Fighter's History (SNES) Playthrough

A playthrough of Data East's 1994 versus-fighter for the Super Nintendo, Fighter's History.

I play through the game twice in this video. I start with Mizoguchi on the highest difficulty level for the best ending. Then, at 21:47, I play as Ray on the medium level. Finally, at 40:00, I leave the opening demo to play on loop to show all of the character bios.

Fighter's History was quite the hot topic for gaming rag editorials back in the day. Owing to the similarities the game bore to Street Fighter II, Capcom very publicly sued Data East for copyright infringement in 1994. However, though the court found that the games were indeed similar, the case was dismissed after Capcom failed to justify their claims - neither the concept of a "fighting game" nor the stereotypes that formed the basis of Street Fighter II's character line-up could be copyrighted.

The court's decision followed a legal precedent that Data East themselves helped to establish. In 1988, Data East sued Epyx, alleging that Epyx's World Championship Karate was too similar to their 1984 arcade game Karate Champ. Data East lost, but they had clearly learned a lesson.

One of the biggest ironies here is that, like so many other "me too" 2D fighters from the early 90s, Fighter's History would've probably flown under the radar and faded into obscurity had Capcom just left things alone. In filing a lawsuit, Capcom acknowledged that Data East's game posed some sort of threat. They gave Fighter's History a sense of legitimacy and notoriety that no amount of advertising could've ever generated on its own.

Oops.

The original Fighter's History arcade game (   • Fighter's History (Arcade) Playthrough - N...  ) never really stood a chance against Capcom's juggernaut, but it was respectable effort. The SNES conversion wasn't likely to steal Capcom's thunder, either, but it wasn't for a lack of trying. Fighter's History actually became a much better game in its move to the SNES.

The arcade played well, but that version's controls were a little too loose and the overall flow of the game felt slightly off as a result. That's not the case on the SNES. Everything has been tightened up - the controls are more responsive, the moves are much easier to reliably pull off - and the bosses are now playable if you punch in a code. Other than that, it closely mirrors the original game. All of the special moves are still here, as is the unique dizzy system and the breakable stage objects.

The rest of the game manages to impress, too. The graphics come amazingly close to matching the original. Aside from the lower resolution and color depth, you'd be hard pressed to notice any meaningful differences between them, even in a side-by-side comparison. It's missing a few frames of animation and a couple minor background details are gone, but it's overall very faithful - it doesn’t feel compromised like so many arcade-to-SNES ports did.

The sound is just as well done. The blaring guitar samples of the arcade music have been toned way down, but I actually prefer the cleaner sound of the SNES version's music. The voices are all here and surprisingly clear (and that announcer is hilarious!), and the sound effects are suitably crunchy and bass-filled. And that ridiculous thud you hear every time someone hits the ground? Top notch.

And that comically lame post-match smack talk deserves a mention all of its own. I mean, how could anyone argue with such menacing taunts as, "With practice you might improve," and "You better learn some better moves"?

I love Fighter's History. It's not the best fighter on the SNES, but it is one of my favorites. The hilariously weird and awkward characters, the arcade-level bombast, and the excellent controls make this one a whole lot of fun.
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No cheats were used during the recording of this video.

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