shifts to full on Offense that can overwhelm my opponents.

I hope to eventually improve this style, but it’s not easy since I am not that way normally and usually only play well when I get upset sometimes (especially in Guilty Gear which is an offense game by default).

With Soul Calibur there is so much to learn, some of it applies to many other games, but what motivates me to continue playing is the Weapon Forge mechanics. A good weapon makes all the difference in a fight, so I have learned. So I created weapons that increase Defense properties while Soul Charged, which seems to bring out my play style more.

I honestly wish we had more fighting games centered around Defense, as being Defensive is not boring despite what most fighting games will tell you.

[gear-project]

. . .

Not long ago I was testing games on my Linux PC and decided to play a session of Toejam & Earl: Back in the Groove. I have enjoyed this game since the Sega Genesis era, especially playing it among friends (it’s a really awesome Multiplayer Roguelike, and everyone should try it).

Anyway, while playing the game I decided to boot the Credits to listen to the game’s music, because really that is a highlight of this game.

But you’ll never believe what secret I ran across!

Lo and Behold, I spotted Hidetaka “Swery” Suehiro’s name in the game’s credits. I do believe he voices the Sushi Stand guy!

Swery, in case you didn’t know had a history with SNK, being a key developer for The Last Blade and the Last Blade 2 fighting games, he also developed the horror platform indie game The Missing with ARC System Works as his publisher.

It was thanks to Swery that we debunked a certain myth!

But seriously, who knew he helped make Toejam & Earl!?

[gear-project]

Annon-Guy: Boss Defeat Scenes

What are your thoughts on animations or cutscenes when the boss is defeated after you best them? Examples include...

Fatal Fury 2: After you beat Krauser, he gets up with his arms and head held high and he says "You're perfect... I met...my match..." before he falls down backwards.

Garou: Mark of the Wolves: Kain struggles to his knees and aims a fire engulfed hand toward you before it fizzles out and he collapses forward as he says "Heh... You are strong...".

Motal Kombat 11: Compared to every other boss that explodes, Kronika is knocked into the hourglass, knocking her crown off (as it's needed to control the hourglass). As she crawls toward it, the hourglass fragments fly off and cuts her legs and one of her arms off before the hourglass sucks into the broken fragments along with her severed limbs. She than tries to get to her crown despite the odds being against her until a glass fragment slices her head in two, killing her as her corpse is sucked into the hourglass as it repairs itself.

Mortal Kombat 1: Your player character beats up Titan Shang Tsung while your Kameo beats up Titan Quan Chi. When they are pushed back to an open cravese, your characters uppercut them into the hold with the energy burning them bodies away until they become bones and they explode when they hit the core.

SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy: This must be seen to believe what happens to Kukri...

One of the more iconic Bosses to defeat was Shao Kahn in the original Mortal Kombat II and Mortal Kombat 3.

Steve Ritchie who initially worked for Bally Midway as a Pinball Game Manufacturer, never knew his voice would initially be so iconic.

It was also Steve’s idea to change the C to a “K” in the title of Mortal Kombat!

What made him so iconic, however, wasn’t his boss status, design perhaps, but the biggest aspect was his role as the Announcer for both games. He would call the rounds, say “Finish Him/Her!” and even praise you if you were doing well… at first.

It wasn’t until you defeated his new champion Kintaro that he would get up off his throne in the Arena and defend his title as Outworld’s Ruler.

Visit Original Link

Visit Original Link

Visit Original Link

Visit Original Link

As the fight progresses, he slams you around with body rams, powerful kicks, his massive hammer, and one of his more iconic weapons at the time, an Energy Spear!

Visit Original Link

Visit Original Link

If you manage to capitalize on all his insults and Taunts and do enough damage, he will stumble backwards, his corrupt soul shifting between all the battle stages you have fought in to get here, and finally… his body will Petrify and Shatter in to fragments!

Visit Original Link

(Shoutouts to Spriters Resource for these audio rips!)

Later on, Fred Tatasciore and Ike Amadi voiced Shao Kahn in the games and shows, but I still think Ritchie beats them both!

The overall sprite animation for Shao’s defeat was originally rather simple, but in MK9 they took an approach to have the player character land critical blows to Shao Kahn as a separate cutscene as a reward for beating him, and he explodes there too!

Shao Kahn’s voice can also be unlocked as an Announcer in MK11, though I don’t know if he’s an announcer in M1K.

