Sonic the Fighters
Encyclopedia
Sonic the Fighters is a fighting game
in the Sonic the Hedgehog series. The game's original Japanese title, Sonic The Fighters, is used in North America
n and Europe
an releases of Sonic Gems Collection.
(Doctor Eggman in the Japanese version. His North American name, Dr. Robotnik, was misspelled as "Dr. Robotonic") has built the Death Egg II, along with Metal Sonic. Tails alerts Sonic to this and they plan to fly into space via the Lunar Fox, a spaceship Tails built in an effort to stop it. However, as it is a single seater, only one of them can go and it requires the energy of eight Chaos Emeralds. The two set off in the Tornado to find them, detecting one in Knuckles
If a character defeats all eight opponents, they will go on to face Metal Sonic and Dr. Robotnik. However, the player has to defeat Dr. Robotnik within 15 seconds of his stage to get the ending. If he is not beaten on time, the player receives a Game Over. If the player wins, the playable character escapes the exploding Death Egg II. Dr. Robotnik and Metal Sonic are seen after the credits, seeking vengeance.
, added Sonic
and Tails
into the fighting game Fighting Vipers
. Yu Suzuki
saw this and decided to present the idea of a 3D
Sonic fighting game to Hiroshi Kataoka. Suzuki then presented the idea to Yuji Naka
. Initial thoughts about the game were that the game would give Sonic a negative and violent image, and Kataoka thought that Naka would not approve, but Naka loved the idea and approved of the game's development. This was Sonic's first 3D debut and had Naka's full support. The game was released in Japanese arcade
s in June 1996, running on Sega Model 2 hardware.
¹These characters share the name "Dr. Eggman"; thus, their names are unofficial. Model data also exists for another character, which is Eggman in a vehicle resembling a walking tank, but the character itself does not exist. There has been a hack that replaces the normal Eggman Mech model with this one, but due to an incomplete modification, he sometimes flashes back to the normal Mech, but only for a single frame.
called Sonic Battle
, and later Sonic himself became an unlockable character in the Wii
game Super Smash Bros. Brawl
, with a large amount of his moves actually based on attacks that he used in Sonic the Fighters.
A Sega Saturn version of the game was also announced but never released, though some elements appeared in the Saturn game Fighters Megamix
. The game was ported
to home consoles on Sonic Gems Collection, for the GameCube
in North America
and, in Europe
and Japan
, the PlayStation 2
and the GameCube
. In the port, model data of all unused characters was removed. Character data still exists, but upon selection, the game crashes due to the missing models.
described the game as "a stripped-down version of Virtua Fighter 2
, and called it "dated and simplistic" IGN
echoed those sentiments, stating that it "plays like a streamlined version of the original Virtua Fighter" and closed with "Not that it's a terrible fighter, mind you, only that it's a very simple one. If you're expecting a wide assortment of moves and 200-hit combos, prepare to be disappointed. The selection of playable characters isn't too shabby, but each character's list of moves leaves something to be desired... like better moves."
Fighting game
Fighting game is a video game genre where the player controls an on-screen character and engages in close combat with an opponent. These characters tend to be of equal power and fight matches consisting of several rounds, which take place in an arena. Players must master techniques such as...
in the Sonic the Hedgehog series. The game's original Japanese title, Sonic The Fighters, is used in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
n and Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an releases of Sonic Gems Collection.
Plot
Dr. RobotnikDoctor Eggman
, also known by his alias , is a fictional video game character, the main antagonist of the Sonic the Hedgehog series created by Sega. Dr. Eggman is a rotund, mad scientist with an IQ of 300 who plans to conquer the world in order to build his Eggman Empire and is the archenemy of Sonic the Hedgehog...
