Sonic The Fighters remains one of the least known Sonic games around. It's existence
being a result of a stray idea in the mind of an AM2 programmer when he decided to insert
Sonic into a 3D fighter engine. At the time this was Fighting Vipers on the Saturn.
When department heads Yu Suzuki and Yuji Naka collaborated with the concept it was
deemed a good idea and then development of Sonic The Fighters began.
Sonic The Fighters was released in 1996 sporting humours combat, bright colourful
graphics and a helping of Sonic sound FX making it easily recognised by the
younger-casual Sonic audience.
For years a port for the Saturn was promised even with some screenshots appearing in
various gaming magazines but needless to say the game did not appear.
Unfortunately the game was only produced in a limited run only been seen by people in the
largest of Sega Works arcade centres.
STORY
Straight after the destruction of the Death Egg, Dr Robotnik immediately set's about the
construction of a better model stunningly entitled Death Egg 2. From his new orbital
fortress Robotnik invades the planet below using an army of robot Robotnik's. One of
Tails' inventions, the transformable recon bot Mechna Sonic No 29 detects the Death Egg
2 and transmits images. This triggers Tails to construct Lunar Fox - a spaceship to
intercept Robotniks new base. To get there in Lunar Fox all 8 (!?) Chaos Emeralds are
needed for power. Another catch to this plan is that there can only be one person to go.
This should therefore be the strongest person on the planet. Let the contest begin!
GAMEPLAY
With AM2 being renowned for their accomplishments in the fighter genre their games
generally are a cut above the rest.
A fighting game with Sonic characters - as deep as any Virtua Fighter or Fighting Vipers?
Obviously not, however, like with Virtua Fighter the game is quickly played by those not
familiar with fighters and those who are.
Experienced brawlers will pick up things right away pulling off all kinds of moves whilst
new comers can simply press all buttons and hope for the best.
Like with all 1 on 1 fighters the goal is to simply beat the hell out of your opponent. You
have 30 seconds to do as much damage to them as possible through punching, kicking and
whatever other moves your character is capable of.
Sonic The Fighters
The control system is simple; punch, kick and defend/guard. Special moves are performed
by combinations of these buttons. Moves for every character are detailed below.
The defend/guard button does have a system of it’s own. Each character begins with 5
points in their barrier. Blocking an attack depletes one of these points. When all 5 points
are gone the character looses the ability to guard for the rest of the match.
The first player to win 2 rounds wins the match. When you have won a match you have a
few seconds to land some extra punishment on your opponent should you really want to.
Should you loose the match you have 10 seconds to insert a coin and continue.
A versus match can be played with another person at anytime by inserting a coin into the
right hand side of the machine.
CHARACTERS & MOVES
There are in total 9 playable characters in the game though 8 are only initially playable.
The 9th character is Super Sonic. Metal Sonic and Robotnik appear as boss characters. In
times when a character must play against themselves (such as a versus match) the second
player is represented by a black and white version.
Characters of Sonic The Fighters
Characters come with a wealth of goofy attacks. When on the receiving end of an assault
rings fly all over the shop. After taking beatings, being dropped or running into the side of
the arena characters will become become dizzy with stars around their head. Characters
themselves stretch, bend, inflate, deflate, have facial expressions and even their eyes will
follow an opponent if they are thrown upwards into the air. Considering that we are in the
rigid era of the likes of Fighting Vipers this is pretty impressive to see.
People who play Sonic games probably are not your usual fighting game savvys. To assist
is this moves guide and the convention used.
(close) When standing close/next to an opponent
(hold) Hold down the button or direction
(near barrier)
P = Punch
K = Kick
G = Guard/Defend
UP makes your character perform a jump
DOWN makes your character crouch
Dash = performed by pressing FORWARDS twice quickly.
DOWN/TOWARDS = Diagonally DOWN and direction TOWARDS your opponent.
AWAY roll to TOWARDS = Roll the Joystick in a circular motion 180o in the direction
facing AWAY from your opponent to facing TOWARDS.
Hyper Power: By sacraficing one barrier point you can stun your opponent using Hyper
Power. To do this push the joystick to the LEFT and press buttons P+K. If your opponent
sees stars then it´s worked.
Examples:
G, P = Guard then Punch
P + G = Punch and Guard pressed together
Tail Throw: (close) TOWARDS, G + K + AWAY = Stand next to your opponent, press
the direction TOWARDS your opponent then press GUARD and KICK and direction
AWAY at the same time.
Characters are in order of appearance.
