Year: 1992
Genre: Fighting
Players: 1
Our Rating: 7/10
Mini Review
Best of the Best for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis is in many was a forgotten gem of the 16-bit era. Whilst big hitters such as Street Fighter 2, Mortal Kombat, Killer Instinct were wowing gamers there was an entirely different subculture of fighting games in the background. Loriciel published Best of the Best back in 1992 making it a prime target for the generation of new 16-bit consoles. The game is essentially a kick-boxing simulator (despite being self-described as karate). Other than the options screen you will only ever see one other, the ring. This is where the magic happens though. The first time you play this one you may be wondering what all the fuss is about, the graphics are nice, the sound is functional but no immediate wow factor. It’s only when you next look at the clock to realize you’ve already been playing for half an hour. You see the thing about Best of the Best is the gameplay.
It’s all the subtle nuances’ of when to going in for the big blow or when to hold back and defend that makes this game what it is. Button bashing won’t save you here (at least not past round 3). The game slowly trains you to read the opponents moves and develop your own winning strategy. There’s even a nice little addition in the options to customize your moves list. Whilst Best of the Best won’t offer you hyper-combos, outrageous colourful characters or a stunning soundtrack, it will offer you a really well-crafted fighting experience. I can think of few games that pull off fighting strategy as well as this game. It’s certainly rewarding when you outfox your opponents in the later rounds. Based on the fact that you don’t see many fighting games executed as well as this I’m willing to recommend it for anyone interested in seeing something a little bit different from the wave of mainstream fighting titles of the 90’s.
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