Savage Reign (series)

Savage Reign (風雲黙示録 格闘創世, Fūun Mokushiroku: Kakutō Sōsei) is a game series developed by SNK for the Neo Geo system, and was released both in arcades and on the consoles (ancient and modern).

Story
The first Savage Reign is set in the first half of the 21st century in the fictional city of South Town (the same city used in the Fatal Fury, Art of Fighting and The King of Fighters series), which has now been upgraded and renamed as Jipang City. A mysterious legendary fighter known only as King Lion has risen up from the shadows of secrecy and issued a challenge on television for the strongest of fighters to battle against him in a fighting tournament known as the Battle of the Beast God. He promises immense wealth beyond anyone's dreams and legendary fame beyond imagination. Nine fighters have come to the tournament, each with their own sole purpose and reason for battling against King Lion. However, after King Lion's defeat, an identical yet more powerful fighter named King Leo reveals his existence saying King Lion was just a pawn and that he holds the true power of the King. The second game (Kizuna Encounter: Super Tag Battle) takes place one year after the events of the first game. Sho Hayate had won the tournament while defeating both King Leo and his fake impersonator King Lion. To seek revenge against Hayate and those who had caused his humiliating downfall, King Leo has organized a second version of the Battle of the Beast God tournament, but this time there is a new rule: teams of two people must work together so that they can either ensure victory or face defeat. With the exception of Carol Stanzack (who decides to skip the tournament in order to continue her gymnastics training) and Nicola Zaza (who's too busy in having to work on his latest scientific project), the competitors from last year's tournament have decided to join forces with each other via their own respective tag teams on either friendly or temporary terms while two new challengers enter the fray for their own personal reasons. The gathered fighters must now be ready and prepared to not only fight and battle against one another and King Leo from within this tournament, but also, they must deal with an unknown yet dangerous threat that lies directly from within the shadows of this competition as well.

Gameplay
The gameplay and mechanics are a mix of other SNK series. Much like Samurai Shodown series, this series is a white weapons based franchise. However, Savage Reign has a few particular elements that makes it different from its predecessor. The weapons can not only be used for close combat, but can also be thrown at an opponent from a distance for more ranged attacks and standard weapon throws do not require motion inputs.

There are also two levels of playing field within the battles, the default lower one and the upper field, which both fighters can jump to with the push of a button, much like Fatal Fury series. The button layout was also slightly different at the time, resembling World Heroes series somewhat; a button for punching, a button for kicking, a button for the weapon, and a button for jumping between planes. Holding down the punch or kick buttons results in a stronger attack while tapping them wields a light attack.

Both games also have an alternate K.O. sequence from Art of Fighting series, where players can shred their opponents' clothing with the finishing blow.

Kizuna Encounter' s fighting system is similar to the one used in Real Bout Fatal Fury. Notable additions had included: a new tag team mechanic, in that players have the ability to switch characters in-game by pressing a special button while standing in a special zone. Should a player lose one character, regardless of their other character's life gauge vitality, he or she will end up losing the match. An evasive roll mechanic, similar to the one used in The King of Fighters series is also present in Kizuna Encounter as well.

Games
Originally released for Neo Geo. This version has been released through Nintendo's Wii Virtual Console service, for SONY's PlayStation services, for the modern consoles through Hamster Corporation and by Neo Geo Arcade Stick Pro. Originally released for Neo Geo. This version has been released through Nintendo's Wii Virtual Console service, for SONY's PlayStation services, for the modern consoles through Hamster Corporation and by Neo Geo Arcade Stick Pro. A compilation for PlayStation 2/4, featuring both games in the series. It is part of the Neo Geo Online Collection.
 * Savage Reign (1995)
 * Kizuna Encounter: Super Tag Battle (1996)
 * Fu'un Super Combo (2007)

Introducted in Savage Reign

 * Sho Hayate
 * Max Eagle
 * Joker
 * Gozu
 * Mezu
 * Carol Stanzack
 * Gordon Bowman
 * Chung Paifu
 * Nicola Zaza
 * King Lion
 * King Leo

Introducted in Kizuna Encounter

 * Rosa
 * Kim Sue-il
 * Jyazu

Characters' Participation
Participation of the characters in the mainline games of the series, either they canonical or not.