I bought this anthology in the store closest to my home back in 20XX (it seems the purchase took place after 2008). And if playing WWE RAW was, to put it mildly, unpleasant and inconvenient (and, to put it simply, disgusting, but since this was the only game in the series released on personal computers at that time, there was no point in complaining), Mortal Combatik won me over with the amount of work done and playability. Of course, I went online to find out how such a miracle was done, because it’s a no-brainer that it wasn’t the original creators of the series who did their best here, which means there’s some kind of secret hidden here from fan crafters. I downloaded Street Fighter vs Mortal Kombat, and then, having delved into the insides of the game, I was able to remove unnecessary characters from there and insert my own. And then off we go. I started building my own fighting game with blackjack and Sonya Blade. This activity instilled in me a love for fighting games, as well as for collecting them and collecting everything related to it. And please note that this program was mastered without any problems by a teapot like me. She allowed me to plunge into her world and study the mechanics and essence of the massacre genre. Convenience, simplicity and a huge amount of all kinds of content were hidden behind the cover of a strange hodgepodge of unbalanced and varied fighting games, fighters, musical themes and arenas. How can you call something so awkward and frivolous a fighting game engine?? Is it even possible to make a high-quality craft based on it?? Let’s find out with you.
Back cover of the box with this game. I just couldn’t say no to Motaro and Steve Austin
I’ll start with the https://basebetcasino.co.uk/mobile-app/ definition of the word MUGEN. It has Japanese roots. Translated as dream, fantasy, infinity, etc.d. Limitless possibilities even with a simple definition, although I’m used to the mysterious side of the Japanese soul, but here at least they didn’t decide to dodge and come up with something on the verge. The engine was released on July 17, 1999 by the Elecbyte studio in the C programming language using the Allegro libraries. From time to time they return to their brainchild and update it, and also add features, such as working on Linux and new versions of Windows. In the beginning there was an empty library with a character they created called Kung Fu Dude and an arena intended for training. The engine developers left everything else up to the conscience of the player and other programmers. Considering that MUGEN is free, there are a lot of people who want to touch this creation. They even asked permission from Capcom and SNK to use sprites of their game characters. They gave the go-ahead with great pleasure. Abbreviation M.U.G.E.N doesn’t really mean anything, or so the creators themselves say, but in the Readme files you can find references to the flying shooter genre (and not to fighting games, as one might initially think).
What the pirates didn’t offer back then, from emulated games to the snowy Gta San Andreas. However, it can be easy to find pearls and rare copies of unknown games and mods there.
(There was a Flash player, but since 2020 Flash is not supported by browsers)
What does the engine offer to a novice programmer and fighting game fan?? Space for creativity, this is, firstly. Secondly, basic features for those who want to create their own fighting game. There are different game modes: training, arcade mode, player versus player, watching computer versus computer battles and options. There are even internal modes: single, cooperative (provides the player who chooses this mode with a computer-controlled partner) and variable (for each new round, up to three people are involved in waiting for the next round, like in King of Fighters). The game engine allows anyone (no exceptions)!) a person can add and modify everything at will. If you just want to introduce new fighters, increase the number of their lives, add arenas, background music or even the appearance of the menu, as well as an intro or storyline, all this can be done even without understanding basic programming techniques (just read a couple of manuals or FAQ and you will become a master). Create sprites or take ready-made ones as a basis, as well as adjust balance and mechanics – in fact, you can do everything. Another thing is that the engine is not ideal in what it provides and those who work in it do not quite make quality products. Mugen is rather weak in power, can crash from time to time and takes a long time to load. You will almost never see true balance. There are many characters on the Internet with the power of gods and disgusting animation quality. Copies of characters known to us that are already close to the original may be far from what they were originally (I’m not talking about the fact that they may lack certain techniques and animations). Sometimes you can perform endless combos by pinning your opponent in a corner. All this gave rise to a bad opinion about Mugen. A silly hodgepodge where Peter Griffin fights the Simpsons or something like that. Simple fun, but not a serious contender for the title of a real fighting game. And even I am inclined to assume that this engine helps introduce people to the world of fighting games and acquaint them with the essence and mechanics, but creating a 100% good fight based on it is a difficult task and, in connection with the rumors about Mugen, not rewarding.
Here is the game The Black Heart made by one person named Andrés Borghi. It is a full-fledged fighting game that does not look like a hodgepodge or other engine-based fake. I already wrote about it in my review, so I’ll just say that this is a good example of how you can competently approach the creation of a game and produce workable game with mechanics and your own style, as well as gain fame in narrow circles. And this is not an isolated example. Here’s also Project Catch ‘Em All, where you can choose Pokemon as fighters, but the battle itself takes place, as in the original series, in a step-by-step mode with the ability for the trainer to choose attack teams. As you can see, Mugen allows you to modify yourself and remove the conventions of the genre itself and introduce new ones, if desired by the player or creator. And if anyone wants to play a game that was not released on a computer with the same characters and storyline (for example, Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax), then you can simply do this by adding all the elements that are in the game (or recreating them) in Mugen and see how it will look. The engine allows you to recreate 2D massacres as you remember them with minimal qualitative changes. This is a definite plus for collectors and fans of certain series of fighting games.