Game: Sango Fighter 2
Released by: Panda
About: Romance of three Kingdoms.
Genre: Street-Fighter Style
Sango Fighter 2 is a Street-Fighter style arcade game with its background based on the Three Kingdoms era. Gamers familiar with Koei's Romance of Three Kingdoms will find this game containing most of the famous generals during that time.
Sango Fighter 2 expands on Sango Fighter 1 by introducing more generals for choices and even allowing players to choose one ruler out of the three and select territories to attack.
The player will then choose one General to lead the attack while the computer will select one General to defend.
The fun begins with the player being allowed to choose 2 sidekicks, a soldier with sword and shield, a spearman or an archer. These soldiers will take to the field
first before the General himself appears.
The graphic is great for that time and controls are relatively smooth and easy. Gameplay is one of the best. Each side boasts 4-5 generals to choose from. In the above mentioned campaign mode, the winning General will have to take a few turns before his remaining damages taken are restored. Therefore, player has to really learn how to use all Generals available to him effectively instead of relying on just one or two Generals. Every General has his own special attack and special moves. Some moves are really devastating and for fans of Three Kingdoms who know their history, Lu Bu is included as an independent state with ONLY one General! The advantage he has though is that he has 3 bars of health compared to 2 for the others. His attacks are also strong and varied. Playing him would be an ultimate challenge as players are not allowed to recruit defeated generals.
Sound effects are fair for that time, and there are even shouting of Chinese words for their special attack! The 'home ground' of each General is also included, for e.g., Chang Ban Bridge for Zhang Fei where he famously stopped a whole army with a shout in the novel.
The bad things may be down to the controls, especially for players used to arcade controls - the stick and buttons style. Using keyboard to play may pose some new difficulties. However, look past this small flaw and this game was a mega hit during its time.
Overall the game is great fun. Of course there is the no frills one-on-one mode for challenging your buddies.
Rating: 8/10
