Hope you like watching Final Fantasy characters beat the ever loving crap out of each other, because Dissidia Final Fantasy NT is coming out January 2018 on the Playstation 4. The Final Fantasy action brawler is the second in the Dissidia series and is the perfect game to check out if you dig both Final Fantasy and fighting games. There’re tons of chances to fly in the air and use world-ending super powers. It’s a pretty bomb ass trailer:
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Since the last Retro Games Revival post focused on fighting titles with unique mechanics and hooks that I adore, this is the perfect time to revisit 2 of my all-time favorite fighting games left off the list in Tobal no. 1 and Bushido Blade since it’s unlikely Square Enix will likely never bring either back in any major way. Still, it’s easy to see how each game has inspired Dissidia and a great many modern combat games. Not bad for a company that built its reputation on anything but.
The Publisher: Square Enix
Originally known as Square Soft until a merger with Enix in 2003, Square Enix is known for producing some of the finest role-playing games (RPG) to ever get kids kicked out of college. Square Enix is the publisher behind the storied Dragon Quest series, Chrono Trigger, Secret of Mana, and every Final Fantasy game and spin off since 1987. Simply put, these guys practically birthed the Japanese-style RPG and are still going strong with Final Fantasy XV released late last year. While we’re used to seeing the brand in non-gaming contexts now, Square Enix only diversified in the 90’s, broadening their offerings to include physical merchandise, music, full-fledged blockbuster filmmaking, and introducing new genres-- like 1-on-1 fighting games.
Tobal no. 1 and Bushido Blade were published in 1996 and 1997 respectively, during the boom period for more interesting takes on fighting games. Back then, we had everything from the claymation warriors of Clayfighters to murderous dinosaur gods who ate humans for health boosts in Primal Rage, to well... Shaq Fu (beat’em up reboot incoming). In order to get a piece of that sweet brawler money, Square created two quirky fighting games that took interesting risks with their character personalities and defining characteristics.
TOBAL NO. 1
Platform: Playstation 1 | Release Year: 1996 What it is: 3D Arena Fighter
I wanted Tobal no. 1 so badly that I sold my Genesis console to get the cash to purchase it. I wanted people to like Tobal no. 1 so badly, I'd refuse to play other games in order to force them to play it with me. I was the peanut butter and Tobal no. 1 was my jam and I wanted to make a new sandwich every day.
The great Akira Toriyama designed some of Tobal’s characters. You probably know him as the creator of all things Dragon Ball. At that time, the Dragon Ball Z anime had just come to the US to continuing the massive global popularity surge. In Toriyama’s signature wacky style, you could play as a robot, a chicken man, a lizard, and even a large, powerful, russian female wrestler. Considering gaming’s poor track record of designing women with different builds, this last character tickled me. I'll be honest, as a young lover of amazons and fit women, the design choice for made me a gargantuan fan. Still, it's startling how playing as a robot or lizard man is less unique than playing as a statuesque woman, or one of color.
Mary Ivonskaya is bae.
Since this Tobal takes place in 2027, I’m going on record saying she’s Zarya’s from Overwatch’s mom
Zarya from Overwatch <3
You just know her quads are ridiculous from lugging that giant gun around
Thanks to the early form of cell shaded graphics, Tobal no. 1 possessed a fluidity to its action seldom seen in games even today because it ran at a smooth 60 frames per second. This, combined with its unique control scheme, quick rounds, and solid mechanics made it an absolute joy to play for those of us looking for a more layered and diverse experience in fighting games back in the 90s.
It also came with a ridiculously cool dungeon crawler mode that saw you running around 30 floors of dungeon, fighting playable characters and other weird beings, leveling up, and avoiding traps. While it was a far from perfect mode, it added a great deal of replayability to the game.
Let's Face It...
The reason why most people bought Tobal no. 1 because it came packed with a demo for Final Fantasy 7. In 1996, Final Fantasy 7 may as well have been a literal crystal with the power to save the Earth, because to play even a miniscule sliver of it was to have a brunch with God herself. It’s inclusion is often cited as the reason *Tobal no. *1 went on to sell 600,000 in Japan and that’s tough to dispute.
Because for all my intense love of the title, Tobal no. 1 had a lot of problems. Sparse backgrounds, a complete lack of character endings, and virtually no story (despite a great set up), made the wacky designs of a master creator little more than window dressing. Meanwhile, navigating the 30 floors of dungeons was as confusing and tedious as navigating an actual maze in real life. Tobal no. 1 got well-received sequel, Tobal 2, added projectile attacks and 200 playable characters and a greatly enhanced dungeon mode! Square didn’t even bother to release it outside of Japan. I will never forgive them for this.
Why It Really Rules: Unique Grapple System
While other 3D fighters at the time felt like more like 2D fighters in boxy 3D polygonal worlds, Tobal boasted true 8-directional movement that allowed you to dash around opponents, attack and avoid strikes from multiple directions. This included completely different grapples and throws based on the direction you grabbed an opponent from.
