Art of Fighting 3 (Neo-Geo, NGCD)

This game blows!
Don't worry, I'll back that statement up with the facts. By the time this game was released to the US audience, the Neo-Geo hardware was on it's last leg commerically. I did play this game a few times at the local arcade, but it was only in the MVS machine for a couple of weeks before it was taken out of rotation. Nobody played the game, apparently. I can't imagine why...
Art of Fighting 2 is miles better, by the way...

Gameplay:
Ouch... Well you'll be frustrated quickly when you start playing this game. Your character will be knocked down a few hundred times in a round, and you'll be waiting a few seconds for the loser to stand back up. The frequent knock-downs in this game just ruin it, matches take years to end. Before I get jumped for playing this game via emulator... I own the game on Neo-Geo CD. Yes, the game has some pretty long load times, but it's in tact and plays just like the normal Neo cartridge version.
Not only are there a million and one knock-downs, but the special moves contained in the game are weakened massively for some unknown reason. I think I'll just throw 30 fireballs, every round, so I can win with Ryo. Not... Oh yes, jump-kick syndrome is back, you can win just by constantly jump-kicking agian.

Graphics:
No one ever said this game was ugly, but we didn't say it was pretty either. There are a few LAME characters in this game, and Wyler is the LAMEST endboss of all time. The game does have some of the cleanest graphics in Neo history, so it's unfortunate that nothing is memorable.
Of course, in-game scaling returns, with the camera panning and zooming depending on the distance between characters. This was always a nice feature, but not enough to carry the whole game on it's back.

Sound/Music:
Neither the music, nor the sound effects in this game are anything special (even on the Neo CD version I have). They simply fit in with the rest of the game (Read: LAME).

Replay Value:
You won't want to play through the game more than once, and forget two player vs. modes, as the game stinks bad. Worse still, this is one of the Neo games that collectors have driven up the price on. The Neo homecart version will probably cost you over $300, and the limited Neo CD version costs over $50. The best way to go is to get the cheaper MVS cartridge, if you have a cabinet or a converter. I'll stress it though, this game is for collectors ONLY. If you're a player, stick to AOF2!

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