You're already dead: Fist of the North Star fighting game in development

[Draft]

That's right, the perennial ultra-violent post-apocalyptic vaguely homoerotic anime classic is coming to Japanese arcades in the form of a 2D fighting game, developed by Guilty Gear creators ARC System Works. Gamespot comes correct with the hands on. (http://www.gamespot.com/arcade/action/fistofthenorthstar/preview_6132557.html)Fist of the North Star is being developed by Guilty Gear X's Arc System Works, and in fact, the game features a very similar graphics style. The characters are drawn in anime style that takes advantage of the Atomiswave's high resolution, and they move pretty smoothly, much like Guilty Gear X. It's safe to say that Arc System Works and Fist of the North Star is somewhat of a match made in heaven, since the art style adopted from Guilty Gear X does a perfect job in bringing the Fist of the North Star's anime atmosphere into a fighting game.Follow the orange link road for more impressions and lots of screenshots.

The high res sprites look fantastic, Fist of the North Star is a cool license, and ARC has shown they're more than capable of carrying the 2D torch. Too bad this game's chances of making it stateside are about as good as your average train driving sim.

[Vandenh]

Awesome! I am a huge fan op FotNs... and I was quite shocked that the "license" is going through a revival in Japan at the moment. This game probaby builds on that.

[Lynxara]

I wouldn't be so quick to assume that it's unmarketable over here. Virtually all of the FotNS anime has been imported, and the FotNS manga was one of the first to be released in English translation. In Japan, FotNS is a perennial classic that always sells games; it's about like that with American anime fans, too.

[KamaItachi]

Hell, I`m just happy to see that 2d gaming isn`t considered "dead" enough to be passed over for some 3d Tekken Wannabe. Not a big fan of the licence, but if it`s from the same folks as GG it should be a good`un.

[Spigot]

I remember playing the Fist of the North Star game waaaaaay back in the day... on the Gameboy, I believe. I actually thought the anime was based on the game when I found out about the anime.

That said, the game will perfectly capture the spirit of FotNS as long as every fight ends with someone's head exploding :)

[Xaerin]

Follow the orange link road for more impressions and lots of screenshots.

Shirley, you mean yellow? Like yellow brick road, and uhh...the colour of links? /pedant

Impressive stuff, and I haven't been impressed by a 2d fightin' game since Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3!

[Draft]

I wouldn't be so quick to assume that it's unmarketable over here. Virtually all of the FotNS anime has been imported, and the FotNS manga was one of the first to be released in English translation. In Japan, FotNS is a perennial classic that always sells games; it's about like that with American anime fans, too.I hope you're right.

[CapnBob]

Fist of the North Star is comedy gold.

[Dirty Harry]

Fist of the North Star is comedy gold.
Indeed it is, the main english sub is just too much for me to handle. I was wondering if this is being based on FotnS art style then i prayed to god that they updated the drawing because the anime was so badly drawn compared to what they have now.

[Draft]

Fist of the North Star is comedy gold.Fun FOTNS trivia: The warlord guy that Rao kills about halfway through? The one who can turn his body into metal? Voiced by Uncle Phil from The Fresh Prince of Bel Air.

[Lodin]

I'll just post my sig from another forum and leave it at that.

Give me sexy Pokemon/Fist of the north star crossovers of the gay kind or give me death!

[mister_slim]

This should make Mortal Kombat look like Sesame Street.

[ElectricMonk]

what is with japanese fighting game artists and bicep muscles?

they always look completely retarded, like they've never seen muscular forearms in their life. it wouldn't be so bad if they didn't make the biceps the main focus of all the characters.

[Lynxara]

I was wondering if this is being based on FotnS art style then i prayed to god that they updated the drawing because the anime was so badly drawn compared to what they have now.

Hush, heathen.

Actually, the animation style is probably going to be a direct reinterpretation of the original manga designs, or based on the new FotNS OAV that came out a couple years back.

I wonder what happened to that Ring ni Kakero fighting game Sammy was supposedly interested in making last year...?

[Zurik]

Whoa, when I first saw FotNS I thought it was bad, like Plan 9 bad, where its so bad its funny. Guess I was the only one?

[Lynxara]

Nah, Americans usually find FotNS pretty bad, and the particular OAV that got circulated in the US about ten years back was damned silly. Japan really loves FotNS based on the manga, which is this gigantic long-running epic classic to them. It's kind of funny comparing Japanese and American critical reactions to FotNS side-by-side; Japanese critics tend to think it's this really amazing, groundbreakingly deep story, while Americans just can't get over how silly it seems.

[Bone]

If you can't enjoy finishing moves that explode people after a time-delay, you're already dead.