Is WeaponLord Worth Playing Today? - SNESdrunk

[@Blurgleflargle]

The game's cover art was done by Simon Bisley, and the entire style of the game pretty much mimicks his work for 2000AD, DC, and Heavy Metal. This is a game I'd gladly see an attempt at a modern reboot of.

[@Simone-xe9cw]

It would be instabuy for me.

[@julianocs87]

He also drew the last arc of Hellblazer in Vertigo.

[@Choom2077]

I love Biz's work. The epitome of "badass". Way ahead of his time, in the early 90s.

[@BoozeAholic]

So as the remake still has Biz doing the art design & characters. He's like a modern day Frank Frazetta.

[@PureRockCasey]

huh? as a huge Bisley fan and someone who had this game as a kid, I never knew. Thanks, that's awesome!!!

[@commonsenseability]

I miss video stores. It was like a family trip every weekend

[@TheGunmanChannel]

It's one of those things you miss but would never go back to. I feel same in a way.

[@niksimmons4448]

There are some still out there. Every town doesn't have high speed internet and can't stream so Family Video is still going. Some even teamed up with a pizza chain so you get a pizza with a rental.

[@rig85]

Family Video used to be booming several years ago. The ones I see now appear to be struggling. Maybe not the same everywhere, but, I bet they're hurting like other chains did.

[@Shinobi33]

Seriously man it was like a weekend ritual. I even worked for BlockBuster. I use to steal Twizzlers and give my friends employee discounts. Those were the days

[@fallrim2851]

Me too. Video stores were so popular in the small town that I grew up in. 14,000 people and 8 video stores. 2 video update stores were half a block from each other.

[@Helvetica_Scenario]

The art style in this just screams 90s Image comics.

[@Choom2077]

@@stayskeptic3923 I actually loved the 90s Image stuff, myself. The Saga stuff is nice contemporary work, but it doesn't draw my attention much. Jim Lee, McFarlane, Whilce and Silvestri, along a string of other talents, such as Dale Keown, Sam Keith and Campbell, were some of my favorite artists. They put out some very exciting, over the top, super hero genre comics, that fizzled out, as soon as the speculator hype crashed. It all went down hill from there (their super hero genre that is). That's life.

[@Choom2077]

​@@stayskeptic3923 Yeah, Image comics in the 90s, didn't exactly hold the best track record, for quality reading. I admit, I used to collect the 90s stuff, mainly because I enjoyed the ridiculous artwork, more so than the choppy stories. If only they wrote better stories, to go along with the art. Some interesting concepts, but just not hashed out too well. Vertigo is always a great place to go, for quality reading. Some good expressive art there too.

[@michaelbowles4757]

Helvetica Scenario and that’s the kick ass part. I love about it.

[@ApeCaesarBlogspotApeCaesar]

There is something of Mc Farlane too

[@m0thdm]

FACTS

[@Partinaire]

Man... this takes me back to my Video Warehouse/Video World days living in Augusta GA in the 90s.

[@maximillionroivas3893]

WeaponLord isn't for everyone. But to me, it's one of the finest fighting games I have ever played, and I didn't see it that way until decades later. As a youngster, I dismissed it immediately because I didn't understand it. I thought it sucked. But now...now that I understand how the game works...it is a masterpiece in it's own right. Thanks for the video.

[@obiiieeee]

i remember renting this in 3rd grade and it having no manual. i couldn't figure it out. eventually my friend noticed how the art style was exactly like all the pics in our social studies book so we ended up reading like 5 chapters trying to find out how to play the game

[@soterioncoil2163]

Lol!

[@YoureNotAlexander]

Fooled into being educated. Good for your parents and teachers! XD

[@2401blue]

That’s adorable. c:

[@rileymcphee9429]

"this game made me do my social studies homework"

[@starlightrevenant]

I think this was Namco's first attempt on a weapons-based fighter, before the Soul series. Rock Adams' costume in SoulCalibur III is based on Bane. The studio that made this game would later became 2K Sports' development studio. Also this was inspired by dark fantasy of the 70s/80s hence the soundtrack's similarities to the Schwarzenegger Conan movies' soundtrack.

[@albertamalachi3560]

I'm surprised someone knows this.

[@AveMcree]

What a terrible attempt. The controls were shitty.

[@Kos4Evr]

@@stonerdemon this game was awesome. I loved it on the genesis.

