Fighting Vipers
From Sega Retro
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| Publisher: Sega Developer: Sega AM2 System(s): Sega Model 2B CRX, Sega Saturn ROM Size: Genre: Fighting Number of Players: 1-2
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Fighting Vipers (ファイティングバイパーズ) is a 3D fighting game developed by Sega AM2 for the Sega Model 2B CRX in 1995. It was ported the same year to the Sega Saturn with significantly reduced graphics. A version of the game was released for the PlayStation 2 as part of the Sega Ages series in Sega Ages 2500 Series Vol. 19: Fighting Vipers.
Contents
Story
Hyper-adrenal combatants in full-body armour, battling night and day in back-alley rings - only such young gurba warriors have earned the right to be called VIPERS...
Now in Armstone City, the mayor has formally announced a fighting tournament on a grand scale, with the final bout to be held atop the staggering City Tower in the centre of town.
With City Tower as their ultimate goal, eight young VIPERS start down the path to victory, a path which only one will see the end...
Gameplay
Fighting Vipers features a similar style of gameplay to Sega AM2's more renowned Virtua Fighter series, specifically Virtua Fighter 2, using a simply Guard, Punch and Kick attack buttons with a focus on combo moves (the Saturn version using its three extra buttons for three smaller combos).
The game is set apart with two unique features. Most notably, each of the 9 characters featured in the game sports armor of some kind or another, this armor can be broken off by opponents leaving characters much more vulnerable and able to take much more damage, a human shaped meter in the top corners of the screen monitors the damage to your armor. Secondly walls surround each arena, caging the combatants in, allowing for attacks in conjunction with them (bouncing off etc), if the correct combination is hit at the round's finale, characters can punch their opponent straight through the walls.
When ported, Fighting Vipers offered other modes besides Arcade and Vs. Playback Mode and Training Mode both of which are now used widely in the genre, by games such as Tekken and Soul Calibur. Players could save their matches and play them again in Playback Mode, while Training Mode talked you though the moves of each character one-by-one.
Characters
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Grace |
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| Grace is a 19 year old African-American born in Armstone City whose armor is themed after the protective gear for In-Line Skating, including the skates themselves. Grace is making her living as a fashion model, though she once dreamed of becoming a professional figure skater, though her lover and coach betrayed her, leaving her disillusioned. | |
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Bahn |
| Despite only being a 17 year old High School Student from Nishino Machi, Bahn is a powerful and imposing fighter in a long coat and hat, who has come overseas to find and fight his father, whom he has never met and abandoned him and his mother when they were small, he has declared himself 'Gengis Bahn III'. | |
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Raxel |
| The narcissistic lead singer and guitarist for a hair metal band called 'Death Crunch' with KISS-styled armour (pretty much looking like Ace Frehley's outfit) and carrying a red Gibson Flying-V electric guitar, Raxel is the son of an Armstone City councilman, a drop out who left home after a fight with said father, Raxel has simply entered the tournament to heighten his own profile and become further famous.
Note: Raxel's name is strikingly similar to Guns N' Roses' frontman Axl Rose. There is no official confirmation however that he is in any way based on him, as he doesn't really look like Rose, but more like ex-Skid Row singer Sebastian Bach or Poison's vocalist Bret Michaels. | |
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Tokio |
| A 16 year old pretty boy rebelling against a strict kabuki actor's household, Tokio is a former leader of a street gang called 'Black Thunder' but left after feeling responsible for another gangmember's death. He has entered the tournament for a challenge and for thrills. | |
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Sanman |
| A mysterious fat oriental-looking man about whom nothing is known, other than his birthday (3rd of March) and an obsession with the number 3, hence the name for which he goes (san in the Japanese for "three"). Sanman drives a large customised scooter. | |
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Jane |
| A butch and muscled 18 year old part-time construction worker, Jane trained her whole life to join the Navy, but did not make it past training. She was discharged after repeatedly losing control of herself during fights and injuring fellow seamen. Jane now wants to test just how tough she is, hence entering the Fighting Vipers tournament. | |
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Candy/Honey |
| A petite 16 year old Fashion Student with a pleasant nature, Candy designed her trademark plastic fairy suit herself, and has entered the tournament to promote her original fashion line. Candy became, by far, the most popular of the characters, and remains so, particularly in Japan. | |
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Picky |
| A 14 year old stereotypical skateboarder, Picky's armour is styled after protective gear for skateboarders, he carries his skateboard on his back, and hits opponents with it. Picky began skateboarding to impress his first love, but later on he left her for Candy. | |
| Mahler | |
| The ninth character, not selectable, and unlockable in the Sega Saturn port, Mahler is a 20 year old mystery with a grudge against the Mayor of Armstone City [who has organised the tournament] wearing poisonous armour resembling a snake. He isn't officially registered as a member of the tournament. | |
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B.M. |
| B.M. is boss of the game and is a powered up version of Mahler. | |
| Pepsiman | |
| Pepsiman is the mascot for Pepsi and Pepsi related products in Japan. He rescues those in need of thirst by delivering Pepsi, and often gets inflicted with pain from unforeseen consequences. He is only available in the Japanese version of the Sega Saturn version. To face him, you start the game in Arcade mode, and allow the CPU to attack you without fighting back. Before your HP reaches 0, the game will issue a "New Challenger" to which the game will return to the character select screen and slowly scroll to Pepsiman's position, while playing his theme song. Defeating Pepsiman allows you to play as him through the regular game. A new Option menu item will appear upon unlocking the character that allows you to revert the secret, causing the player to have to unlock him again. |
The game also features the Pepsi logo in the background and on certain characters (such as Picky's skateboard).