(Doctor Eggman in the Japanese version. His North American name, Dr. Robotnik, was misspelled as "Dr. Robotonic") has built the Death Egg II, along with Metal Sonic. Tails alerts Sonic to this and they plan to fly into space via the Lunar Fox, a spaceship Tails built in an effort to stop it. However, as it is a single seater, only one of them can go and it requires the energy of eight Chaos Emeralds. The two set off in the Tornado to find them, detecting one in Knuckles
If a character defeats all eight opponents, they will go on to face Metal Sonic and Dr. Robotnik. However, the player has to defeat Dr. Robotnik within 15 seconds of his stage to get the ending. If he is not beaten on time, the player receives a Game Over. If the player wins, the playable character escapes the exploding Death Egg II. Dr. Robotnik and Metal Sonic are seen after the credits, seeking vengeance.
Gameplay
The game's mechanics are based on those used in the Virtua Fighter series. The three buttons are respectively for punching, kicking, and blocking. The block button supplements the barrier system, in which if the blocking character takes several hits then the barrier will be destroyed. Players will have a limited supply of barriers, thus if one has no barriers left, he or she is unable to block. Pressing all three buttons result in a sidestep, which can be followed by a punch. The player can also activate "hyper mode" at the cost of one barrier, which will extend combo possibilities.Development
Masahiro Sugiyama, a character designer at AM2Sega-AM2
Sega Amusement Machine Research and Development Department 2 is a research and development team for the video game company Sega. Originally known as "Sega Amusement Developing Section 8", AM2 was previously headed up by famed designer Yu Suzuki...
, added Sonic
Sonic the Hedgehog (character)
, trademarked Sonic The Hedgehog, is a video game character and the main protagonist of the Sonic video game series released by Sega, as well as in numerous spin-off comics, cartoons, and a feature film. The first game was released on June 23, 1991, to provide Sega with a mascot to rival Nintendo's...
and Tails
Miles "Tails" Prower
, better known by his nickname , is a character, as well as the main deuteragonist in the Sonic the Hedgehog series of video games, comics, animated series and film released by Sega....
into the fighting game Fighting Vipers
Fighting Vipers
Fighting Vipers is a 3D fighting game developed by Sega AM2.The game was first released in the arcade in 1995 using the Sega Model 2 hardware and ported the same year to the Sega Saturn with significantly reduced graphics.-Gameplay:...
. Yu Suzuki
Yu Suzuki
is a Japanese game designer and producer who has spent his entire career with Sega Enterprises. Often referred to as Sega's answer to Shigeru Miyamoto, he has been responsible for the creation of many of Sega's most important arcade games such as Hang-On, Out Run, After Burner II, Virtua Fighter,...
saw this and decided to present the idea of a 3D
3D computer graphics
3D computer graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data that is stored in the computer for the purposes of performing calculations and rendering 2D images...
Sonic fighting game to Hiroshi Kataoka. Suzuki then presented the idea to Yuji Naka
Yuji Naka
, is a video game designer and programmer, best known as the former head of Sonic Team, a group of Sega programmers/designers, where he was the lead programmer of the original Sonic the Hedgehog....
. Initial thoughts about the game were that the game would give Sonic a negative and violent image, and Kataoka thought that Naka would not approve, but Naka loved the idea and approved of the game's development. This was Sonic's first 3D debut and had Naka's full support. The game was released in Japanese arcade
Video arcade
An amusement arcade or video arcade is a venue where people play arcade games such as video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, merchandisers , or coin-operated billiards or air hockey tables...
s in June 1996, running on Sega Model 2 hardware.
Playable
- Sonic the HedgehogSonic the Hedgehog (character), trademarked Sonic The Hedgehog, is a video game character and the main protagonist of the Sonic video game series released by Sega, as well as in numerous spin-off comics, cartoons, and a feature film. The first game was released on June 23, 1991, to provide Sega with a mascot to rival Nintendo's...
— Sonic uses his Spin Dash and other normal abilities to attack his opponents. - Miles "Tails" ProwerMiles "Tails" Prower, better known by his nickname , is a character, as well as the main deuteragonist in the Sonic the Hedgehog series of video games, comics, animated series and film released by Sega....
— Makes use of his twin tails to fly and fight, giving him a distinct advantage over the other fighters. - Knuckles the EchidnaKnuckles the EchidnaKnuckles the Echidna is a video game character of the Sonic the Hedgehog game series, including spin-off games and comics. His first appearance was in Sonic the Hedgehog 3, released in 1994 to introduce a new rival for Sonic. He was presented as an antagonist who was tricked by Dr. Eggman into...