[@Iankill2121]

It was 100% the precursor to the soul edge/ soul calibur series

[@reznor6507]

I have been saying that for years

[@jasonblalock4429]

It sounds to me like the control scheme was designed to try to prevent button mashing, and I could see a couple benefits to that. First, that probably makes it easier for the 56k modems of the day to keep up with player inputs, if each attack has to be entered in a very deliberate multi-step fashion to be a valid command. Also, it sounds like they were deliberately designing this to be a "pro level" game, so to speak, intended to for top tier-players looking for something deeper and more challenging than SF2/MK/KI.

[@AveMcree]

No, the game the worst frame rate and button latency because of poor design.

[@meatguyf1375]

I remember reading a few interviews with the developers in an issue of either EGM or GamePro back in the day, and I believe that's exactly what they were going for. It's definitely one of those games I'll never get great at, but I really appreciate how deep it is and all the hard work that went into it.

[@Iankill2121]

I've explained the controls like this before. You hold the button down and move the dpad in the way you want your weapon to move. However this is as over simplification

[@heyhonpuds]

When did anyone ever hook their SNES up to a 56k modem? I’m sure the 3 people that actually did appreciated this games poor design.

[@dirtybaystrangler]

I think you mean the 14.4 kbps modem.

[@PedroAlbertoCruzBonilla]

I bought this game, it was a hard game a really hard one, but when you learned the mechanics of the game it became crystal clear, it was way to satisfying chaining a 8 or 10 hit combo specially with bane, korr and Jen Tai I'm still waiting for ALL THE CHARACTERS to appear in soul Calibur.....

[@Larry]

Blockbuster only typed the manual on the back of the sleeve as Nintendo were trying to stop them renting their games out, and the only thing that stuck was suing them for piracy, photocopying their manuals.

[@Silentevil7]

Ru on every video?

[@Davtwan]

Larry Bundy Jr - Makes sense. Many people didn’t like the idea of kids beating games in a weekend rental when that would possibly prevent them from buying said game. It affected a lot of things in the west from preventing manuals to difficulty adjustments.

[@sirgalahad1376]

Hello you!

[@bastardferret869]

interesting. i never knew. how crappy.

[@matthewhales6503]

lol thought about you saying that when he mentioned that

[@m050181]

What made this game extra hard, was that in story mode, every opponent you didn't kill, you had to fight a second time

[@loohole81]

WeaponLord was way ahead of it's time. The game design is very smart and the control scheme promotes skill. Very underrated game, it deserves more praise.

[@michaelbowles4757]

Ben Loohole dam right.

[@torrvic1156]

It was brutally difficult. I even thought that my SNES gamepad was incapable of doing various moves in this game. Probably that was me who was incapable :)

[@ancientone5903]

WeaponLord also deserves a comeback, something that has yet to take place even as we speak.

[@someonesnoone4439]

@@ancientone5903 i dont think it needs a reboot tbh. Sounds like this was the predecessor of what we now have as soul caliber

[@fatefatefate]

its*

[@EdsRetroGeekOut]

I like the character sprites

[@Minuit_Monstre]

discount dhalsim lol

[@Choom2077]

Same here. Wish there was a way to rework the game, to playable standards.

[@Nexum120]

Ken Lobb worked on goldeneye too, the klobb was named after him!

[@ManillaHeep]

That's hilarious! Always wondered about that.

[@briandhamby]

Yeah I always wondered why his name got put on the worst gun in the game. Were they teasing about him being a bad shot? (Since the klobb had awful accuracy)

[@KokNoker]

@@briandhamby I actually remember it had to do with some of the programmers not liking him very much.

[@HarbingerOfBattle]

This was and still is my all time favorite fighting game.

[@thompsonpatrick79]

I used to play this on Genesis back in 95 I think and it was awesome! Luckily i had all the moves from a gamepro magazine and the finishers were great! You could link fatalities together for an ultimate decimating end move that would dismember your character and or cut their heads off

[@jroberts2nd]

I rented this once and I think I managed to beat only one fighter in it, because my Blockbuster DIDN'T have the manual and I had no idea wtf I was doing. This game had crazy depth for a SNES fighter, it was just hard as hell to get into. These guys were like 20 years ahead of their time, really.

[@VizzedShogunGamer]

Custom combo fatalities. That blew my mind when I came across some videos showing that. Certain moves cause grueling damage to the opponent’s body and you can still combo them till there’s not much left. Heck, you can juggle their head if you lip it off XD. Brutal. They really were trying to be unique.

