Deadly Arts
Reviewed by Scott McCall
The trials and tribulations of Konami continue. In the "good game,
bad game" fashion Konami has been releasing N64 games comes
Deadly Arts, which is certainly a "bad game." No, not even the
Create-a-Fighter feature can save this game.
Graphically, Deadly Arts looks simple and generic. The varied
backgrounds with breakthroughs are OK, but the detail is at a
minimum. The character animation, however, is nothing less than
terrible. Character movement is so stiff and unrealistic that
it makes the game hard to play. The only good thing about the
graphics is the numerous styles for each segment of the body
you can use to build your own character. It's nowhere near the
level of WWF: War Zone's feature, though.
Aurally, Deadly Arts fares a little better. Konami Japan's
musicians obviously got a better grasp of the N64's MIDI capabilities
than most development teams. But the music is merely above
average rather than anything spectacular. And the sound effects
can't be classified as anything more than average.
Deadly Arts has a very cool concept in the Create-a-Fighter
feature, but the way you have to train him or her is cumbersome
and renders the mode almost useless. There's also an original
Tag mode, and you can find the other usual modes, too, including
Tournament. But the fighting engine tries to put too much in too
few buttons, and the game just feels too sluggish overall to be
enjoyable.
Deadly Arts is the latest candidate for worst fighting game and
just worst game overall on the N64. There is absolutely no reason
to get this game, not even for the anime-style characters. Go
get Fighters Destiny instead.
Graphics: 2.3 out of 5
Sound: 3.2 out of 5
Control: 2.2 out of 5
Gameplay: 2.5 out of 5
Lastability: 2.3 out of 5
Overall: 2.4 out of 5