World Heroes (video game)

Gameplay screenshot showcasing Hanzō Hattori performing a throw with Kim Dragon.

World Heroes is controlled with three of the four buttons ("A" to punch, "B" to kick and "C" to throw) used along with an 8-way joystick on the Neo Geo MVS arcade cabinet. The punches and kicks have two levels, weak and strong. In order to get each strength with just two buttons, the punch and kick buttons have to be pressed briefly for weak and longer for strong. This same mechanic even can be performed with special moves. The throw button C, if close enough to the opponent, grabs and throws the opponent across the stage; however, if holding the joystick in the opposite direction at the right time, the opponent would be tossed the opposite direction. Introduced in the fighting game genre by World Heroes are some abilities exclusive to some characters that were used in several later fighting games, such as multi-jumping using Hanzou and Fuuma, and shooting projectiles from the air using Rasputin.

There are eight playable characters in the roster and two different play modes for players to choose from: "Normal Game" and "Death Match". In "Normal Game", players have to defeat the other seven playable characters in a random order, followed by a battle against the final boss Geegus (misspelled as "Gee Gus" in localized English versions), all by using the chosen character. If the player defeats an opponent, the player moves on to the next opponent. After the third battle, the player has a bonus round to carve a block of stone into a statue in ten seconds with repeated hits. After the sixth battle, the player has another bonus round to break falling pots in ten seconds before they hit the ground.

"Death Match" acts like Normal Mode with a difference. Players will fight in a ring with environmental hazards such as electrical barriers, spiked walls, oil puddles and others which players must avoid while fighting. Players also can force their opponents against the environmental hazards to their advantage. Also, unlike the normal game where battles take place in various locations, all death match battles take place in a closed boxing-esque arena setting, and take place in front of a live audience.

In the distant future, Dr. Sugar Brown: a well-renowned and famous scientist is determined to figure out on who the strongest fighter of history is and has gone to great lengths in order to finally gain the answer of his own question. Through the use of a time machine that he had built, Dr. Brown has brought together eight fighters from the distant past (each of whom are based on actual historical figures) so that all of them can compete and take part in a fighting tournament that Dr. Brown has organized, the tournament itself being used as a way to determine on who the strongest fighter of history is. Little does Dr. Brown and the participating fighters know and realize that an unknown threat is secretly watching them during the progression of the tournament and that this unknown threat could easily endanger them and the rest of the world.

• Hanzou Hattori
• Kotaro Fuuma
• Kim Dragon
• Janne D'Arc
• Julius Carn
• Muscle Power
• Brocken
• Rasputin
• Geegus (Final Boss)

World Heroes was later ported to the Neo Geo AES in both Japan and North America on September 11, 1992, which is identical to the Neo Geo MVS version, but designed for home gaming, just like nearly every AES versions of Neo Geo titles. World Heroes was later ported to the Neo Geo CD exclusively in Japan by ADK on March 17, 1995 and then to North America in October 1996,[2] which is the same as the MVS and AES versions, but with arranged background music.

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Besides SNK's consoles, it was first ported by Sunsoft to the SNES in Japan on August 12, 1993, in North America in September 1993,[4] and PAL regions in 1993. Later, it was ported to the Sega Mega Drive / Genesis by Sega Midwest Studio (then known as Sega Midwest Development Division[5]) exclusively in North America on August 16, 1994. The Neo Geo AES version was also added to the Wii's Virtual Console first in Japan on September 28, 2007, then in North America on October 8, 2007, and in Europe on October 19, 2007. Later, it was added to a compilation of Neo Geo arcade games for the PlayStation 2,[6] PlayStation Portable and Wii titled SNK Arcade Classics Vol. 1 as an unlockable game.[7] A port was in development for the Mega-CD/Sega CD by Funcom, under the title World Heroes CD, but was cancelled prior to its release.

On October 18, 2007, SNK Playmore added it with its three sequels to the arcade game compilation World Heroes Gorgeous: Neo Geo Online Collection Vol. 9 (ワールドヒーローズ ゴージャス) in Japan for the PlayStation 2. It was later published in North America on March 11, 2008, and in Europe on November 7, 2008, both titled as World Heroes Anthology. This was created to celebrate the 15th Anniversary of the World Heroes series. This compilation was later reprinted as part of a series of best-sellers labeled "The Best" in Japan on June 18, 2009.

• World Heroes at GameFAQs
• World Heroes at Giant Bomb
• World Heroes at Killer List of Videogames
• World Heroes at MobyGames