[@demgutts]

I felt like I was the only person playing this game back in the 90's. This game rocks but is hard as balls, the developer released a vid on how to break the weapons and other secrets like 2 years ago on KZbin

[@dezm101]

I recall this game received a fair bit of hype leading up to its release, but the gameplay was overly complicated and way too hard. Now it seems mostly forgotten, I do definitely dig that art style, I also rented it and was very impressed with those backgrounds!

[@dezm101]

that is a good point, and I am guilty of playing fighting games that have fairly simple mechanics. You cant fault the developer for trying in this case.

[@BendApparatus]

I happened to be in a forum for this game when the game's director passed by to promote his new game. He basically said Namco Japan killed off this game so it wouldn't interfere with their own weapon fighter's attention...the soon to be ported "Soul Edge". The game wasn't perfect, but it is certainly playable...well the Genesis version is...it was just never given a chance...

[@sega20x80]

Cool video SNES drunk. I would recommend playing the Sega Genesis version of WeaponLord because it plays faster.

[@amerikaOnFire]

Your name makes me laugh at the recommendation even if you aren't wrong :) I actually had no clue there was a Genesis version of this game until I watched the video. I will definitely be checking it out.

[@graybronze]

Blast from the past! I bought this game (or rather my parents bought it for me!) when it came out and loved it! Brutal combat, brutal difficulty but oh so satisfying when you nail a finishing combo! Great memories of this, great channel as well!

[@marcrisa6352]

Seems like it would make a really good Esports game imagine the same game remade now would make a for a breath of fresh air from your typical fighting games.

[@AnhDonoi]

Im sure someone has already mentioned it but you can input special moves in street fighter this way as well. It is called negative edge.

[@Gojiro7]

This is among the most technically deep fighting ever (even by todays standards), its no wonder nobody could figure it out back in the day ^^;

[@Justagamerhere1]

As an xband owner, all fighting games were awful online through dial up. So this game would have been nice. Mario Kart ran fine in battle mode though.

[@chrisbeach423]

Not many KZbinrs talk about the xband much nowadays, it's like a forgotten relic, I'd like to see SNES drunk make a video on it

[@Justagamerhere1]

@@chrisbeach423 since the service was disconnected it's kind of hard to show how work online, or more importantly, talk about your experience without your memory getting fuzzy with wrong info.

[@5ema55unto]

A)The beforehand 'button-holding' was very important on to how moves connected with each other: there were no predetermined combos. You would combine an low atack with a normal punch ( holding it to make a move to ) grab the enemy, and throw him upwards, following with a multi-aerial-hit). B) No button mashing: you really had to 'combine' moves and special moves at the exact time to pull them off. This rule is also for CUSTOM FATALITIES: IF YOU KILL THE ENEMY WHILE DOING COMBOS.... SOME OF THEM WOULD BECOME AWESOME CUSTOM-FATALITIES. A vertical slash cut the neck> Dash cuts through the belly .... liver and stomach on the ground > Dragon puch on the falling head... the brain leaves the skull> Vertical Slash (at the exact time, targeting the brain)... The brains xplodes in thousands pieces. A pool of blood and pieces of the enemy... *The best idea for moves since street fighter (at least for 2d FG - no copycat here) C)the amount of possibities this kind of controlscheme offers is absolutely overwhelming and every character offers an unique (and completely broken) moveset. D)To this day no other 2d fg has put so effort and care in creating a really 'new way' for 'special movies' execution (and fatalities at the same time, for that matter). The bad: Too Slow + FPS drops/stutters.... graphics were ugly although some 'designs' were cool. IT WAS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE A SNES GAME. PS1... MAYBE. A reboot/rework/re_______ would be welcome. Saying this game is bad because of the 'control-scheme' is like saying monster hunter is bad because of the weapons and the monsters.... Maybe you're drunk. U have my like, like u. Happy 2019

[@alexnas9634]

@SNESdrunk btw when you hold the button then do the move its called "negative edge" its actually been used in many fighting games over the years

[@rsmith02]

Including Street Fighter II!

[@p.d.l7023]

The cover of the box introduced me to my second favorite living artist, Simon Bisley.

[@shaundrahammond3282]

This is the best fighter on the SNES. Take a minute to actually read a manual and practice it. The story, art, music and character design is flawless. The AI is punishing but with some practice, you'll be dismembering your opponents in no time. This needs a modern remake, a sequel and an animated series.

