NeoGeo Battle Coliseum news

[SonicTempest]

Seeing how they're 83MB in size, that's probably not going to be possible.

[Kyosuke Kagami]

Is it possible to divide them into a lot of ZIP or RAR files?

[BP]

According to Beelzebubble, there's going to be another loke test (The final one?) in Tokyo from July 2nd to the 8th.

Wasn't it supposed to be released this month, though? Or are they delaying it again?

[Kyosuke Kagami]

They're probably delaying it again... I'm not complaining, though. I can wait.

[SonicTempest]

New impressions from KTallGuy at MMCafe:

Ok, I went to the test in Shinjuku. It wasn't even too crowded, but I was there at night... I got a lot of chances to play.
I played a bit and watched a lot. I'm not going to be able to remember everything but I'll see what I can do. I will say that overall my impression was quite good!

System: Feels loose, but not too loose. I would venture to say it feels just right. It's not as stiff as SNK Chaos, it almost feels like a little bit looser KOF.

AB is the tactical escape, but I never really used it. It seems strange, difficult to use, but strong, like an invincible roll. It takes meter. I saw it used only a few times.

Throws (CD) are strong but you need to be at point blank, like SNK Chaos. I don't know if you lose meter when you wiff a throw or not.

A lot of the game relies on getting space when your character is too weak so you can tag out safely. If you block and press E, the tag button, you'll do the big cancel knock away move that takes some meter and buys some time to switch out. That makes throws useful. However you can throw escape.

The guard step is strong but you have to have really good timing. I saw people using it well, getting in combos after GC. Of course it works best on the last hit of a combo, otherwise your GC combo will get stuffed.

The dash/run system is really well done. Basically you hit -> -> to dash, but if you hold forward you'll run. It is implemented well and allows for KOF style rushdowns.

The red/yellow bar system is also well done and works basically just like Tekken Tag Tournament. Red is replenished slowly when you tag out that character. Managing your characters well is important. The tag attack takes off a fair chunk of red but almost no yellow. Very useful.

One thing that really impressed me was the character art, very nicely drawn. I think it's the coolest character art I've ever seen. Especially when you win, the win art is amazingly well drawn. The backgrounds are very nicely drawn but pretty much void of activity. I spotted Kain in one of the backgrounds.

The sprites are in general very well done. Antialaised and better looking than CapSNK2 in my opinion. There are a few exceptions which I will get to.

Another thing is the sound is kind of interesting, very spacey sounds for some of the attacks, but nothing was jarring.

<b>Ok, I'll try to break down each of the characters. </b>

Terry: Bascially simple Terry. I don't think he has rising tackle. Combos are strong, but no one was using him as much as the other characters. Sprite is directly (more or less) from KOF 03.

Marco: Haha, this guy is a riot. I picked him once just to mess around. His heavy machine gun is a good move but it has a lot of lag coming out. I believe it might be able to hit all the way across the screen. His regular punches are all him shooting guns and have a set range, you can't see the bullets or anything but the other player gets hit. But his regular punches can't hit someone all the way on the other side of the screen. He also has a rocketpack, which is quite powerful and can even be used to escape. I couldn't pull off any of his supers. Nicely drawn sprite, but I didn't really get to look at it in detail.

Washizuka: Strong!!! Really nice character. His super is quite good too, just like the one in Last Blade, where he pushes you to the corner. Requires a lot of work to be good though... His sprite looks very nice too. The FX on his slashes and stuff are well done IMO.

Nakoruru: Her sprite is very nice, it looks like an edited SS0 sprite. The Mamahaha attacks are nice and I think you might be able to combo them but before coming out there's some lag. The attack where she hits you with her cape is well animated. I picked her once but lost.

K': Pretty much KOF03 K', but his sprite looks slightly different. Same old K', but fun to use.

Mai: I saw her picked once. The person using her was not very good. She looks like SNK Capcom Mai but nicely antialaised.

