History VideoGame / ArtOfFighting

* NintendoHard:
** The second game is notorious for being this. Considering that [[SNKBoss Geese Howard]] is present, this shouldn't come as a surprise.
** Eiji Kisaragi is an example of how unplayable this game could be. He had some very powerful and practical moves that were unusually difficult to pull off. The same Eiji, in ''King Of Fighters 95'', could perform the same moves, albeit less damaging, smooth as silk.

Known in Japan as ''Ryūko no Ken'' ("Fist of the [[TigerVsDragon Dragon and Tiger]]"), ''Art of Fighting'' is a FightingGame series by {{Creator/SNK}} that was released for the UsefulNotes/NeoGeo arcade and home video game systems. While the last installment of the series appeared in early 1996, several of its characters are still widely popular today and continue to appear in a number of SpinOff series. The series also doubles as a {{Prequel}} to the ''VideoGame/FatalFury'' series.

The second Art of Fighting takes place a year later. Geese Howard (of ''VideoGame/FatalFury'' fame) is seen as Southtown's police commissioner. He uses his position as a front for him being a major force in Southtown's criminal underworld, and was directly responsible for Mr. Big kidnapping Yuri. He creates the first ''[[Franchise/TheKingOfFighters King of Fighters]]'' fighting tournament, in which all the fighters from the first game enter, except for Ryuhaku Todoh, who is beaten so badly, he goes into self-imposed exile to train. In addition to Geese, three new characters are also introduced, including last game's DamselInDistress, Yuri. Ryo discovers what Geese had done and defeats him in battle, but Geese escapes and hides out in Japan for a time. Unlike the first game, most of the game's characters are playable in story mode. Mr. Big and Ryo and Yuri's father, Takuma, who were bosses in the last game, are playable characters in this installment. Geese is only playable without hacking or playing with dipswitches in the Japan-only UsefulNotes/SuperFamicom version of the game.

* ColourCodedForYourConvenience: The [[ManaMeter spirit meter]] in the arcade and UsefulNotes/NeoGeo versions is color coded to show the strength of special attacks when performed.
* CompilationRerelease: ''Art of Fighting Anthology'' ([[UsefulNotes/PlayStation2 PS2]])

* MurderByProxy: The SNES port's ending explains that [[spoiler:Yuri Sakazaki was kidnapped [[AnOfferYouCantRefuse to force her father Takuma]] to murder Jeff Bogard on behalf of Geese Howard, as the latter couldn't openly kill Jeff himself without jeopardizing his place in society]]. This is in contradiction with ''VideoGame/FatalFury'''s version of events, which has Geese do the deed himself.

* DerivativeDifferentiation: It was initially percieved by gamers to be a cheap cash-in of rival company Creator/{{Capcom}}'s ''Street Fighter''. Despite this, ''Art Of Fighting'' set itself apart by introducing several new gameplay mechanics such as taunting, the addition of a spirit guage to regulate use of specials, along with supers and desperation attacks. The game's scaling feature also became a series trademark.

The first Art of Fighting takes place in Southtown, where Ryo Sakazaki and Robert Garcia, students of the martial art, Kyokugen Karate, seek to find Ryo's sister, Yuri, who was kidnapped by the crime lord, Mr. Big. The two scoured the city, fighting members of Mr. Big's gang as well as rivals to the Kyokugen Karate dojo, seeking information on Yuri's whereabouts. After Mr. Big is found and defeated, the two face off against Mr. Karate and barely defeat him. Afterwards, Ryo almost kills him before Yuri appears to him and Robert pleading for them to stop. She tells Ryo that Mr. Karate is [[spoiler:[[LukeIAmYourFather their father]]]]. Though it's not officially confirmed until the second game. In the original arcade version, only Ryo and Robert were playable in story mode with the bosses as hidden characters in versus mode.

* {{Cliffhanger}}: The first game ends just before Mr. Karate's identity is revealed.
** The SNES version averts this with a much longer ending that attempts to [[CanonWelding tie it to]] ''VideoGame/FatalFury'', though much of it was retconned by ''Art of Fighting 2''. Mr. Karate is revealed to be Takuma, who explains that he was searching for the man who killed his wife. He ended up in Southtown and lost everything to gambling, at which point Geese Howard offered to repay his debts in exchange for his services, which culminated in him fighting and killing Jeff Bogard in order to complete his takeover of Southtown (Geese could not due to his reputation at the time; this contradicts ''Fatal Fury''[='=]s storyline of him doing exactly that). Yuri was kidnapped to coerce him into doing so.

** Initially, Mr. Big uses just botan attacks. In KOF '96, he averted this by gaining kicks.

[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aof2250x350_6071.png]]

* BigBad: Mr. Big in 1, Geese Howard in 2 and Wyler in 3.

