I like it when genre works tinker with convention. Lately I've been playing a lot of the brawlers released in that brief window post-Kunio, pre-Final Fight, when beltscrolling fundamentals were still somewhat up in the air. At ground zero there's the Technos grapple, which is very involved and germane to their aesthetic of vicious street-level scrapping. You have to belt the target until they're in stagger before you can scruff 'em, and even then, stronger enemies will shove you off until they've been sufficiently weakened - which invites use of the other stagger option, a stiff haymaker sending them to the floor. In certain games (Kunio, Combatribes, DD1FC, DD Advance) you can mount floored enemies rather than let them get up, though again, overly healthy d00ds will violently escape. Lots of good stuff.
The Capcom method introduced with
Final Fight has a good sense of absolute overpowering - I particularly like
The Ninja Warriors Again's Kunoichi and Ninja, the former wrenching enemies 180':
"OWW MY - dayuuum girl when u get them thangz :p" "same time you got your new corpse frames asshole!" "my new whaBPLTHHH"
And the latter choke-lifting them clear off the ground:
And it obviously facilitates snappier, speedier action than the deliberately ragged, dry-heaving violence of a comprehensive Technos beatdown. But ala OG Haggar, who likewise leaves the target hanging by their neck (exception for Andore, who just looks incredulous at being manhandled so), I like there to be some visual feedback on the grab. Just instantly freezing a mighty enemy, or even a middling one, takes me out of the aesthetic a little.
Ninja Gaiden (AC)'s flying throw is an interesting example I've not seen repeated elsewhere. Famicom DD3's Billy/Jimmy and Zero Team's Spin both have equivalents, but only as additions to Technos and Capcom grapple systems. Being forced to jump at an enemy to throw them gives NG a particularly aggressive, kamikaze aesthetic (one you can't let get out of hand, with its
Bilateral Touch Of Death policy).
Incidentally, your three-hit combo technically puts enemies into throw state, too. They won't wipe out their pals (nor will outright thrown enemies), but they will destroy any scenery they land on. Good asset, with this being your only means of acquiring items.
Datsugoku very nearly gets away with not having grapples at all, instead marking critically damaged enemies for death via its spectacular combo enders. Doesn't matter if you've left them alone to beat up their pals in the interim - if someone's on their last legs, the next attack you land on them is gonna be a coil-shuffling brain-wrong, sending them flying offscreen with a resounding
*BLAOW*
And then somebody forgot/didn't care to include a "drop spent gun" command, or worse, WANTED it this way. Pick up a gun, enjoy your brief release of Commie-shredding carnage, and congratulations asshole! Now all you've got is a dogshit riflebutt, and the incredibly boring jumpkick. An instant of pleasure, a lifetime of regret. Maybe it's all metaphorical, and shit.
On the subject of grabbing opponents and mangling them, I'd like to mention AKI, of N64 wrasslin' fame. Their games (the best being
Virtual Pro Wrestling 2, with
No Mercy a close second) play almost like head-to-head(-to-head-to-head) beltscrollers. Grappling is a tactical minefield much like striking. On offense, tap the button for a quick grab attempt, good for wearing down fresh opponents with light, hard-to-reverse attacks. Hold the button for a slower, heavier grab that lets you execute power attacks, but you'd better have the momentum to not be reversed. On defense, grab attempts of either type can be violently broken with a deft press of [L], the backdash button. Or you can reverse them into a go-behind grapple of your own, again, provided your timing is good.
(backdash away from a
strike, instead of blocking with [R], and you're getting nailed - this grab/strike offensive/defensive dichotomy being the heart of the AKI mixup game. Likewise, if you're quick enough, it's entirely possible to reward a grapple attempt with a nice punch in the mouth.
^^^ VPW2, tag match
^^^ Even Ninja approves of AKI's bone-crushing wrasslin'!)
I would've loved to see AKI try a Double Dragon-styled street brawler. The lockon system might've gotten awkward with large crowds, but a two-a-side barfight would've gone great. (a simple toggle of free/lock movement may have gotten around this)
Speaking of crowd control: do thrown enemies in the original Golden Axe even knock down their comrades? I seem to recall this being one of the myriad upgrades made by Golden Axe II (MD), in addition to throws being aimable. I enjoy AC/MD GA1, but I wouldn't say it's aged as well as Ninja Gaiden or AC Double Dragon II.
Thrown enemies don't crowd-control in DD1 or DD2 either, though they do in the much later
Return of (SFC, 1992). I wonder if FF really was the first brawler to feature this mechanic? Never thought about it before, I'd gotten it in my head that one of Technos's games did it first.
EDIT: oh lmao.
I get by with a little help from your friends ♫
Good ol' Kunio, deliverer of cutting-edge beltscrolling mechanics not found in games many years younger than it. Dash, ground pound, wall-kick, crowd control, probably others I'm forgetting.
: Enemies that aggressively compete for resources, in this case, weapons. DD2 enemies will not only try to recover/steal dropped weapons, they'll also beat your ass if you get in their way while doing so.
"Its mine!" "NAW, its mine!" *yoink* "BITCH IMMA KILL U"
: Lots of contemporary Techos beaters share this feature too. Annoys me how SFC Return's enemies are completely ignorant of a weapon once it hits the floor, given its otherwise rather nice choreographic take on Technos violence,
and how mortally dangerous they are in player/enemy hands!
Splatterhouse Part 3 has a cute take on this. Regular monsters ignore weapons (because they are monsters, outfitted with gruesome claws n' maws - in fact most lack opposable thumbs!) - but there's a specialised type who'll pop in and nick 'em, depositing them at a certain location in the current stage. Not really worth getting them back, but as ever with that game, a charming detail enhancing the air of total occult invasion. While weapons are rarely vital, there's some great "busted like an overripe melon" aka
BURSTIN W/ FLAVOUR kill animations on the cleaver and bat. Cinderblock is a goddamn joke, WTF is this, a styrofoam prop? We ain't filmin' pitchers, here!
BUSTIN MAKE ME FEEL GOOD~