When you initiated a grapple in Tobal, you didn't just do a scripted throw like in most fighting games. Tobal no. 1 gave you options like a wrestling game. You could move your opponent around, toss them in whatever direction you like, strike them with fists or knees, do a painful slams, and defend against any of these. While there was never an easy way to understand how to initiate blocks and reversals, sometimes you could freak out and get lucky by just tapping buttons (though computer seemed to get lucky way more often than you did). This was the most innovative aspect of the fighting game in my opinion, and while it exists in a more complex form in UFC games and wrestling games, Tobal struck a great balance between simple and complex in the more fast paced 3D fighter system.
How It Lives On
While nobody is clamoring for new fighting game franchises or resurgences of failed ones, I personally think Tobal had all the potential in the world, but I’m pretty sure I’m part of a rather small minority. Other than the typical overhauls in graphics and fighting game play, the only idea I could offer to a refresh of Tobal no. 1 is to lean heavily on the dungeon crawling element which we’ve seen used in a variety of games over the last 20 years.
Of course, we have plenty of awesome and unique fighters these days in the Naruto: Ninja Storm series, and even Dissidia itself. So no matter how much I may wish it, the world really doesn’t need more Tobal. But it will always live in on my heart.
Bushido Blade
Platform: Playstation 1 | Release Year: 1997 | What It Is: Open Samurai Fighter
Bushido Blade is what happens when you love samurai movies, and you love video games too, but you love samurai movies even more. The game itself is simple: you choose a fighter, pick a weapon, ranging from katanas and nodachis, all the way to hammer and spears. You then face off against your opponent and try to kill them. Not beat them... kill them. One good strike is all you need. Stab them in the head or heart, and the fight is over. Stab them in the leg or arm and you may hinder them but they can still kill you. There is no health bar or time limit. Everything is settled on the field of battle unless you ran away and led your opponent on a merry chase on its sprawling maps. Battles between players were tense since a single misstep could make recovery impossible.
The game was beautifully rendered with amazing and authentic feeling Japanese sites around a massive castle. Fighting in tall grass or bamboo resulted in chopping down the plants. You’d see gravestones, waterfalls and rivers. It was all stunningly realized at the time and remains one of my favorite ways to settle a grudge match between friends to this day.
Why It Really Rules: Huge Arenas | Realistic Weapon Damage | High Stakes
Bushido Blade had the free run button. You could hold it down and run and run and run far away from your opponent. You could gain the high ground or just try and annoy them into making a mistake. Mistakes cost in the world of Bushido Blade. The fighting was simplistic in the way that actual weapon based combat is. It didn’t have to look good; it had to be good to win. And because of that if felt twice as amazing when your victory did look good
Let's Face It...
Giant areas around a recreation of a Japanese castle were beautiful to look at, but ultimately didn’t help the gameplay much. After all, there was no reason to go running around and climbing up and down waterfalls other than exploration and annoying your friends. Plus, in the PS1 era you couldn't even be on different screens. So forget hiding behind the grave of your ancestor or leaping out of a tree for a sneak attack. At best you could just let the invisible walls drag your opponent behind you.
While there was a sequel released a year later, Bushido Blade 2 did little to remedy this lack of motivation. When you only have one guy to kill and can do it in a single blow, there’s really little more to do than rinse and repeat. But it still looked so cool to do it.
How It Lives On
Still, there’s space in the world for more patient and methodical fighting games. Imagine a game similar to Bushido Blade that gave players the ability to choose 2 or 3 additional fighters then battle in a survival mode style game. If your first guy is killed in a dual, you can move in as the 2nd choice to keep fighting, now with a different weapon. I could also envision breakable weapons which could force players to traverse the map looking for a replacement. You could even add more environmental weapon usage a la Power Stone to add some diversity and platforming elements to these mad dashes.
Pixel Blooooood!
In fact, if you combine both elements, your fighter choices could be stationed around the town or castle you’re in and begin there when you die or aid you in battle if you get close enough to their position.. In battles where distraction means death, assistance wouldn’t have to come in the form of overt combat in order to be useful, but could open doors, drop tarps or let loose dams to offer you an advantage.
The legacy of Bushido Blade lives on in a variety of weapon based combat titles, most recently For Honor took the notion of melee weapon combat and added the team based online touch to make it a massive hit for fans of classic melee weapon style gaming including murder strike and half swording. Chivalry added elements such as using motion to control attack and defense direction. Of course, the most popular application (and my personal favorite so far) of the lessons of Bushido Blade have been applied in From Software’s Dark Souls series. The gameplay mechanics are based on a very careful and methodical style of fighting that forces players to get better on it. This advantage has made it one of the most popular RPG and fighting series ever made. While we may not see another title outright, it’s good to know that Bushido Blade’s gameplay philosophy lives on.
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