World Heroes Anthology [English][PS2DVD]

World Heroes Anthology is the next compilation title published by SNK Playmore,
featuring all four World Heroes titles bundled together on one PS2 disc. If 
you're not familiar with the World Heroes franchise, you're looking at a set 
of old, 2D fighters that feature a variety of "heroes" from across the ages. 
I should point out right away that if you're a hardcore World Heroes fan who 
doesn't own all the games in the series, this collection should suit you just 
fine -- especially for under twenty bucks. Otherwise, fighting game fans should
be wary of this anthology.

The premise of the series is pretty straight-forward: Dr. Brown has created a 
time machine and has gathered together figures from throughout history to compete
in a fighting tournament. While the characters aren't entirely representative of
historical facts (of course), most of the fighters you'll be able to select are 
based on actual people. You'll find Hanzo Hattori, Rasputin, Joan of Arc and even
a carbon-copy of Hulk Hogan in this roster. Throw in a demonic football player 
and an overweight Viking and you're good to go.


In terms of gameplay, the World Heroes titles offer a familiar assortment of normal 
attacks and special moves, all executed with classic combinations of d-pad rotations 
and button inputs. If you've played a fighting game before, you'll recognize all the 
formulas at work here and there isn't really anything special being brought to the 
table. Now, that isn't necessarily a bad thing -- a lot of old fighting games are 
still a blast to play, a fact clearly proven by the continued popularity of games 
like Street Fighter II. Unfortunately, the World Heroes games haven't aged particularly well.

I'm not going to claim that this franchise is entirely without charm. Its age does 
give it some personality and the ability to play as "historical" figures is pretty 
amusing, but I just wasn't entirely invested in the controls. The first World Heroes 
is definitely the worst of the bunch, with poorly animated sprites, limited move sets 
and laughable translations. Although some issues are addressed in the subsequent 
iterations, a lot of them stick around. The sprites never really get more detailed 
or fluid than the content you'll see in the original World Heroes. This is a shame 
because other old series, like Art of Fighting for example, boast some striking 
animations for their time and that quality just isn't present here.

But again, visual elements aren't the primary concern. The games in this collection 
handle stiffly at best and certain special moves have questionable command recognition. 
Dashing is mostly absent from the series, though certain characters have dashes in the 
later games and the final title, World Heroes Perfect, does implement a full dashing 
system at least. But even though there's so much potential in the premise of playing 
as historical fighters, I feel as if the series doesn't fully take advantage of that 
in terms of the character move sets. Special techniques lack that "oomph," that visceral 
sting that typically make them fun to pull off. There's something intrinsically satisfying 
when you execute Robert Garcia's Ryu Geki Ken in Art of Fighting 3, whereas Hanzo's Lightning 
Slash just feels unexciting. During my time with World Heroes Anthology, I couldn't stop 
thinking that the entire franchise felt lackluster.