Burning Fight

Burning Fight[lower-alpha 1] is a beat 'em up arcade game released by SNK in 1991 for the Neo Geo MVS system.[3] Introduced to capture a share in the then-popular beat 'em ups market, it was meant to compete with Technōs' Double Dragon, the leader of the genre at the time. Three years after its release in the arcades and on the Neo Geo AES, it was released on Neo Geo CD as the only other home version.[4]

Burning Fight
European Arcade flyer with art by Shinkiro
Developer(s)SNK
Publisher(s)SNK
D4 Enterprise
(Virtual Console)
HAMSTER Corporation (PS4/Switch/Xbox One)
Producer(s)Eikichi Kawasaki
Designer(s)Naoto Abe[1]
Composer(s)Yasumasa Yamada
Platform(s)
Release
Genre(s)Beat 'em up
Mode(s)
CabinetUpright
Arcade systemNeo Geo MVS
CPUM68000 (@ 12 MHz),
Z80A (@ 4 MHz)
SoundYM2610 (@ 8 MHz)[2]
DisplayRaster, 304 × 224 pixels (Horizontal), 4096 colors

The game is produced by Eikichi Kawasaki, one of SNK's founders and the man behind various well-known SNK titles, such as Fatal Fury and Samurai Shodown series.

A re-released version of Burning Fight is included in SNK Arcade Classics Vol. 1, which was released for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable and Wii in 2008.

Gameplay
Gameplay screenshot showcasing the first boss.

Burning Fight follows a formula and concepts commonly seen in titles of this genre, such as Streets of Rage, Double Dragon and Final Fight: balanced character selection, objects and weapons found on the ground cause greater damage to opponents, and semi-interactive environments (players can damage objects like phone booths and street signs along the way). The game is set in a fictional version of Osaka city (during a train station scene the platform even shows an "Umida" station sign).

There are three playable characters, each with their own levels of strength, agility and special moves: Ryu is quick but weak, Billy is slow but very strong, and Duke is a more balanced hitter. One element that helps the game stand out from its competition is mini-stages, where the player must defeat some enemies in a short period of time in order to win prizes.

Antagonists are members of Heiwa-Gumi, a Japanese yakuza gang, though there are a few Caucasian bosses and mid-level bosses (including three wrestling characters, Tom Anderson, Gary Powell and the Mad Dilly, modelled after Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage), and the final boss is Italian mob boss Castella (Casterora in Japanese). Moreover, the game has no individual endings, no matter which character has been chosen. After defeating Castella, players are presented with various scenes of the game along with the credits, and finally a group picture of the main characters.

Reception
Contemporary reception
Aggregate score
AggregatorScore
GameRankings(Neo Geo) 55%[5]
Review scores
PublicationScore
AllGame(Neo Geo) [6]
CVG(Neo Geo) 92 / 100[7]
GamePro(Neo Geo) 24 / 25[8]
Consoles +(Neo Geo) 92%[9]
Hobby Hi-Tech(Neo Geo CD) 4 / 10[10]
Joypad(Neo Geo) 92%[11]
Joystick(Neo Geo) 92%[12]
Mega Fun(Neo Geo) 77%[13]
Micom BASIC Magazine(Neo Geo) [14]
Player One(Neo Geo) 85%[15]
Sinclair User(Arcade) 74%[16]

In Japan, Game Machine listed Burning Fight on their June 15, 1991 issue as being the eighth most-successful table arcade unit of the year, outperforming titles such as Raiden.[17] While the game was successful critically,[18] it received a lukewarm welcome by fans of the genre. The lack of popularity led the game to fail to have the impact SNK was hoping for and it was left behind its better known competitors. Sinclair User highlighted this sense of dullness by giving the game a rating of 74 and stating that, "Burning Fight is a competent journey along the usual beat-'em-up road..."[16]

Retrospective reviews
Retrospective assessments
Aggregate score
AggregatorScore
GameRankings(Switch) 30%[19]
Review scores
PublicationScore
Eurogamer(Wii) 7 / 10[20]
IGN(Wii) 4.5 / 10[21]
Nintendo Life(Wii) 5 / 10[22]
(Switch) 3 / 10[23]
Bonus Stage(Switch) 7 / 10[24]
Pure Nintendo Magazine(Switch) 5 / 10[25]

Burning Fight has been met with a much more mixed reception from critics since its release.