Opponent #1 Arena: South Island
Knuckle Glider: P + K
One, Two Upper: P, P, P
Upper Cut: DOWN/TOWARDS + P
Body Dive: UP (hold) + P
Moon Launch: Dash + P
Knuckle Special: (close) P + G, P, P
Foot Stomp: (close) DOWN, DOWN + K + G
Dodge Punch: P + K + G, P
|
Opponent #2 (stronger than Knuckles!! WTF?) Arena: Flying Carpet
Magical Hammer: DOWN + P
Spin Hammer: TOWARDS + P
Hip Attack: K + G
Hammer Dive: UP (hold) + P
Head Sliding: Dash + P
Horsey Hop: (close) P + G
Fake Out: AWAY roll to TOWARDS + P + G
Dodge Hammer: P + K + G, P
|
Opponent #3 Arena: Aurora Icefield
Smash Attack: DOWN + P + P
One, Two Throw: P, P, P
Triple Crush Punch: TOWARDS + P, P, P
Dash Attack: (close) P + G
Second Dash (close) DOWN + DOWN + P + G
Giant Swing: (close) AWAY roll to TOWARDS + P + G
Barrier Walk: (near barrier) TOWARDS, TOWARDS + P + K + G
Dodge Punch: P + K + G, P
|
Opponent #4 Arena: Mushroom Hill
Espio Spin: DOWN (hold) + P
Punch: TOWARDS + P
Espio Chop: DOWN/TOWARDS + P
Long Tongue Attack: TOWARDS, TOWARDS + P
Dashing Tongue Attack: Dash + P
Table Flip: (close) P + G
Tongue Throw: (close) TOWARDS, AWAY + P + G
Dodge Punch: P + K + G, P
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Opponent #5 Arena: Canyon Cruise
Propeller Dash: P+K
Propeller Dash Left: P + K,P
Propeller Dash Right: P + K,K
Scissor Punch: TOWARDS + P
Stomping Dive: UP (hold)
Moon Launch: Dash + P
Airplane Smash: (close) P + G
Dodge Punch: P + K + G,P
|
Opponent #6 Arena: Casino Night
Rapid Snipe: TOWARDS + P, P, P, P, P
Tail Combo: K + G, K, K
Spring Kick: TOWARDS, TOWARDS + K
Super Cork: AWAY, TOWARDS, AWAY + P
Horse Kick: Dash + K
Low Tail Strike: (close while knocked down) DOWN + K
Tail Throw: (close) TOWARDS, G + K + AWAY
Dodge Snipe: P + K + G, P
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Opponent #7 Arena: Dynamite Planet
Round and Round Upper: DOWN/TOWARDS + P
Wild Attack: P, P, P, P, P
Triple Throw: TOWARDS, TOWARDS + P
Shot: TOWARDS (hold) + K
Dash Attack: Dash + P
Super Dash: (close) P + G
Let’s Attack: (close) AWAY, TOWARDS, AWAY + P + G
Dodge Attack: P + K + G, P
This character was inspired by another Sega arcade game Dynamite Dux.
|
Opponent #8 Arena: Giant Wing
Spin Attack: DOWN + P
Ballet Toss: DOWN/TOWARDS + P
Spiral Spin: DOWN, DOWN + P
Dash Spin: DASH + P
Head Spin: (close) P + G
Spin Dive: UP (hold) + P
Dodging Spin: P + K + G
|
Super Sonic
Has the same moves as Sonic but is faster and can take no damage. Super Sonic can only
be played in round 2 against Metal Sonic and the Eggman bonus round. You must first
have beaten every opponent without losing a single round.
Metal Sonic - Opponent 9
Arena - Death Egg's Eye
Metal Sonic has all the moves from all characters and can inflict more damage with them.
He is Sonic The Fighters Dural from Virtua Fighter. He has a laser in the hole in his front.
Dr Eggman / Robotnik - Opponent 10 - Final
Arena: Death Egg's Hangar
To get the good ending to the game he has to be defeated within 15 seconds.
His dangerous moves are a punching combo and a throw.
SCREENSHOTS
Knuckles and Bean get it on
Sonic lays the smackdown on his biiatch
Image Caption
Sonic sees stars
Sonic sees stars
Sonic sees stars
Bean bombs!
Sonic thwarts Espio's tongue action
Metal Sonic
Dr Eggman
Character Select Screen
Vs Screen
Taken using Nebula Model 2 emulator.
EMULATION
The game is partially emulated using the Nebula Model 2B emulator. You will need a
pretty powerful PC to run it and it is by far not complete emulation but enough to get a
feel of the game. If your PC struggles badly then turn off the sound emulation.
You can get the emulator from here http://nebula.emulatronia.com/ and the
ROM can be found at some Sonic fansites - so I've heard ^_^
Model 2 Emulator
When the emulator runs the game pressing F2
allows you to change the language of the
game from default Japanese to USA.
The screenshots on this page were taken with this emulator and since it is not 100%
complete results in some unusual effects.
This game is currently not emulated with MAME as of version 0.100.
MISC INFO
Release Dates: Japan June 1996 and US/Europe July 1996
The game was originally released on the Model 2B CRX Arcade board.
Model 2 Arcade Board and Arcade Cabinet
This was Sonic's 2nd and so far last arcade appearance. Sonic's first arcade appearance
was SegaSonicArcade released in 1992.
The game was renamed Sonic Championship in the US and Europe.
Sega of America were a little concerned about releasing this title in the US. The sight of
Sonic characters beating the holy hell out of each other did not sit good with them.
In the opening credits Robotnik's name is spelt Robotnic's.
There is a Sonic The Fighters reference in Fighters Megamix. Bark and Bean are playable
charcaters (though not initially) and 2 arenas are present; South Island and Aurora
Icefield.
Sunset Town - A Bonus arena that did not make it into the final game but the BGM for
the stage can be found on the Sonic The Fighters soundtrack (track 24)
Sonic The Fighters has just been announced to be released in the upcoming Sonic Gems
Collection. This will be the first console version of the game.
