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Savage Reign (風雲黙示録 格闘創世 Fūun Mokushiroku: Kakutō Sōsei?) 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. It's also the first game of the Savage Reign series.

Story[]

Savage Reign is set in the first half of the 21st century in the fictional American 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.

Gameplay[]

The game, much like Samurai Shodown series, his 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 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 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.

Characters[]

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Sho Hayate, the protagonist of the game, is a dedicated warrior who is a bit behind on the times. His loud voice makes him unintentionally rude to others, which unfortunately gets him into a lot of fights. As the lone practitioner of his fighting style, he is determined to show its might to anyone who bears witness. He hopes to one day become a true master, training non-stop and vigorously.
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Max Eagle, a famous and handsome wrestler who always participates in the main events of the wrestling circuit. He was always worried about his older brother who disappeared from sight years ago. He thought his brother was dead until he saw King Leo announcing his "Battle of the Beast God Tournament" on the television, and enters the tournament to confirm King Leo's identity.
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Joker, the leader of the criminal organization, the Looly Po Po. A cruel lawbreaker who loves to get the public's attention with his actions, he sees King Lion's appearance diverting attention away from himself.
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Gozu, a ninja that works for the terrorist organization, Jaguar. A master of fire arts, he and his younger brother, Mezu enter "Battle of the Beast God Tournament" to seek vengeance against King Lion for killing their brother.
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Mezu, another ninja that works for the terrorist organization, Jaguar. A master of water arts, he and his older brother, Gozu enter "Battle of the Beast God Tournament" to seek vengeance against King Lion for killing their brother.
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Carol Stanzack, a beautiful, renowned, and wealthy gymnast. In order to ensure the future of her family's gymnastic arts, her father Jeanrick had arranged for her to marry King Leo. She is also a young and petite girl with high tastes and expectations in life. She wants to fight so she can live her personal life to her own liking.
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Gordon Bowman, a police officer who enters the "Battle of the Beast God Tournament" to pay for surgery for his ailing daughter.
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Chung Paifu, a wizened warrior who apparently has a grudge against King Leo. He received his hat from "The Legendary Wolf" many years ago.
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Nicola Zaza, one of the two twin sons of the "Zaza Company" president, with the other one being named Bakula. Working together with Bakula, the two of them create an experimental power suit, with Nicola himself deciding to test the suit's full capabilities out in King Leo's Battle of the Beast God Tournament. In Nicola's ending, Bakula gets mad at him for claiming all the credit in creating the power suit.

Bosses[]

Sub-Boss[]

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King Lion, the impersonator of King Leo. He participates in the tournament on the latter's orders and uses the name King Lion as an element of intimidation. However, he really wants to take the city for himself and plans to overthrow the original crime lord. In his ending to the games, he takes over the futuristic city with an iron fist.

Final Boss[]

Kingleosr
King Leo, a legendary fighter who got bored of the fighting circuit and silently disappeared from within the darkness of secrecy. Upon returning back to the public, King Leo decided to host and sponsor the Battle of the Beast God tournaments in the Savage Reign series to prove his strength to worthy opponents. To distract the competition, he also raised an impostor of himself named King Lion so that he can test out his challengers and see if they have what it takes to battle against him from within their own given time and accord.

Critical Recpetion[]

In Japan, Game Machine listed Savage Reign on their 1 June 1995 issue as being the seventh most-successful arcade game of the month, outperforming titles such as Baku Baku Animal and Cyberbots.

Reviewing the Neo Geo home version, GamePro summarized, "Savage Reign is one of those impressive fighting games that's likely to disappear soon after it surfaces. It looks great and the sound is dynamite, but in the end it falls short because it lacks an identity to separate it from the multitude of fighting games already out there." The same GamePro critic reviewed the Neo Geo CD version with similar remarks, and noted that compared to the Neo Geo version "the three-button simultaneous attacks are more difficult to execute because the buttons are stacked on top of each other."

Next Generation reviewed the Neo-Geo version of the game, rating it two stars out of five, and stated that "The only innovative facet in Savage Reign is the upper level perch that shows up in each location in the form of a loft, rooftop, or just a cable to hang by. If you just can't get enough of these games, here's another."

Maximum gave the Neo Geo CD version four out of five stars, commenting that "Let there be no doubt, everything from the coin-op has been packed into the CD version making it a very attractive break from the more conventional Fatal Fury/King of Fighters activities, but with all the fighting action you'd expect from an SNK title.

Gallery[]

See also[]

External Links[]

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