For the average Joe on the street, AM2's newie goes one better over 
Virtua Fighter. It's a lot faster, a lot more brutal and rather than 
just knock people out of the ring in quite a nancy fashion, you can 
now smack their faces into the walls. Or through them, if that's what 
takes your fancy. That's probably the first thing you notice about 
Fighting Vipers. The backdrops are a lot better than in VF2, with 
walls surrounding the ring. The far buildings are still 2D, but here 
it just doesn't seem to matter because for the most part the wall 
obscure them.  What's more, they don't just look pretty - these 
surrounds serve a purpose. Rebound your foe on the wall to initiate 
some awesome combos or break them down with a brilliant finishing 
move. The game runs at a faster lick than VF, and realism has been 
thrown to the wind in a Tekken stylee, making those outrageous moves 
even more pleasing. There is nothing to beat the feeling of countering 
an opponent's move with a power technique and watching them fly out of 
the ring, the walls literally exploding as your opponent's hapless 
body smashes through. It's an untouchable experience. 

Far, far better than Tekken and its ilk and more accessible and 
speedier than VF2. AM2 are a class act and are undoubtedly second to 
none when it comes to arcade games. And the Saturn conversions 
thereof, it would seem.

reviewed by

Stephen Fulljames