Aggressors of Dark Kombat



Aggressors of Dark Kombat (abbreviated ADK) is a one-on-one fighting arcade game released by SNK and developed by Alpha Denshi Corp.

About this game
Aggressors of Dark Kombat was created in 1994 initially for the arcade market and Neo-Geo console, then ported a year later to SNK's Neo Geo CD. This game is known in Japan as Tsuukai GANGAN Koushinkyoku (痛快GANGAN行進曲, translates from Japanese as "Thrilling Intense March"), also known as GanGan for the fans (GANGAN is also Japanese onomatopoiea for the sound of a large bell or a scolding voice). The English game title is a pun on the developer's initials (Alpha Denshi Corp.) and also parodies Mortal Kombat, spelling the word combat with K instead C. There are almost no differences between the Japanese release of this game and the International versions aside from the rather drastic name change, but it is worth taking notice that there is blood to be found when you use a critical hit on an opponent on the Japanese release only.

Gameplay
The game's major innovation is the ability to walk into the background, in a similar manner to side-scrolling beat 'em ups such as Streets of Rage or Final Fight. Because of this, unlike many other 2D fighting games, only two action buttons are used for attacking (punches and kicks) and uses the third action button to jump. Grappling and grabbing opponents is made the focus of the gameplay: opponents can counter-grab and break free as well, the moment to do so indicated by a surprise mark near their heads; if a button is pressed prematurely, the fighter will not be able to counter or escape from a grappling attack. Another feature in the game is that when certain attacks from both opponents hit simultaneously, they either block the attack, or in other instances, start a grapple between the fighters where the player must mash the button to win. Should the player come out the victor they'll get a free chance to body slam the opponent.

Also featured is weapon play, another mechanic akin to beat 'em ups. Weapons can be picked up and thrown, or used in special and standard attacks. Weapons are thrown into the ring by spectators in the background, and in some stages they are hidden inside of objects that can be destroyed.

Unlike most other games in the genre, all battles last for one round, and both players have a health bar that has several layers of colors to indicate the health, with blue being the highest, and red being the lowest. Each blow dealt to one or the other will restore a slight bit of their health meter. There is also a "Crazy Meter" at the bottom of the screen. It is built up gradually as the battle moves on, though it can fill up faster as characters attack; this gives the character a special – and often very bizarre – attack that will defeat the opponent outright if their health bar is red. It is called the "Gan Gan Attack" in Japan, and "Crazy Attack" in the US.

Battles are joined by irreverent, sometimes humorous pre-fight banter from characters. The dialogue differs from opponent to opponent, and the fight is immediately presaged by a clash of two small images of the combatants' eyes in the center of the screen.

Characters

 * Joe Kusanagi
 * Kisarah Westfield
 * Goh Kidokoro
 * Fuuma Kotaro
 * Leonhalt Domador
 * Sheen Genus
 * Lee Hae Gwon
 * Bobby Nelson