How did Last Bronx not become a franchise?

[Dikdikvandik]

I've been buying Saturn games like a madman. I'm replacing my US System with a Japanese system in a few months.


I finally got my hands on a game I've waited 2 decades to really dig into and that was Last Bronx. So Yesterday I got about 5 games in the Mail, All Japan Pro Wrestling, Cyber Bots, Last Bronx, Pocket Fighter and Sexy Parodius.I thought Last Bronx would be a game I play once then put away. But I found the fastest, deepest smoothest 3d fighter on the Saturn. The music is great, the Character designs, Fact it has a story, I'm enjoying this one. I have NO IDEA what the options screen says though.


I watched Kim Justice's fantastic documentary about How Page 3 girls were used in it's adverting and it was popular enough in Japan for a movie, but no sequels, It got a PS2 Sega Ages disc, but again no sequel.


They nailed it the first time, Sega could've had their Akira meets Soul Calibur here. But they didn't, what gives?


Fighting Vipers is clunky, Viruta FIghter on Saturn never quite felt right. DOA and my Framemister don;'t get along, Anarchy in the Nippon is a good time but has been dethroned by Last Bronx. I doubt DXhrid is going to wow me as much and we can ignore Toshinden.


Insight?

[marurun]

Last Bronx is indeed a kick-ass game. But the character designs are VERY Japanese. I think for the game to have been successful in the US the character designs (but not the weapons or fighting styles, for the most part) would have needed a total overhaul. Honestly, Sega seems to have given up on fighting games. It's a small market these days (if you're not Nintendo) that mostly has esports appeal, and that's not really Sega's thing any more. It makes me sad, because I think a modern take on Last Bronx that still preserved the core gameplay cycle could be a real hit with the fighting community.

[Sload Soap]

I agree, Last Bronx is a good time. Also good to hear you had fun with Anarchy in the Nippon, another cult gem.

My opinion, more gut feeling that factual obviously, would be a combination of three factors: it's a good game but not IMO a particularly deep one so didn't have the longevity in the arcades of a Virtua Fighter 2 which feeds back to the console release.

It was quite a late release outside Japan (end of 97?) and on the heels of Fighters Megamix which is the apex Saturn 3D fighter.

And you just generally have the fact that the Saturn was an underperforming console in the markets Sega had dominated so it generally went under the radar in games media coverage and whatnot, buried under another hype piece for Tekken 3.

It's a shame though I agree, Akira Calibur is a cool concept for a fighter.

[marurun]

Last Bronx started in the arcades, so the Saturn version was a model 2 arcade port, just like Fighting Vipers and Virtua Fighter.

[Dikdikvandik]

Last Bronx is indeed a kick-ass game. But the character designs are VERY Japanese. I think for the game to have been successful in the US the character designs (but not the weapons or fighting styles, for the most part) would have needed a total overhaul. Honestly, Sega seems to have given up on fighting games. It's a small market these days (if you're not Nintendo) that mostly has esports appeal, and that's not really Sega's thing any more. It makes me sad, because I think a modern take on Last Bronx that still preserved the core gameplay cycle could be a real hit with the fighting community.

Like how Fighter's Impact became Versus and got that horrible Pop punk soundtrack.
I don't know if Fighting games are THAT niche they seem pretty main stream to me.
Who knows maybe Last Bronx is one Yakuza mini game away from coming back....

[marurun]

A lot of people watch fighting games, but only so many people actually buy them and play them. They just really don't sell the numbers needed to justify the dev time and art assets required.

[Dikdikvandik]

MK 11 sales say hi

[marurun]

Yeah, MK 11 does seem to be doing well. But fighters will never be the kind of hits they were during the 90s and early 00s. And if your fighter doesn't do pretty well, like the few big-name titles, it tends to flounder.