[@commanderosis435]

That's the primal rage special move style. It definitely is tough to get used to.

[@bensoliman19]

Played this on the megadrive 2 and studied the gamepro magazine move list. Fights with the AI was epic if you've already got the hang of the mechanics especially the parries, guard breaks, and whatnots. I just couldn't find someone who could play me at that level other than mashing, this is one of my most memorable memories with fighting games.

[@LuxuryNightmare]

I remember this game inspired me and my dorky friends so much that we made our own d20 tabletop version of this game.

[@marlondaniels7912]

Owned this back in the day. The biggest problem was that no one I knew had it, or was willing to play it if I put it on for more than five minutes before clamoring for Mario kart or street fighter to go back on. And the AI was terrible, of the "relentlessly walking forward while countering everything" variety, with all the characters behaving exactly the same. With the training modes available in modern games, you'd have a chance to actually get good. Oh, and the manual didn't even tell you all the special moves - you were supposed to figure them out as you went, and some of them (when they were eventually printed in magazines) were things you would never have been able to stumble across on your own. In many ways, this game was ahead of its time. In many, many other ways, it was just poorly thought out. The graphics and music were awesome though. Might SNES mini it, bound to be online faqs for it now....

[@marlondaniels7912]

....and yeah, it turned out to be just as clunky and awkward as I remember. You really need two players who know what they're doing to make this bearable. Such a shame, as it looks and sounds really nice still.

[@dsr521]

I remember being so freaking excited waiting for this game to come out. Was awesome.

[@joesomenumbers]

Holy shit hearing you mentioning XBAND sent a flood of memories back to me

[@furballbear]

Weaponlord still remains one of my favorite 16-bit fighting games. Yeah I wish it ran smoother with more frames of animation but the deep fighting mechanics allow me to over look those relatively small flaws.

[@teddym2808]

wow and that concludes it.. I have now seen all your vids.. MORE, MORE! I must say, besides a small percentage, I overall agreed with almost everything. You have a really in depth way of looking at games whilst keeping reviews amazingly concise at the same time. Well done.

[@billyboatman]

I love this channel and these videos. Really hits me with the nostalgia. I'm 30 so I grew up with the SNES, one of my favorite systems. I need to cop me one of those shirts.

[@calebdudley7450]

Weaponlord is one of the most criminally undersung fighters of all time. One strangely prevalent misconception about it is the special move inputs. It did have the ‘hold relevant button while inputting directional commands’ mechanic, but it ALSO had some moves done in the traditional ‘directional input followed by corresponding button’ style. It essentially doubled your attack options. I LOVED Weaponlord.

[@andresdigi25]

in my opinion was the best fighting game of the 16 bit era with the most complex control system. I still love it but now i suck in the game. i love the art style and the sound

[@GraftBranch]

The change from just moving the direction pad and hitting a button to being able to also hold the button and moving the Direction pad is revolutionary and amazing. Being able to do a move with the old method and pressing a button, then holding it and moving the D pad for a follow up combo is amazing. I think you missed the point of having both options. The art and music, strategy involved and difficulty level is all incredible. One of the best games of this style still to this day

[@hereandnow3700]

i use to play this on XBAND. it was a dial up internet for snes back in the day...it was laggy but we thought it was amazing at the time!

[@IIIININ9IIII]

I agree with most of your points on this game. Difficult special moves (almost obnoxiously so) for sure, however blocking, parrying and the depth they tried to achieve with this game is noteworthy... However, everything is so slow and laggy that you almost need to predict well in advance what you think your opponent will do, to the point where it becomes almost impossible to read and react to what's happening. I can appreciate the art direction, the drive to try something radically different for it's time.. but as far as playing it today is concerned, good luck... A much more refined, smoother, simpler (compared to Weaponlord at least) and pick up and play style game that features weapons for each character, is Samurai Shodown. Timing is the key to success again here, but with a much more forgiving frame rate, Street Fighter style special moves (for the most part) and like Weaponlord, unique character design. Yeah, it's an early 1v1 fighter and it kinda shows, but it plays much better in my opinion. It's still not Street Fighter or Killer Instinct level of greatness, but you could argue that it's better than the Mortal Kombats, or most of the other random 1v1 fighters of it's era. Definitely worth the review at some point anyway. Fatal Fury Special is worth noting too, just for another SNK franchise that got ports to the SNES.. but you can't talk about 1v1 fighting games that feature weapons without mentioning Samurai Shodown.

