Fighting Vipers (Saturn) Playthrough - NintendoComplete
239A playthrough of Sega's 1996 3D fighting game for the Sega Saturn, Fighting Vipers.
This video shows two different playthroughs of the game: the first is as Raxel, and the second (beginning at 13:26) is as Candy.
Fighting Vipers is among my favorite 3D fighters on the Sega Saturn. I'd actually go so far as to say I like it better than Virtua Fighter 2 (even if it's just by a smidgen!), but whether or not you consider that sentiment sacrilege, there's little doubt that Fighting Vipers is an outstanding fighter than clearly shows the pedigree and skill of its developer.
Sega AM2 was on fire in the 90s, releasing major hit after hit in the arcades and accurately adapting them to Sega's home system, making the Saturn an arcade-goer's dream. Virtua Fighter 2, Fighter's Megamix, Last Bronx - they really couldn't go wrong.
It plays similarly to Virtua Fighter 2 in a number of ways - it still uses the 3-button Guard/Punch/Kick setup with a heavy emphasis on timing, combos, and throws, and though there aren't a lot of playable characters compared to the 2D games of the time, the ones that are here offer widely varying styles. With each character having a massive list of moves to master, Fighting Vipers has some real legs for those that can get into it.
There are a number of meaningful differences that separate it from Sega's flagship fighter, though. It's quite a bit faster-paced than VF, and feels more "raw" in its energy, even though it requires just as much strategy and thought as the other Sega fighters that came out in the mid 90s. The characters all wear armor that can be broken off in a fight and while you will take much more damage if you are hit without it, you also move much faster. It's a clever way to balance a "penalty" without hopelessly handicapping the player that's already taking a beating. Each of the stages are also walled to prevent Ring Outs. You can smash your opponent straight into the fence, bounce them off of it in a juggle combo, or - and this is my favorite - if you hit them with a huge kick to end the bout, you'll launch them directly through the wall for a dramatic finish. Raxel's level is especially cool for this: when you boot someone through the glass wall, they plummet from the floating platform, presumably to a gravity-aided death hundreds of feet below. It's just too damn awesome.
Fighting Vipers isn't just excellent in its gameplay, though - the presentation is jaw-dropping in a number of ways. Granted, sacrifices were obviously made in the port, but even at a lower resolution with fewer details, the game looks absolutely gorgeous. The characters all are rendered with fairly high polygon counts with texture-mapping used to flesh out the details. It looks great, but the real star here is the Gouraud-shaded lighting. Effective real-time lighting was a rarity on the 32-bit consoles, but holy cow, what a difference it makes in providing more perceived detail on the character models. For a good example, check out Jane's level. The lighting gives the character models that smooth, somewhat plastic look that defined many of the better looking PS2 games. It softens edges caused by polygon seams and provides a more subtle, natural sense of detail than you'd see otherwise. If you are one to complain about the Saturn's 3D capabilities, this one might prompt you to reconsider.
The sound is also extremely well done. The music is loaded with wailing guitars and punchy synth work, and the bassy thwacks and thumps do their part pretty effectively. The voices and sampled effects are also somewhat higher quality than you might expect, lacking much of the muzzled tinniness that some other Sega 3D fighters suffer from on the Saturn.
Fighting Vipers was a stellar effort for the Saturn, and I can't help but think that, like Last Bronx, if it had even been given a PlayStation release, it would be widely regarded as one of the best fighters of the era. I absolutely say that it is, even if the original release platform meant that many people wouldn't get to experience it for themselves.
Oh yeah, and did anyone else notice that Honey from the HD Sonic the Fighters release got her start here?
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No cheats were used during the recording of this video.
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