Shado Fighter

-In-Fusio / Cybiko (2004)

-Played on a Sanyo 8200

Summary:

A demon holds a tournament so fighters around the globe can have a chance to punch him in the face.

My Thoughts:

There is no need to look to a big name fighting series to have a good fighting game on a mobile phone. Shado Fighter was the first fighting game to attain the feel of the genre on a mobile phone and is still one of the best you’ll play on the format. Not only does the game offer up nine combatants, but also a fighting engine that works well on a cell phone.

Shado Fighter is not a failed port of some other arcade or console fighter, rather it’s a completely original fighting game made specifically for a cell phone. This being the case, the developers were able to build its own fighting system from the ground up rather than attempt to translate one already formatted for the arcade. Each fighter has a punch and kick that differ on whether they are standing, crouching, or jumping. Usually any kind of special moves that require button combos in a mobile phone game have failing results, but here they are done rather well. It is easy to do special moves that require multiple keys so it makes learning the moves a worthwhile venture than most mobile fighting games. Each fighter also has their own unique moves and abilities such as fireballs, grenades, and fancy kicks, among others.

The eight characters in Shado Fighter have a cuter look, but not nearly as adorable-ized as the fighters in Capcom’s Gem Fighter games. They are just as tough as other developers’ fighters as occasional blood sprays are seen during matches. The characters are as varied as you’ll find anywhere and come from the all over the world. There is the Chinese monk Wang, Mega is a mystical chick that floats, Proto is a fatty Russian robot, a Muay Thai fighter is present with Pao, and Tyron is the tough military guy. The Korean fighter Shun reminds me a lot of Jin Kazama from Tekken. Elena must be the German bikini champion and Toki is a classy ninja from Japan. The boss of the game is Shado, a semi-cute demon who is super buff and ripped. Eventually you’ll unlock him as the ninth character.

The animation is surprisingly smooth for a game with so many individual characters and for a mobile phone game in general. Every move can lead into another so it appears that the little characters are talented fighters. The graphics are colorful and detailed enough to see all the muscles on the demon Shado.

Shado Fighter contains the modes you would usually find in a normal fighting game with story, practice, survival, and time attack. The game is a bit on the easy side, but you can go back and play through the different characters. The game is also fast-paced. It doesn’t stutter or slow down, even on its highest speed setting, of which there are four.

Shado Fighter is one of very few fighting games that actually works on a phone and is remarkably deep given its hardware limitations.

Score: 8.0

-Shawn       

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