[@IIIININ9IIII]

To sum it up, Weaponlord was a game with great ambition, but poor execution in my eyes. They tried to make the game a bit more complex than it needed to be, or rather, with so many forward thinking ideas that were just too advanced for the tech of it's era. Samurai Shodown on the other hand, did a lot of things right. No overly awkward special moves (some moreso than others, but for the most part well done), weapon clashes that ended by merely out mashing the opposition, resulting in them losing their weapon momentarily. Timing based attacks that rewarded you for correctly predicting your opponents attack and countering appropriately, or punished you for incorrect inputs. In some ways yes, it is a bit of a Street Fighter clone, but in many ways it's not. Also consider the POW meter, which if I'm not mistaken, was one of the first of its kind to give damage boosts for taking and inflicting damage, something which the Street Fighter series would expand upon years later. And yes, I know it's a port of the NEO GEO version, but it still holds up pretty well today in my opinion - despite the censorship of gore Nintendo was known for at the time. Definitely a top 5 fighting game on the system, despite being below the likes of Super Street Fighter II, Street Fighter II:Turbo, Killer Instinct and arguably Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3.

[@ahzekahriman5840]

I still have this cartridge! What a blast from the past! I liked the combat actually. Street Fighter was just too fast pace for me and my friends would eventually spam Hadoukens or Shyoruken(sp?) but Weapon lord really punished you for it, at least that's how I feel about the game. I really liked using Jen-Tai (I think that's the Valkyrie looking one with the shield and longsword) and was it the guy with the pony tail? Kane? I think his name started with a K though. (edit: Korr and Jen-Tai. I just looked at the corner of the video with my glasses) I really liked the soundtrack to the game as well. Lots of cool backgrounds too. Might not be the most polished game, but I still like it. I used to have the manual for it as well, but my mom threw it away along with all my other instruction manuals for my snes games.

[@ruskerdax5547]

This was, along with Eternal Champions, my favorite fighting game when I was a kid. The main problem is that my friends would play it and get destroyed so badly (because I was the only who owned the game) that they'd never want to play it again. It would be difficult to find someone willing to play the game today. I also feel this game lends itself better, control-wise, to the Sega 6-button controller, rather than the SNES's controller. I never found the controls quite as unintuitive as described here, and maybe that's because I only had it for the Genesis.

[@FnRenner]

In my area the only video rental place that printed the instructions on the box consistently was called Road Runner video while Beaver Entertainment would copy the entire game manual for you if you asked. Our local Blockbuster would just stick a copy of the cover of the game manual in the back of the rental box.

[@scoob1551]

Only know about this one from the old age when Jon was on Game Grumps. Great vid!

[@Korncakes1]

Holy shit since when were you almost at 100k?! Congratulations dude, I hope you hit it soon!

[@originalsleepyjon]

I absolutely love your videos. We must be close to the same age because when you reminisce on memories growing up, it's like you're talking about my life growing up too. Keep up the amazing work. 80s kids rule 😎

[@soterioncoil2163]

Yes, WeaponLord is an astonishing looking game! When I rented it back then I couldn't figure out come here from sick 'em but I wouldn't mind learning to play now that I have internet!

[@Gojiro7]

that story about the Xeroxed control info on the rental case reminded me of my youth when I rented Super Return of the Jedi on SNES and the case included level select passwords on the case in really hard to read parts which made it almost a secret to find, and as anyone who has played those games can contest, it was the only way I was able to ever see anything past the first stage.

[@raydenlord]

Sounds kind of like Primal Rage's special moves. And I loved the X-Band! I never played this game, but I spent lots of time playing Mortal Kombat 2 on it.

[@ctsamurai]

"Mr. Movies" and "Video Update" are top tier rental store names.

[@raphaelcalado4335]

I remember the hype for this game, despite admire this game, the difficulty was something I could not take in when a child

[@PsychokoreUndergroundRap]

Really good review.. i have this game and i agree with everything you said

[@Rey_Fantasma]

This channel is awesome, snes games are still amazing me

[@GaZlovesGames]

Snesssss drunk. Just wanted say thanks for the vids over the years. Ive been inspired enough to start my own channel. But you're onna my favs. Keep dwunking snessses n that.. love what u do

[@madspunky]

Gamepro also featured it on their cover, and published two interviews. The developers wanted their fighting game to have more depth than Street Fighter. The reason why you hold down the button first before the command (like in Primal Rage), was to make combos easier, as in, you were already holding down the button.