Production Credits
Arcade Version
Director: Hiroshi Kataoka
Game Coordinator: Daichi Katagiri
Programmers: Daichi Katagiri, Susumu Morii
D.S.P. Programmer: Katsunori Itai
Character Designers: Masahiro "T" Sugiyama, Kaznori O
Stage Designers: Yasuko Suzuki, Hiroshi Kataoka
Background Designer: Takako Kawaguchi
Motion Designers: Daichi Katagiri, Susumu Takatsuka, Hiroki Iwasaki
Sound Designers: David Leytze, Kazuhiro Kouchi
Assistant Programmers: Eiji Ikuta, Hiroshi Masui, Norimasa Yoshizawa
Assistant Designer: Manabu Sato
Publicity by: Kanae Tomikawa, Akira Yamanaka
Special Thanks: VirtuaFighter Team, VirtuaCOP2 Team, and All Members of AM R&D #2
Producer: Yu Suzuki
Presented by: Sega Enterprises, Ltd
Saturn Version
~In-game credits~
Director: Hiroshi Kataoka
Chief Programmers: Tetsuya Sugimoto, Hideya Shibazaki
Programmers: Masatoshi Shibata, Arata Hanashima, Masaru Nakamura, Susumu Morii, Shinji Ohshima, Yutaka Ito
Chief Graphic Designer: Yoji Kato
Character Designers: Manabu Sato, Kentarow Nishimura, Kaoru Nagahama
Movie Staff: Masahiro Sugiyama, Shin Kataoka, Wataru Kawashima
Assistant Graphic Designers: Takako Kawaguchi, Kazufumi Ohashi, Kaznori O
Music: David Leytze
Sound Designers: Makito Nomiya, Tetsuya Kawauchi
Jacket Designer: Akira Yamanaka
Publicity by: Fumio Kurokawa, Kanae Tomikawa
Exhibition Player: Motoki Shinohara (Bunbunmaru), Hisashi Obara (Ikebukuro Raxel), Kouichi Hirane (Daikumachi-Dark-Honey)
Guest Voice Actor: Hideki Kuroda (Pepsiman)
Special Thanks: Daichi Katagiri, Arcade "Fighting Vipers" Team, and All Staff of AM R&D #2
Producer: Yu Suzuki
Presented by: Sega Enterprises, Ltd.
~Other credits~
- US Staff
Producer: Steve Hutchins
Product Manager: Seth Gerson
Assistant Localization Producer: Osamu Shibamiya
Marketing Manager: Anne Moellering
Production Manager: Eileen Sacman
Art Director: Eric Smith
Art Designers: Scott Allen, Masud Husain
Special Thanks to: Arvin Carlson, Matt Dunbar, Manny Granillo, Mike Needham, John Orantes, Undyne Stafford, Andrew Stein, Mark Subotnick, The SEEDY Crew
Lead Tester: Jeff B. Junio
Assistant Leads: Lorne Asuncion, Rick Greer, Peter Young
Testers: Rey Alferez, Jason Bartholomew, Stephen Bourdet, Michael Dobbins, Essie Hamadani, Len Jung, Cesar Lemus, B. Lee, Dennis Lee, Christopher Lucich, Tony Lynch, Mark McCunney, Abraham Navarro, Sean Potter, Fred Selker, Timothy Spengler, Steve Thompson
Promotional Material
Saturn JP flyer
Saturn UK print advert
Arcade AU print advert
Physical Scans
Model 2 Version
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100 | Sega Retro Average | ||||||
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| Based on 1 review | ||||||||
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| Model 2, US |
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| Model 2, JP |
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Saturn Version
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88 | Sega Retro Average | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Based on 11 reviews | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Saturn, US |
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  Cover
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 Disc  Manual |
| Saturn, EU |
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 Cover
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 Disc |
| Saturn, JP |
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  Cover
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 Spinecard  Disc  Manual  Inlay |
| Saturn, BR |
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 Cover
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| Saturn, KR |
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   Cover
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External links
| Games in the Fighting Vipers Series | |
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| Fighting Vipers (1995) | Fighters Megamix (1996) | Fighting Vipers 2 (1998) | Sega Ages 2500 Series Vol. 19: Fighting Vipers (2005) | |
| Fighting Vipers related media | |
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Fighting Vipers Original Soundtrack (1996) | Fighting Vipers Sega Saturn Original Soundtrack (1996) | Fighting Vipers 2 The Sound Album (1998) |
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Fighting Vipers (1996) | Fighting Vipers: Crimson Angel (1996) | Fighting Vipers Sega Saturn Manual 2: Biting the Vipers (1996) | Fighting Vipers: My Sweet Honey (1996) | Fighting Vipers Perfect Guide (1997) | Fighting Vipers 2 Official Guide (1998) |