* CListFodder: Ray from the Anime special. He gets shot to death. Poor Ray.

* ChargedAttack: Both types.

* ClothingDamage: All three games, though in the third game there are more prerequisites.

* {{Combos}}: Emphasized in the third game.
* CoolMask: Lee Pai Long and Mr. Karate wear these.
* CoupDeGrace: Part 3 allows you to attack downed opponent's, in similar fashion to 3D fighting games.
* DamselInDistress: The original game had Ryo and Robert shaking down Mr. Big's henchmen to find out where they were holding Yuri hostage.

* DenserAndWackier: Disregarding the GagDub of ''AOF 2'', Team Kyokugen progressively became this with every passing year in ''Franchise/TheKingOfFighters'' where they (sans Garcia) are portrayed as a bunch of penniless ButtMonkey losers. Many of their endings also involve Ryo and Robert pulling off rubbery {{Gonk}} faces, after getting stuck in some zany situation or another.

* TheDragon: Mr. Big for the first 2 games; Sinclair in the third.

** Ryo is one of [[Manga/{{Dragonball}} Goku.]]

* FinishingMove: The TropeMaker.

* {{Rotoscoping}}: All character animations in the third game, rivaling ''VideoGame/StreetFighterIII'' in smoothness a year before it.
* {{Shotoclone}}: The Sakazaki clan and Robert Garcia.

* SNKBoss: Mr. Big, Mr. Karate, Geese Howard, and Wyler.

* SpamAttack: Ryo's Zanretsuken and Robert's Geneikyaku. Different from the Street Fighter 2 versions in that once they hit the enemy, they're caught into the attack and hit a set amount of times.

* SunglassesAtNight: Mr. Big and John, who wear them in battle until they get knocked off in battle.

* DemotedToExtra: While just about any character in the series can be deemed that way nowadays in ''Franchise/TheKingOfFighters'' (some much more than others), Ryuhaku Todoh can be considered that in the ''Art of Fighting'' series itself. He was the only one from the first game to not be playable in the second (and third, but that's a different story). His role pretty much got relegated to cameos in stages (especially in VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters) and be missing just so his daughter can go find him. Heck, the only other time he was a playable character outside of the first game in the series was done by Creator/{{Capcom}}, of all people, in ''[[VideoGame/CapcomVsSNK2MarkOfTheMillennium Capcom vs. SNK 2]]''.

* SurprisinglyGoodEnglish: All of the English [=VAs=] in ''Art of Fighting 2'' - Mr. Big, Mickey Rogers, John Crawley, Geese Howard, and surprisingly Jack Turner, although he barely says anything.

* TomboyishName: King

* UnblockableAttack

* WaifFu: Yuri, to the max.
* WhipItGood: Lenny Creston.
* {{Xenafication}}: Yuri.

* ArtisticLicenseGeography: The setting of the third game, Glasshill in Mexico, seems to be inspired in two Mexican towns, Agua Prieta, near the U.S. border, and Guaymas, a coast town, both located in the Northern state of Sonora. However, based in the way about how Glasshill is depicted in the game, the whole town use architecture and settings from many ''very'' different places from Mexico, and only one of them seems to be based from any Mexican border town:
** Glasshill's downtown area (shown in the stages "Sieste Cafe" and "Cinco de Mayo") resemble more like San Miguel de Allende, a famous traditional Mexican town and also tourist spot, located in the central state of Guanajuato.
** Quixotec Temple is the more egregious example of this: The setting is obviously based on both the Mayan ruins of Tula, in the state of Hidalgo, down south, and the pyramids seems to be based on the ruins of Chichen Itza, in the state of Yucatan, also located southwards.
** While the two Glasshill's stages located near the U.S. (Cactus Gas Station and the Train Yard) seems to be based on Agua Prieta, they look more like being located in either Ciudad Juarez, in Chihuahua, or its neighboring American town, El Paso, Texas, also located near the Mexican border.
** Finally, judging by the name of the town, Glashill seems to took some notes from Calexico, CA, another American town near the Mexican border, and with a strong Latino population.

** Likewise, Takuma has no problem with Ryo dating and [[ShipperOnDeck actively encourages it]], because [[IWantGrandkids he wants grandkids]][[note]]seen in their team endings in [=KoF=] 2000 and XI[[/note]]. [[OverprotectiveDad Yet, he won't let Yuri have boyfriend]]; even if it's the guy who stuck his neck out to help save her.

* SurprisinglyGoodEnglish: All of the english [=VAs=] in ''Art of Fighting 2'' - Mr. Big, Mickey Rogers, John Crawley, Geese Howard, and surprisingly Jack Turner, although he barely says anything.