[@CONSOLETRUTH2]

The main reason why the controls are how they are was because the game was designed for the XBAND device (basically like Xbox live xor psn) in mind and thus for online play. Since the Xband ran over the telephone line and I think it was only a 33600 baud modem instead of the maxed out 56k that was introduced around the time, the developers had to find the best way to keep it running smooth online with little to ZERO lag and holding down a button then doing controller I puts were slower and this would always work whereas the traditional joy pad move then button press could be done way to quickly to go over the modem properly which would create lag or not even work at all as the data speed was just not fast enough to compensate for the speed if input. If that was TL/DR for you, basically it was done to work best while playing online as the traditional move inputs just would not work over the relatively slow phone connection.

[@Exiled_Rouge]

A underrated gem! I long wished this series would have continued.

[@dekunutsocarina]

I still have this. I played it on the analogue super nt a few months ago...... and it’s still hard as hell lol.

[@SykoSkot]

I always appreciate the level of research put into the videos, but this one especially!

[@guavapokemon3587]

Thanks for not fuckin dragging on to make longer videos bro. You got real concise reviews.

[@Joe-nz5if]

I put hundreds of hours on the Sega Genesis version because the manual only had basic instructions and move list. It took forever to figure out how to properly perform death combos but it was worth it. Throat kill, gut kill, splatter kill and decapitation. All the characters can do multiple kill moves in one combo, but Korr can do all the kill moves in one 26 hit combo.Weapon Lord is the most intense fighting game I've ever played. This game deserves a reboot with all the blood and gore included.

[@sjaaktrekhaak100]

I had never heard of this game before. This is why i love your channel. Great video again!

[@tiosulfate6492]

Thank you SNESDrunk for this one ! I love versus fighting games, maybe gonna check this one if i can

[@HalconVaquero]

I have never been able to master Weaponlord, but it is still my favourite Fighting Game :)

[@roberttaylor8906]

Love your vids man, even if it's for games that wouldn't necessarily pique my interest. Still entertaining and it's nice to hear a quick yet fairly in depth breakdown of games I've never heard of. And the art style of these games is pure nostalgia, even if I never played them lol

[@TheBbrian100]

Thank you so much for doing a video on this game i was just playing it the other day!

[@StriderVM]

This is one of those games that absolutely needed a remake. Too bad the game sold so bad no one will touch it with any kind of pole.

[@valkrieknights]

"Jen-tai" huh? I see you, game.

[@xXLunatikxXlul]

I thought the same thing.

[@Pedro_Kantor]

J is right next to H on the keyboard.

[@drakeolmos1981]

Rented at blockbuster back in the day..i remember reading about the hand drawn characters in Gamepro Magazine ..Funny how times have changed..this game was ahead of its time and never got any credit, and it wasnt a arcade...

[@esotericmissionary]

Great video, SNES Drunk! I was never good at fighting games, and this one kicked my ass each time I rented it, which was like three or four times, since I like the entire presentation of it. Also, I admit, I was one of those bastards that keep the real manual when it came with a game a I rented. I still have a fat stack of them in my archive.

[@andyb9675]

I waited MONTHS for this as a kid! Was a huge SF2/MK/TMNT:TF fan at the time, and this excited the hell out of me! But I remember getting it and not quite connecting with it, namely due to the points you raised, ie: the speed and learning curve, neither of which went well with my post-pubescent, teenage ADHD, but both of which mean little now, as it looks like something I may have to go back and check out! Still have the original cartridge with a notebook full of scribbles I made trying to figure it all out 😂

[@JKZEROkenjiMB]

I've remember playing this on snes9x when I was kid back in the day. I like how the art style looks, music and the story.

[@zenszulu]

I was a huge fighting game fan at the time and after seeing a review here in the UK in NMS I thought I really must get this game as they gave it a high score (92 I think) I will admit I struggled to get to grips with it at all as I feel the controls were overly complex just for the sake of it. While I can appreciate there is a deep game there it's very easy to forget how to pull off half the stuff as it required more memorisation than Mortal Kombat or Killer Instinct although I did manage to pull of a kill that had 4 different stages once. It did look and sound great though and if I recall in the story mode you could keep continuing even if you lost unless your opponent killed you then it was game over which I always thought made sense.

