Savage Reign

Savage Reign (風雲黙示録 格闘創世) is a fighting game created by SNK for the Neo Geo, and was released both in arcades and on the console. It was ported to the Neo Geo CD, as well as for the PlayStation 2 along with its sequel Kizuna Encounter as part of the Fu'un Super Combo. This compilation was re-released in the PlayStation Store for PlayStation 4 in December 2016

A novelization was written by Osamu Kudou.

Story
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 and Art of Fighting 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.

Gameplay
The game, much like Samurai Shodown, is a weapons fighter. 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 don't 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.

The button layout was also slightly different at the time, resembling World Heroes 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 KO sequence from Art of Fighting, where players can shred their opponents' clothing with the finishing blow.

Characters

 * Sho Hayate (protagonist)
 * Max Eagle
 * Gozu
 * Mezu
 * Carol Stanzack
 * Joker
 * Gordon Bowman
 * Chung Paifu
 * Nicola Zaza

Bosses

 * King Lion
 * King Leo