Fighting Vipers

n/a

Fighting Vipers
System(s): Sega Model 2B CRX, Sega Saturn, PlayStation Network, Xbox Live Arcade
Publisher: Sega
Developer: Sega AM2
Distributor: Deith Leisure (UK)
Sound driver: SCSP/CD-DA (18 tracks)
Genre: Fighting
Number of players: 1-2
Release Date RRP Code JP 1996-08-30 ¥6,8006,800 GS-9101 US 1996-10-29 $49.9949.99 81041 EU 1996-11-07 MK81041-50 BR 199x 191x13 KR 199x MK-81041-08
ESRB Sega PEGI ELSPA USK OFLC CERO Missing Parameter! Tectoy

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.

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.

Characters

	Grace
	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.
	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'.
	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.
	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.
	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.
	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.
	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.
	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.
	B.M.
	B.M. is boss of the game and is a powered up version of Mahler.
	KumaChan
	Background Character on Sanman stage. He playable in the Sega Saturn port by playing 50 games. 2 Player character is Pandachan.
	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).

History

Release

The Sega Saturn version was recalled a few weeks after its Japanese launch due to a bug which could potentially wipe all game saves. Later releases of the game (including Western versions) were fixed.

Honey (or Candy as she became known) presented a problem for US retailers, as one of the rewards for finishing the game as her is a render of the character in a suggestive pose. Given that the character is only 16 years of age, Sega of America took steps to censor the more risqué content from the game, also removing her schoolgirl outfit due to fears retailers would not stock the title. The PAL version remains uncensored.

Versions

Fighting Vipers continues the steady progression of first-party Sega Saturn fighting games become more like their arcade counterparts. By rendering the the 3D cage (or walls) surrounding the playfield, it was one of the first games of its type to technically render 3D backgrounds (although these walls are promptly removed when showing the character's finishing pose).

The high resolution of Virtua Fighter 2 was dropped in favour of mimicking the arcade version's lighting system (the Saturn version of Virtua Fighter 2 has no lighting, though most of the game takes place in direct sunlight anyway). This was not always the case, however - early screenshots of Fighting Vipers prior to the '96 Tokyo Toy Show opted for a similar look to Virtua Fighter 2. The Saturn version also includes a full motion video introduction.

The Saturn Fighting Vipers offers versus, playback and training modes. Players can save their matches and play them again in playback Mode, while in training mode the player is talked though the moves of each character one-by-one.

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

• 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.

Source:

In-game 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

Source:

Other credits

Track list

1. [data track]

2. Fallen (An' I Can't Get Up) (02:29)
From: Training
Composed by: David Leytze

3. Let it Ride/All Bets Off (00:22)
From: Continue
Composed by: David Leytze

4. Game Over (00:06)
From: Game Over
Composed by: David Leytze

5. Choose Your Weapon (00:47)
From: Character select
Composed by: David Leytze

6. Pepsiman (00:22)
From: Pepsiman
Composed by: James Shimoji

7. Pepsiman Win (00:06)
From: Pepsiman Win
Composed by: James Shimoji

8. To Tell the Truth (01:31)
From: Name Entry
Composed by: David Leytze

9. Sundance Kids (02:22)
From: Bahn Stage
Composed by: David Leytze

10. The City by Night (02:57)
From: Grace Stage
Composed by: David Leytze

11. Occam's Razor (02:37)
From: Picky Stage
Composed by: David Leytze

12. Look to the Skies (02:50)
From: Tokio Stage
Composed by: David Leytze

13. Thirty-30 (02:22)
From: Sanman Stage
Composed by: David Leytze

14. Bay Side Blues (01:58)
From: Honey Stage
Composed by: David Leytze

15. The Trouble with Raxel (02:09)
From: Raxel Stage
Composed by: David Leytze

16. Look Out Below (02:29)
From: Jane Stage
Composed by: David Leytze

17. King of the Mountain (02:22)
From: B.M. Stage
Composed by: David Leytze

18. Viper Venom (01:22)
From: Opening
Composed by: David Leytze

19. Hills Like the Snake (01:25)
From: Ending
Composed by: David Leytze

► Running time: 30:36

Magazine articles

Main article: Fighting Vipers/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

