Saturday 7 December 2013

Super UDG FighterZ 2 Turbo

By MykeP

Genre: Arcade: Wear you down.


It’s fair to say we have a game here of epic proportions.  In part it is a rework of a game written in 1998, and with its 2 sided tape, introduction, great graphics and numerous characters with backstories it’s going to have to try bloody hard to be crap.  Thankfully it doesn’t disappoint.

You start naturally enough with side 1, which following an excellent loading screen (with some more chortleworthy easter eggs) gives us game and character info.  You may notice that SUFTT bears a passing resemblance to some classic coin op beat ‘em ups like Street Fighter, and like most of them it continues the tradition of barmy backstories and stupendous mismatches (a cowboy versus an alien?).  The 10 characters weave a tangled web of various grudges of one type or another, and the only solution is obviously to have a fighting contest where you kick and punch each other into submission.


It’s worth mentioning that SUFFT pushes the spectrums memory to the limits (which the total of 9 minutes loading attests to), and Myke had to drop 2 characters and the redefine keys option to save memory.


Onto side 2 and the game itself.  There are so many nice touches here, great graphics, logos, menu screen – so good that it nearly doesn’t belong in the competition.  But like so many other games it comes good (well, crap) when it comes down to the gameplay.  We can probably get Myke on the trades description act for having the audacity to have the words ‘turbo’ in the title!


Once you have selected your character you have to win 3 bouts each against 2 randomly selected opponents, then you fight your nemesis.   If you make it that far, win or lose you get a victory or failure message specific to the character.


The fight is a fairly simple affair, and the same graphics are used every time (though there is a lovely detailed backdrop).  The moves available are flying kick, punch, kick and block.  Which move is successful depends on how many character cells you are from your opponent.  Like a lot of beat ‘em ups there are certain moves that do more damage than others and the player can easily win if relying solely on them.  The AI is actually quite good so if you play ‘properly’ you will find the game surprisingly challenging, and dare I say it – enjoyable (especially if using an emulator you crank the processor up to 14MHz).

So, Super UDG FighterZ 2 Turbo is definitely worth a go, but steel yourself for a potential physical and psychological beating, especially if you get to hear the deadly putdown by ZX-8100.

It looks like you’ve got jam all over your face”

Ouch.

Thankyou Myke!

Tipshack: win every fight – walk into your opponent and hold down ‘P’, you will take some hits but will always land more yourself.

Download side 1 here.
Download side 2 here.

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