World Heroes 2

When hundreds of fighting games filled the arcades in the mid-nineties, every title needed something extra to survive. World Heroes 2 bet on a crazy idea: what if fighters from across history clashed in a single tournament? This series from studio ADK, published under the SNK banner on the Neo Geo hardware, pitted characters inspired by real legends against purely fictional figures, and it was precisely this mix that gave the game a distinctive character at a time when the competition was churning out one serious fighter after another.

The second installment significantly expanded the roster compared to the original game and fine-tuned the combat system. Alongside classic matches it also offered so-called Death Match modes, where the arena itself dealt damage – spikes, explosives and other traps turned the fight into a bloody farce. This gimmick set World Heroes apart from the austere realism of Street Fighter and from the ghostly mysticism of other titles, and gave players room for a proper show.

The Neo Geo was the ideal home for this type of game. Mighty sprites, a vivid color palette and smooth animations gave the characters a distinctive comic-book flavor. Players lucky enough to own the home Neo Geo AES console brought the arcade experience home practically without compromise, right into the living room – albeit at a price that made this platform a privilege of wealthier fans.

World Heroes 2 never reached the prestige of Street Fighter II or the fame of the later King of Fighters, but in its day it built up a loyal group of supporters. For Neo Geo connoisseurs it's a typical example of how SNK and allied studios experimented with the genre and searched for their own path amid the clouds of nineties fighters. The series continued with further installments that gradually added mechanics and characters.

Today the game is interesting mainly as testimony to the variety of the arcade scene of the time. Anyone wanting to work through the genre's history will come across World Heroes 2 as an honest, playable fighter with a touch of tongue-in-cheek that didn't take itself quite as seriously as its more famous competitors.

Why play: For brisk fights with historical and fictional fighters and crazy Death Match arenas that still entertain today.