• 

  Saturn JP flyer

• Saturn UK television advert

• 

  Arcade AU print advert

• 1996 11 - Fighting Vipers.jpg

  Saturn ES print advert

Saturn print advert in EGM² (US) #29: "November 1996" (1996-xx-xx)

Saturn print advert in Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) #89: "December 1996" (1996-xx-xx)

Saturn print advert in Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) #1996-15: "1996-15 (1996-09-13)" (1996-08-23)

Saturn print advert in Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) #1996-16: "1996-16 (1996-09-27)" (1996-09-13)

Saturn print advert in Sega Saturn Magazine (UK) #14: "December 1996" (1996-11-14)
also published in:

• Sega Saturn Magazine (UK) #15: "January 1997" (1996-12-17)

Print advert in Mega Force (FR) #54: "Novembre/Décembre 1996" (1996-1x-xx)

Print advert in Hyper (AU) #39: "January 1997" (199x-xx-xx)

Physical scans

Model 2 version

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source Computer & Video Games (UK) 100 №172, p74-77

	100
Based on 1 review

Sega Retro Average
Publication Version Score

	N/A
Based on 0 reviews

Fighting Vipers

Model 2, US

Model 2, JP

Saturn version

Sega Retro Average

Publication Score Source Computer & Video Games (UK) 100 №180, p52-55 Edge (UK) 80 №38, p60/61 Famitsu (JP) 93 №403, p30 GameFan (US) 96 Vol 4, №11, p18 GameFan (US) 95 GameFan (US) 94 GamePro (US) 85 №99, p140/141 GamesMaster (UK) 81 №48, p42/43 88 №99 Hobby Consolas (ES) 90 Joypad (FR) 80 №57, p68/69 MAN!AC (DE) 87 Mega Fun (DE) 88 №1996/10, p40/41 Mean Machines Sega (UK) 95 №49, p58/59 Player One (FR) 82 №69, p104/105 Sega Power (UK) 84 №85, p42/43/44/45 Sega Saturn Magazine (UK) 94 №12, p66/67 Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) 90 №1996-15, p238 Sega Saturn Magazine (readers) (JP) 88 №, p9 Sonic the Comic (UK) 95 №94, p10

	89
Based on 20 reviews

Sega Retro Average

Publication Version Score 576 KByte (HU) 89 CD Consoles (FR) PAL 100 Computer & Video Games (UK) 100 Edge (UK) NTSC-J 80 Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) NTSC-U 66 Famitsu (JP) NTSC-J 93 Freak (IL) 94 Fun Generation (DE) NTSC-J 90 Gambler (PL) 93 GameFan (US) NTSC-U 95 GamePro (US) NTSC-U 85 Game Informer (US) NTSC-U 75 Gry Komputerowe (PL) 95 Hobby Consolas (ES) 90 Intelligent Gamer (US) NTSC-U 91 Joypad (FR) NTSC-J 80 Joypad (FR) 91 MAN!AC (DE) PAL 87 Mega Force (FR) PAL 90 Mega Fun (DE) PAL 88 Mean Machines Sega (UK) PAL 95 Next Generation (US) 100 Player One (FR) 82 Saturn Fan (JP) NTSC-J 81 Saturn Fan (JP) NTSC-J 81 Saturn+ (UK) PAL 90 Secret Service (PL) 90 Sega Power (UK) PAL 84 Świat Gier Komputerowych (PL) 100 Sega Saturn Magazine (UK) PAL 94 Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) NTSC-J 90 Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) NTSC-J 88 Sonic the Comic (UK) PAL 95 Strana Igr (RU) 100 Total Saturn (UK) PAL 93 Total Saturn (UK) PAL 93 Ultra Game Players (US) NTSC-U 94 Video Games (DE) NTSC-J 82

	90
Based on 38 reviews

Fighting Vipers

Saturn, US
Cover
Disc Manual

Saturn, EU
Cover
Disc

Saturn, JP
Cover
Spinecard Disc Manual Inlay

Saturn, BR
Cover

Saturn, KR
Cover

XBLA version

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source Official Xbox Magazine (UK) 80 March 2013, p85

	80
Based on 1 review

Sega Retro Average
Publication Version Score

	N/A
Based on 0 reviews

Fighting Vipers

XBLA, World

External links

• Fighting Vipers on Xbox Marketplace: UK, US, JP