[@Armageddon-yt3so]

if I recall Primal Rage also used the Hold Attack Button first then move DPad second controls as well

[@MiloKuroshiro]

Weaponlord is actually a really good game and mechanically deep and clever with an antimash system and smart combos

[@WickedRibbon]

Looks pretty cool, but clearly ahead of its time. I wonder how a modern fighting game with similar mechanics and more responsive controls would fare? 🤔

[@youisiaint]

There was a video rental place in my hometown that laminated each page on all the instruction books. I never fully realized how ridiculously time consuming that would have been until I was an adult

[@thiagovidal6137]

I remember renting this one on a weekend and I liked so much that I rented again in the following weekend. I had no trouble figuring out special moves and fatalities all on my own. There were no GameFAQs back then.

[@neoasura]

I'm glad I went to a smaller video store that xeroxed the manual as well. I didnt even know places like Blockbuster didn't rent out the manuals.

[@shanecopher5781]

Loved this game... and I was in my mid-twenties when it came out!

[@shr00mhead]

2:50 Ken Lobb also worked on Goldeneye. They named the Klobb after him.

[@z0m813]

I loved this game as a kid

[@enfieldjohn101]

What a fun game! I actually like this game better than Street Fighter or Mortal Kombat. I love how many attack options you have. I also like that it plays slower than some fighting games. My fingers move slower than many other gamers' do so it works for me. I have the Sega version. Yes, you do need to practice and study the manual. Even the manual writer tells you that you need to practice if you find yourself dying a lot. :) Good video!

[@frystanudlar6964]

I remember renting this game back in the day; it was most excellent to play. Good review!

[@michaelcorrigan6577]

Yeah video trips were fun. I always loved going to the adult section. that was a thing back then. Id catch glimpses of all the videos and then go back to my games a little wiser.

[@mystrdat]

The advantage of the changed control scheme is buffering moves and smoother chaining

[@JohnnyBurnes]

Street Fighter 1's special moves also work on a button's release. (On console.)

[@soldieroftafari]

The art style of this game always grabbed my attention.

[@DavidParraHenry]

My friend and I got killer at this game, so many epic battles between us! I gotta solid natural talent for gaming so eventually got insanely good with Bane. This is a game that will leave even the most callused thumbs throbbing. Weaponlord is NOT for the weak spirited.

[@rickdavis32]

The input style actually makes sense. Actually more sense than how we do it, pushing the dpad then the action could have had changed how many moves we had. We couldve ended up with more than just the typical hard/weak attack, standard combo with more variation, also charge style moves wouldve been easier for some people.

[@Bosn1ac]

This game was amazing when you really get into the combat mechanic. Jen Tai and Bane were amazing to play. The art and music was great. Needs a 2D remake with additional Soul Caliber characters.

[@Drinkabeerandplayagameofficial]

This was a cool game, love the clashing of the weapons and the flash of light it tigers, nice graphics too. It’s a little slow but it’s not bad considering the glut of fighters at the time

[@dionysysentertainer3261]

I spent a ton of time on this amazing game when it came out so I could be an Xband legend (the service never took off). Holding the button for moves was to allow for using what otherwise would be jump directions. There are only so many ways to do moves. And not all special moves required holding the button down and then the input. Such a statement is either lazy or ignorant. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt as you didn't have a manual. Which, is also something I'll pity you for. The game was wonderfully hard and took dedication to learn. If you learned to play (if you wanted to put in that kid of time, which as an adult, likely isn't worth it) you would see half of each 3-5 minute round was half thrust blocking which has no chip damage on the higher difficulty. You also would have brought up all the clanging...the endless clanging. Most fatal blows had to be comboed in for them to activate. The idea, as I read from a Gamepro feature way back then, was for them to demonstrate skill to pull them off as opposed to the FINISH HIM concept. It's great you brought up these guys going to Namco, but you missed something fucking gigantic - this game is the prototype to Soul Edge/Blade/Calibur.

[@jamillie87]

Never heard of this game love this channel always dropping new GEMS

[@johnforbes8577]

Just got this for Xmas. Thanks for the review and the info. You rock!

[@giever2k6]

may i say its ahead of its time. gave a slight taste of what's to come (soul blade&bushido blade).

[@tolishaws]

I love this game , brings back memories of good times. I rented it for the rated M and the box cover.

[@germanher7528]

It was Teen rated