Fighting Hero

Fighting Hero
Fighting Hero's title screen.
Publisher	NTDEC
Developer	NTDEC
Console	Famicom
Date	1991
Sound engine	Mega Soft

Fighting Hero is an unlicensed fighting game created by NTDEC in 1991, based on Street Fighter.

Overview

Fighting Hero's gameplay.

Fighting Hero is a simple fighting game. The controls are similar to the original Street Fighter in that A punches and B kicks. However, the controls are often criticized because attacks initiate once the player lets go of the button. You're also unable to walk while holding a button. If you let go of the button too quickly, Leon will only move for about a frame and the attack won't be carried out. Jump attacks perform a bit differently: you must hold the button and then jump. Leon will perform the attack at a certain point in the air. For an unknown reason, you're unable to perform special moves unless a cheat code (see below) has been entered beforehand.

Like in the original Street Fighter, the player can't choose their character; instead, they play as Leon, who is heavily based on Ryu. Also, like in Street Fighter, there are five different places to play through although in Fighting Hero, they're continents: Asia, Australia, Africa, Europe and "American" (North America). The first fight can be chosen from any of the first four continents, each continent having one fighter as opposed to two like in Street Fighter with American always being the final continent. The fighters are as follows:

• Asia - Masa, a ninja who can teleport around the arena and throw ninja stars at you. Masa (and the stage he appears on) are a direct copy of the original Street Fighter's Geki.
• Australia - Vic, a bare-fisted brawler that can perform double-handed swings, frontflips, and backflips. His stage features Ayers Rock as a backdrop.
• Africa - Billy, he wields a club and may throw a boomerang. His stage has an Egyptian theme, with pyramids and a Sphinx in the background.
• Europe - Alex, another bare-fisted brawler who tends to perform double punches and will perform flying knee attacks. His stage is a set of train tracks with windmills in the background; presumably, somewhere in the Netherlands.
• American - Joe, a boxer with a really strong uppercut. His stage features the Statue of Liberty (colored blue) amidst a generic city backdrop.

The ending is a series of stats screens for each character accompanied by an 8-bit rendition of the Love Theme from Romeo and Juliet (1968), followed by a credits sequence which uses an 8-bit rendition of Secret Agent Man by Johnny Rivers.

Apart from these, the audio and visuals are mostly original.

There are no continues in this game, meaning that losing any fight will automatically result in a game over and the player must start over.

Revisions

There are three different versions of Fighting Hero. The original spelt Mega Soft incorrectly as Maga Soft on both the title screen and credits. The first revision corrected this. The second revision changes the way the game reads the controller inputs. Rather than waiting for the buttons to be unpressed, it will react when they are pushed down.

Trivia

• In the 2-Player mode, the players aren't given any names, with Player 1 being Leon in the 1-Player mode and Player 2 being a palette swap.
• It is possible to pull off special moves like in Street Fighter, but this requires a cheat code. If you hold A + B + Left + Up at the title screen and then hold B + Left + Down at the stage select screen, you will be able to use them.
  • Fireball - Hold left, A + B
  • Dragon Punch - Hold up, A + B
  • Spin Kick - Hold right, A + B
• This game was going to be released in the US under the Caltron label. A brochure of theirs also mentions a few other things not seen in the game: Masa is referred to as "Masaki" with his stage specifically located in Japan, Vic is referred to as "Tricky Vic" and a Chinese stage is mentioned which never shows up in-game.
• There is a sequel called Fighting Hero III released in 1993. The sequel is based more on Street Fighter II and bears next to no resemblance to the original Fighting Hero. (An exception is the character Duke from Fighting Hero III, who bears some resemblance to Alex)
  • It's possible that Fighting Hero III was so named as an attempt to pass itself off as a sequel to Street Fighter II, which could explain the lack of a Fighting Hero II.

Gallery

Main article: Fighting Hero/gallery

Front of box.

Box side.

Box top.

Back of the box.

Front of the manual.

Back of the manual.

Game's box and cartridge.

Cartridge.

An alternate version with a different cartridge color.

72-pin version manufactured by CCE.