— Knuckles is the most powerful fighter with strong, repetitive punches. - Amy RoseAmy Rose, known earlier as Rosy the Rascal, is a video game character who appears in most of the Sonic the Hedgehog series of video games developed by Sega's Sonic Team, debuting in Sonic CD as the third recurring protagonist. Amy Rose was created by Kazuyuki Hoshino and based on one of Kenji Terada's...
— Known in-game as Rosy the Rascal, she specializes in defensive abilities being able to deliver super-powerful counter attacks. - Espio the ChameleonEspio the Chameleonis a fictional character in Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog video game series and media franchise. He was created for the game Knuckles' Chaotix and his subtle color changing demonstrated the technical capabilities of the Sega 32X console. The character is a 16-year-old anthropomorphic purple chameleon...
— Espio attacks using his chameleon-like abilities, his senses and instincts. - Fang the Sniper — Fang uses a popgun and mainly uses long-ranged attacks.
- Bean the Dynamite — Another projectile fighter: his solution for everything is bombs and explosives, but his attacks are relatively weak. Based on the characters from Dynamite DuxDynamite DuxDynamite Düx is a side-scrolling 'beat 'em up' arcade game, created by Sega-AM2 and released by Sega in 1989 for their successful Sega System 16 arcade board, the same board that was used for hits like Golden Axe and Altered Beast...
. - Bark the Polar Bear — A very powerful, yet slow, character who specializes in grabs and short-range abilities.
- Super Sonic — Sonic can transform into Super Sonic, the only secret characterSecret characterA secret character can be a player character or a non-player character in a video game that must be unlocked by completing a goal within the game...
of the game, during Round 2 against Metal Sonic if he successfully defeats all opponents without losing once.
NPCs
These characters are NPCs.- Metal SonicMetal Sonicis a fictional character and a recurring antagonist in the Sonic the Hedgehog video game series. In the series, Metal Sonic is an evil identical robotic duplicate of Sonic the Hedgehog, created by the series antagonist Dr. Robotnik, and is able to match Sonic's every move and even surpass his...
— The game's "final stage", as Eggman's top robot, he has a wide range of effective moves, such as shooting a laser from the fan vent in his chest. - Doctor EggmanDoctor Eggman, also known by his alias , is a fictional video game character, the main antagonist of the Sonic the Hedgehog series created by Sega. Dr. Eggman is a rotund, mad scientist with an IQ of 300 who plans to conquer the world in order to build his Eggman Empire and is the archenemy of Sonic the Hedgehog...
— The final boss of the game, appearing in a "Bonus Round." To achieve the good ending, he must be defeated in 15 seconds or less. - Clones — GrayscaleGrayscaleIn photography and computing, a grayscale or greyscale digital image is an image in which the value of each pixel is a single sample, that is, it carries only intensity information...
versions of the eight regular characters that only appear when a character fights him or herself, but they are playable if two players use the same character in which case one of the players will have the shadow character. They play the same as their normal counterparts.
Hidden Characters
These characters are only accessible by hacking. They are in-game characters, but cannot be used if playing normally.- Rocket Metal (a.k.a. Mecha Sonic Model No.29) - This character is present at the game intro, flying around the Death Egg II, but it is not the character you are fighting on the Metal Sonic Fight. However, it is accessible by hacking.
- Eggman's Robot¹ - This character is also present at the game intro, standing next to Eggman on the Death Egg II as he watches even more of these robots landing on earth through multiple screens.
- Mechless Eggman¹ (seems to be a bit smaller in some fights)
- Eggman in UFO¹ - The character that appears to create grayscale versions of the characters when both the fighters are playing as the same character.
