Fighting Vipers

Fighting Vipers is a 1995 fighting video game developed by Sega AM2 and published by Sega for arcades. A 3D fighter, it uses the same game engine as AM2's Virtua Fighter 2 (1994), but features enclosed arenas and an armor mechanic, and was targeted more towards Western audiences, using a U.S. setting and more freeform styles of martial arts.

The game was released in November 1995 in arcades, using the Sega Model 2 hardware, before it was ported to the Sega Saturn home console in 1996. Though Fighting Vipers was not very popular in North American arcades, the Saturn version was one of the most high-profile games in the system's 1996 holiday lineup, and was met with positive reviews. A sequel was made, Fighting Vipers 2 (1998), and all characters in the original also appeared in a crossover with Virtua Fighter 2, Fighters Megamix (1996).

Gameplay

Fighting Vipers features a similar style of gameplay to Sega AM2's more renowned Virtua Fighter series, specifically Virtua Fighter 2, using simply guard, punch and kick attack buttons with a focus on combo moves. The Saturn version uses its three extra buttons for three smaller combos.

Each of the 9 characters featured in the game wears armor that can be broken off by opponents, leaving them more vulnerable to taking damage. A human shaped meter in the top corners of the screen monitors damage to the armor. Walls surround each arena, caging the combatants in, allowing for attacks in conjunction with them (bouncing off etc.). If a knockout attack is strong enough, characters can knock their opponent over, on top, or straight through the walls.

The Saturn port of Fighting Vipers added Playback Mode and Training Mode, both of which are now used widely in the fighting genre. Players could save their matches and play them again in Playback Mode, while Training Mode talked the player through the moves of each character one-by-one.