See also

Notes
  1. Japanese: バーニング・ファイト Hepburn: Bāningu Faito

References
  1. "SNK". Famitsu (in Japanese). No. 1545. Gzbrain. July 26, 2018. (Translation by One Million Power. Archived 2019-12-23 at the Wayback Machine).
  2. "SNK NeoGeo MVS Hardware (SNK)". system16.com. Retrieved 2019-06-02.
  3. "VG: バーニングファイト". Beep! MegaDrive (in Japanese). No. 17. SoftBank Creative. February 1991. p. 131.
  4. "Neo•Geo CD: The Arcade In A Box - Burning Fight". GamePro. No. Premiere Supplement. IDG. Spring 1996. p. 104.
  5. "Burning Fight for NeoGeo". GameRankings. CBS Interactive. 2019. Retrieved 2019-07-21.
  6. Knight, Kyle (1998). "Burning Fight (Neo Geo Advanced Entertainment System) - Review". AllGame. All Media Network. Archived from the original on 2014-11-15. Retrieved 2019-07-21.
  7. Rand, Paul; Boone, Tim (January 1992). "Reviews - Neo Geo -- Burning Fight". Computer and Video Games. No. 122. Future Publishing. pp. 34–35.
  8. Quan, Slasher (January 1992). "Neo Geo For Real! - Burning Fight". GamePro. No. 30. IDG. pp. 101–102.
  9. Loulou; El Nio Nio (January 1992). "Neo Geo Review - Burning Fight". Consoles + (in French). No. 5. M.E.R.7. pp. 34–35.
  10. "Reportaje - Clásicos en CD -- Titulos disponibles para el nuevo formato de SNK: Burning Fight". Hobby Hi-Tech (in Spanish). No. 1. Axel Springer SE. March 1995. p. 29.
  11. Steph; Demoly, Jean-Marc (November 1991). "Test - Neo Geo - Burning Fight". Joypad (in French). No. 2. Yellow Media. pp. 122–124.
  12. Demoly, Jean-Marc (October 1991). "Tests - Neo Geo - Burning Fight". Joystick (in French). No. 20. Anuman Interactive. p. 131. Retrieved 2019-07-21.
  13. Noak, Philipp; Hellert, Stefan (August 1993). "Special - Neo Geo - Burning Fight". Mega Fun (in German). No. 11. CT Computec Verlag GmbH & Co. KG. pp. 28–30. Archived from the original on 2018-10-21. Retrieved 2019-07-21.
  14. Yanma; Itabashi (July 1992). "Super Soft 大特集 - 今、『NEO・GEO』がおもしろい！: バーニングファイト". Micom BASIC Magazine (in Japanese). No. 121. The Dempa Shimbunsha Corporation. p. 209.
  15. Drevet, Cyril (January 1992). "Tests De Jeux - Neo Geo - Burning Fight". Player One (in French). No. 16. Média Système Édition. pp. 80–81.
  16. "Coin Ops - Burning Fight • Neo Geo". Sinclair User. No. 113. EMAP. July 1991. p. 39.
  17. "Game Machine's Best Hit Games 25 - テーブル型TVゲーム機 (Table Videos)". Game Machine (in Japanese). No. 405. Amusement Press, Inc. 15 June 1991. p. 25.
  18. Knauf, Andreas (January 1992). "News - Neo Geo - Burning Fight". Video Games (in German). No. 5. Future-Verlag. pp. 10–12.
  19. "ACA NeoGeo: Burning Fight for Nintendo Switch". GameRankings. CBS Interactive. 2019. Retrieved 2019-07-21.
  20. Whitehead, Dan (June 2, 2008). "Virtual Console Roundup - Paradroid, Burning Fight, Pokemon Puzzle League and Samurai Shodown". Eurogamer. Gamer Network Ltd. Retrieved 2019-07-21.
  21. M. Thomas, Lucas (July 7, 2008). "Burning Fight Review". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved 2019-07-21.
  22. McFerran, Damien (May 31, 2008). "Burning Fight Review (Neo Geo)". Nintendo Life. Nlife Media. Retrieved 2019-07-21.
  23. Frear, Dave (October 2, 2017). "Burning Fight Review (Switch eShop / Neo Geo)". Nintendo Life. Nlife Media. Retrieved 2019-07-21.
  24. Osange, Elliott (October 1, 2017). "ACA NEOGEO BURNING FIGHT Review". bonusstage.co.uk. Bonus Stage. Retrieved 2020-05-22.
  25. Gould, Trevor (October 18, 2017). "Review: ACA NEOGEO Burning Fight (Nintendo Switch)". Pure Nintendo Magazine. Pure Media, LLC. Retrieved 2020-05-22.
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