- Honey — A yellow cat-like character with black hair, that never made it to the final version of the game. Little is known about Honey other than she is based on Honey from Fighting Vipers, which Sonic the Fighters was based upon. Her in-game data is near complete. Her model when squashed by the Piko-Piko hammer reveals she was based on Amy. She also has her own complete moveset which is based upon a combination of moves from other characters in the game. There is a bug in her eye system, causing one eye to look at the camera but the other to look in the opposite direction, making Honey look strange in some scenes. She does not have any artwork for the pre-level scenes, so it defaults to Eggman. Unlike other characters, when both characters select Honey, there is an actual alternate costume for her instead of a grayscale version.
¹These characters share the name "Dr. Eggman"; thus, their names are unofficial. Model data also exists for another character, which is Eggman in a vehicle resembling a walking tank, but the character itself does not exist. There has been a hack that replaces the normal Eggman Mech model with this one, but due to an incomplete modification, he sometimes flashes back to the normal Mech, but only for a single frame.
Release
The game saw very limited release in North American arcades, as Sega of America considered the game's portrayal of Sonic and his friends to be too violent, and feared it gave Sonic a negative image. Nevertheless, many years later Sega would shy away from this stance with a new and completely different fighting game for the Game Boy AdvanceGame Boy Advance
The is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China...
called Sonic Battle
Sonic Battle
Sonic Battle is a fighting game developed by Sonic Team and published by Sega and THQ for the Nintendo Game Boy Advance. It is the second fighting game in the Sonic the Hedgehog series, the first game being Sonic the Fighters...
, and later Sonic himself became an unlockable character in the Wii
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
game Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Super Smash Bros. Brawl, known in Japan as , often abbreviated as SSBB or simply as Brawl, is the third installment in the Super Smash Bros. series of crossover fighting games, developed by an ad hoc development team consisting of Sora, Game Arts and staff from other developers, and published by...
, with a large amount of his moves actually based on attacks that he used in Sonic the Fighters.
A Sega Saturn version of the game was also announced but never released, though some elements appeared in the Saturn game Fighters Megamix
Fighters Megamix
is a 1996 fighting game developed by AM2 for the Sega Saturn and Game.com. It combines several characters from various Sega games, from the complete cast of Virtua Fighter 2 and Fighting Vipers to Janet from Virtua Cop 2 and the Hornet car from Daytona USA, while allowing to play the bosses of both...
. The game was ported
Porting
In computer science, porting is the process of adapting software so that an executable program can be created for a computing environment that is different from the one for which it was originally designed...
to home consoles on Sonic Gems Collection, for the GameCube
Nintendo GameCube
The , officially abbreviated to NGC in Japan and GCN in other regions, is a sixth generation video game console released by Nintendo on September 15, 2001 in Japan, November 18, 2001 in North America, May 3, 2002 in Europe, and May 17, 2002 in Australia...
in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
and, in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, the PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
and the GameCube
Nintendo GameCube
The , officially abbreviated to NGC in Japan and GCN in other regions, is a sixth generation video game console released by Nintendo on September 15, 2001 in Japan, November 18, 2001 in North America, May 3, 2002 in Europe, and May 17, 2002 in Australia...
. In the port, model data of all unused characters was removed. Character data still exists, but upon selection, the game crashes due to the missing models.
Reception
The game received little attention at all in its initial release, due to a limited release in arcades, and the Sega Saturn version being cancelled. The game garnered more attention in its 2005 re-release as part of Sonic Gem Collection. GamespotGameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
described the game as "a stripped-down version of Virtua Fighter 2
Virtua Fighter 2
is a fighting game developed by Sega. It is the sequel to Virtua Fighter and the second game in the Virtua Fighter series. It was created by the Sega's Yu Suzuki-headed AM2 and was released in the arcade in 1994. It was subsequently ported to the Sega Saturn in 1995 and Microsoft Windows in 1997...
, and called it "dated and simplistic" IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
echoed those sentiments, stating that it "plays like a streamlined version of the original Virtua Fighter" and closed with "Not that it's a terrible fighter, mind you, only that it's a very simple one. If you're expecting a wide assortment of moves and 200-hit combos, prepare to be disappointed. The selection of playable characters isn't too shabby, but each character's list of moves leaves something to be desired... like better moves."