Geese: Not as strong as Chaos. (Thank God). He doesn't seem to have a huge Reppuken (I never saw it). His raging storm has a lag in the beginning so you can't combo it, but it does crap loads of damage. Good anti air (how it should be). Looks like SNK Chaos.

Yuki: Wow... this is one crazy character. They did a really good job making this character unique, that's for sure. There was a person getting large win streaks using this character so I can say a lot. One move that is powerful is basically a "gun" like move that is a instant hit across the screen if your standing. If Yuki does his charge move 2 times he can combo 3 of them. It's not a ton of damage but he's pretty safe unless you jump very high and over the (invisible shots). He has an anti air move that looks like his arm is exploding in the air, if he charges that it does more damage, more hits. I don't think it can hit people just standing on the ground though, strictly anti air. He has a air/ground special dash that makes him very manuverable; the guy using him would do a combo, in the middle do the dash and then throw. Strong. I only think you can dash forward. He has a move where when he's jumping in the air he disappears and suddenly appears on the ground, lighting all around him. Very nice antianti air. The 'megashock' super doesn't do much damage but hits the entire screen, if your not on the ground you get hit automatically. If you have more questions about him fire away.

Ai: I used her twice, but I didn't get her at all. She can use blocks or something. Her balloon is cute.

Yuki and Ai: Their sprites are ok, but maybe need a little bit of touching up. The edges aren't very well drawn, they seem a little hard, like they need alaising. It's hard to notice unless you look hard though.

Kim: Strong as always, but his dashing super doesn't do much damage at all, which leads me to believe you can combo it like a motherf-cker. Basically normal Kim.

Tung Fu Rue - I like his sprite. He has a lot of interesting moves. People using him weren't that good. Dashing punch (looks like Yun from SF3) is very strong and seems comboable. The huge giant coming out of his back is intimidating looking!

Asura - His super is very strong! Also he is well animated. He can shoot one arrow or three, the move looks good and does decent damage, arrows go full screen, if three they kind of cluster together but don't go high at all. Seems difficult to use.

Hanzo - I like his sprite too, his moves look cool. No one was using him very well. Has his projectile, flying 'kite' move. Seems strong.

Fuma - I only saw him used once. All I know is that he's quite different from Hanzo but also well drawn.

Kyo - Used a lot, of course. Basically 03 Kyo in 02s outfit. He has very strong combos.

Iori - Same old Iori, I didn't see his new super, but he's still as strong as always.

Rock - Rock looks very nice, like Garou but anti-alaised. His counters and moves all work... nothing much else to say. I saw his counter miss once on a jump in attack...

Kisarah - She has a cute sprite, I have no idea how to use her but I saw her doing decent damage. Her bag combos deal good damage from what I remember.

Haohmaru - His sprite is like SS0 but he has stubble and his eyes glow a little. His slashes are pretty strong, but he's of course, pretty slow. Spacing is important. I liked his sprite though!

Cyberwoo - The robot seems like it was first rendered in 3D and then turned into a sprite. It animates well. I don't know much else because the person using her died too fast =)

Kaede - Strong!! It's funny how Rock and Kaede look almost exactly the same in their selection portraits though ... combos are good. Sprite is nice. No complaints except maybe to make his fireball sprite look more electric... right now it just looks like a blob of energy.

Akari - Her counter move with the guy with the bat is really funny to watch. She also has her teleport moves and they come out quite fast.

Mr. Karate - Strong!! Like a combination of Takuma and Ryo. Has the parrying fists like Ryo, so he can block and counter quickly. I saw people using him a lot, with good results. Haoushokouken can be comboed (I believe) and is very strong.

Mr. Big - Holy crap, strong. This is the other character that the one guy was using to get win streaks. I think he's slightly broken, because his ducking Jab has a lot of range, and the guy was just getting people in the corner and doing dash jab dash jab... making it near impossible for the other player to move. If the other player jumps, standing strong kick will hit them and do a lot of damage, and comes out fast enough to do on reflex. They can guard cancel the kick and attack back, or use the blocking E move to push him away, but the Jabs are too fast to GC counter, I believe, because the next one will just hit you... you can't combo them though... I think everyone just didn't know how to counter him. He has a Terry power wave like move that doesn't go anywhere, but is useful for keeping the other player blocking. His super where he hits you in the air and juggles you with his sticks is very very strong.