Defeating a boss needn’t be this dramatic, but he was a despot so he had it coming!

GG boss defeats usually result in a story conversation or a single image hinting at the final outcome in GGX Arcade Mode, though Strive takes a more dynamic approach depending on how well you fought.

1 Loss : C Ending

Lose a Round to the Boss: B Ending

Defeat the Boss Twice (Stage 8 without losing and Stage 9): A Ending (Losing in Stage 9 doesn’t affect the Ending at that point by the way, so you can retry as much as you want there.).

Ironically I enjoy the B Ending Route more as it lets you play your character with a Partner during the Boss Fight. I hope they make Team Battles a thing for Arcade Mode!

In some games, the fight gets more intense in the final round against a Boss. Samurai Shodown 3 has Minazuki Zankuro fill his Rage Gauge to Max, and it won’t deplete normally, so you have to endure his strength!

A lot of older SNK games challenged players like this, so they are infamously hard. Capcom VS SNK 2 had different bosses depending on how you faced the Tournament. Sometimes it was Shin Akuma, sometimes it was God Rugal, and you weren’t ready for either of them in that game!

Nowadays it’s more common to see Boss Challenges as their own separate game mode. You can unlock a boss by defeating them, or you unlock a badge as a reward and proof of their defeat, or even a Trophy.

Speaking of Trophies, I still have my trophy for defeating Smoke, Jade, and Noob Saibot in Mortal Kombat 9!

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Friendly Reminder, but I frequently play Soul Calibur 6 in between my other fighting games. I have a whole SC6 playlist on my channel if you got nothing better to watch.

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GP, a question about Nagoriyuki's sword. Correct me if I'm wrong but the sword itself can use blood to extend its length and reach, yeah? It is possible for the weapon to 'repair' itself? Like say if the sword's blade breaks, could Nagoriyuki use its magical properties to produce a new blade?

I would argue it would depend on the nature on how the sword might get damaged. Much like how Chaos was able to wound Sol with Bullets made from the same material as the sword (which is possessed by a Gashadokuro or Hungry Skeleton Ghost), the reverse is also true: A supernatural material that can hurt ghosts or even exorcise them might damage the sword beyond repair in theory.

Of course that also assumes the sword and ghost are one and the same, it’s also possible for the sword to lose its supernatural properties altogether and simply revert to a normal Nodachi.

Just as an OutRage weapon like the Thundersealed Sword can regenerate, there’s a fundamental reason the sword has that power.

We don’t have a full idea of the sword’s origin or even the full nature of it, so it’s inconclusive and we can only speculate at best for now.

Often the history of a Cursed sword is the basis for its nature.

Just as a Brave Blade is only as strong as the amount of times you use it in battle, the Chicken Knife can only get stronger infinitely based on how often you run from Battle. (Based on the logic of weapons in Final Fantasy.)

Another Cursed Sword is the Muramasa, which is said to be just as Bloodthirsty as Nagoriyuki’s sword, if not more so. In Castlevania, the Muramasa gets progressively stronger the more Blood it consumes via its wielder, the caveat being that the user must make contact with that Blood over a prolonged period.

There are of course other weapons with bizarre curses and rules, but usually the basis of the curse is a detriment more than a boon.

Another example is the titular Soul Edge from the Soul Calibur games, it was originally a normal ordinary sword, but became cursed because it was used in countless battles and eventually gained a taste for the souls of those it killed as well as the warriors that used it.

Soul Edge later became sentient because of the Souls it consumed, but was also able to replicate any fighting style it absorbed as well. The one key weakness of Soul Edge lay in the Will of the Warrior wielding it. If their will was strong, the blade could not possess them.

Eventually Soul Edge was sealed in a Soul Embrace with Soul Calibur in the Astral Chaos between dimensions, possibly to never be seen again, however Soul Edge was also responsible for generating Evil Seeds of its essence that damaged whole countries almost like an Epidemic.

It used these seeds to curse other weapons and living beings who made contact with Shards of the sword, so in a large sense, it used shards of itself to absorb more Souls and increased its power to regenerate.

It is unlikely that Nagoriyuki’s sword is actually that powerful, but in terms of potential, it’s possible the sword exists symbiotically with Nagoriyuki, enhancing his regenerative power as a Vampire naturally.

It’s only a theory so far, but at least we have some idea of the nature of a Cursed Sword, at least.