Fighters Destiny
| Fighters Destiny (FD1) | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developers |
Anchor/Opus/Genki |
| Publishers |
Ocean of America |
| Systems |
Nintendo 64 |
Released in 1998 for the Nintendo 64, Fighters Destiny is recognized for its unique points system, unlockable techniques through the Master Challenge and--in hindsight--its relationship to Toy Fighter. Co-developed by Genki, Opus Corporation and Anchor Incorporated, its designer was Masahiro Onoguchi. He worked on Tekken, Soul Edge, and Fighting Vipers 2 as a ‘motion designer.' Anchor is his company, which specialized in mocap for fighting and realistic wrestling titles. Fighters Destiny’s technically-flavoured style owes a lot to these sorts of games.
Despite an assumed lack of originality, much of its gameplay is seemingly an answer to many of the cliches and expectations in the genre. It was designed by outsiders, and it shows. With its distinctive scoring, emphasized grapples and patient timing, its style is quite novel.
If Karate Champ were an Olympic martial arts tournament, or if Tekken were a boxing match with its combatants quickly weaving in and out of attack range, or Samurai Shodown were a cinematic duel, Fighters Destiny’s combat could be likened to a shootout in the wild west. Hit-checking and combos are still there, but well-placed single attacks have presence here. Long strings have gaps, or are even negative on hit, making conservative spacing and good defense the order of the day. Conversely, offense is highly rewarding, since many attacks and throws are one-hit knockouts. Alongside parries, reversals and counters, Fighters Destiny permits a wide variety of playstyles. The learning curve is pretty simple, and its Virtua Fighter-inspired controls make it a breeze to pick up and play once you adjust to its quirks.
The Japanese release, Fighting Cup, was released 11 months later. Despite that, it’s seemingly based on an earlier revision of the game; this is reflected in the characters’ movesets, which have subtle differences. These will be noted in the Character sections as required.