Shermie: I picked her just for the hell of it, but I can't use her at all. That being said, I got the impression that she will have trouble in this game where everyone has projectiles, and there's no roll. But I have no idea, really. Sprite didn't seem too different but she had a lot of cute poses. In her forward strong does she always stick out her chest?

Hotaru: No one could use her properly but I have the feeling she'll be strong. Nice sprite, like Garou but a little skinnier.

Robert - As said earlier, his standing animation is a little overdone, but it's not so bad. Has high/low projectiles like Sagat. Sprite is maybe 80% new? Seems strong but crumbled to Mr. Karate.

Lee - Seems very strong but needs a lot of practice to win. I like his animation. His combos also seem difficult.

Moriya : Nice and strong, I liked how he looked and his combos did a lot of damage. Didn't notice any new moves.

Genyjuro: As strong as Moriya. I liked the way his sprite fit with the other characters especially. One of his supers is his card fireball that bounces up in the air and comes down when blocked (I guess it's impossible normally). You can get some good damage from it.

Chonrei - Quite strong. I liked the way his dashes looked. He has a super that his a multihitting fireball that stuns you, kind of like Gills Agias Reflector in SF3 but a ball shape. His fireballs are strong.

Chonshu - Saw her once. It was hard to tell how she was but her sprite was nice...

Shiki - I picked her and promptly died. Seems like 100% SNK Chaos sprite.

Mudman - Wow, what a nicely drawn sprite. Animation is very nice and detailed. Has one fireball that runs straight forward and one that fires up in the air and comes down. I saw someone getting a win streak with Mudman and Iori..

Mars and Athena weren't there at all, there were two blank spots on the character select screen...

I also took two videos while I was there, one is of Kyo and Mr. Karate vs Akari and Washizuka and is 2 mins and 30 seconds long. The other is
a minute and 48 seconds and features Genyjuro and Jin vs Kaede and Moriya. Decent quality, 320x240. If anyone wants to host them, please respond to this thread. Unfortunately the videos don't show a whole match, as they can be long if both people are good.

Anyway, I hoped this might help some people... if anyone has any questions please fire away and I'll tell you what I know. I might go back to Club Sega tomorrow or the next day to play again. Good night...

[Kyosuke Kagami]

: D

I'm officially in love

[denieru]

..., that certainly gives us hope of actually being a good game. Nice.

[Moriya]

If it's as good as it sounds, I'm sold.

[Empyrian]

KTallGuy says...

Everything is nice...

Hmmm... Who here thinks that it'll be better than XI?

[Kyosuke Kagami]

I do... and that's because there'll be more variety of new players.

IMO.

(also because I'm tired of KOF for now).

[VX]

I really disagree with King Lion as a boss character! His character desing makes me wanna puke!

Maybe, but remember: King Lion is one earilest bosses to have the dreaded SNK Syndrome. Plus, he's from Savage Riegn/Kizuna Encounter, one of SNK's older/rarer games.

I'm not sure if this has been addressed yet, but has there been any word on a soundtrack for this game? The music sounds decent so far (especially Fuma's track).

[SonicTempest]

There should be an OST for the game.

The music is being done by Shinsekai, btw, the same people who did the KOF ASTs up to 2000.

[Shiny]

I wanna play this game -_-

I saw the videos up on the official NGBC site. Its looking great so far.

[nevadash]

Chonshu - Saw her once. It was hard to tell how she was but her sprite was nice...

he's about to have his share of the crying game

...so everything is oh so nice including the sprites? second opinion plz, not that i wouldn't like to believe

[SonicTempest]

I'd take this guy's opinion with a grain of salt (or a teaspoon, your choice), since it doesn't correlate very well with what the Japanese players and other people like beelzebubble have been saying about the game.

In any case we'll know when we get to play it.