The First Fighting Game Designed For Online Play - Weaponlord 

Wow! I love this video, you have so many details and facts in here it is really fun to watch this! I for sure over designed the heck out of WL. I made sure after that all the games I worked on were way more friendly and mashable with skill being in the mastery! I do need to help with one thing at the end though- as lucky as I have been in my career, I have never worked on any Mortal Kombat games. That team is amazing, and I do not want any misunderstanding around this. I can see what happened- I think the quote would have been went on to work on 'many Combat' games! (Not mortal kombat). Like Buffy the Vampire Slayer Xbox, Ryse Son of Rome, etc. Killer Instinct and Towerborne is 100% correct! By the way, Dave Winstead also worked on Season 1 of Killer Instinct and did 4 of the 8 characters. Hope this helps and you can update the facts somehow?

Dayum the Devs had omega brain foresight and rly went for trying to make performance good online. If only modern fighting game companies all shared the same determination...

I'm so glad Weaponlord is getting some love. A small correction on the XBand. It didn't plug into a router, it used a plain old telephone line. The cartridge had a modem in it and you'd dial up. Even more impressive!

"Ahead of its time" is the very least to be said about Weapon Lord, I had so much fun with it. Maybe someday it receives the proper attention from Namco.

Played a bit of this a while back. A Mortal Kombat 2011 or Killer Instinct 2013-type reboot of this game would be awesome!

Great video. Weaponlord is so often overlooked , it actually inspired Namcos Soul Edge/Calibur series. It's an exceptionally well thought out game with fantastic art style and dark barbarian themes. So needs a new iteration with a solid budget

Wow. I know a massive amount of gaming trivia, but this game has somehow escaped my attention until now. Definitely gonna check it out.

This was my favorite fighting game back in the day. I put tons of hours into it but it was pretty difficult to master.Zorn is victorious! Thank you for covering this gem!

I was actually a huge fan of this game. I played it on SNES as well as Genesis, but I believe I preferred the Genesis version for some reason. I had been saying for years that this game similar to eternal champions was very ahead of its time.

So good to see this game get some due recognition. Loved this game so much. Back then I was a diehard Street Fighter fan (still am). But the unique fighting system of this game, while difficult, felt so rewarding when you finally pull off a deflect, parry at the right moment, or combo into a fatality. After seeing a full-page(s) combo guide in Gamepro and the art design, I knew I had to try this and got the Genesis version. (Also: I know this game had a very small roster by today's standards, but I will say it is genuinely the only fighting game I've played where I loved EVERY single character, as they all have unique movesets that feel purposeful. No carbon copies here.)

From the descriptions of the weapon clashes, kind of makes it sound like the game was a proto Soul Blade/Calibur, just set in a 2D space. Sounds cool I'm going to have to look the game up and try it out.

FINALLY SOMEONE ELSE RECOGNIZED THIS UNDERGROUND GREAT. I loved playing this as a kid. Bane and Korr was my 2 mains

I had Weaponlord as a kid and while I never really got good at it (i'm not very good at fighting games in general) I always thought it was really cool. Glad to see someone acknowledge this hidden gem!

"Legendary." is all I have to say about this story, truly ahead of it's time

I own this game. Not because I wanted it, my dad liked the add in one of my magazines so much he ordered it by phone.

I'm super impressed by how ahead of its time this was. Now I feel kind of a shame for never having heard of it before.

These dudes knew that online play was the future and with rollback being a thing nowadays, developers who don't design for it are either lazy or ignorant.

I remember this game. Played it a fair bit as a kid but me and the family mostly played Mortal Kombat II, Ultimate/MK3, and Killer Instinct. Seeing it here, the characters in Weaponlord have more special moves than modern fighting games. . . 👀

This game has the same energy as Nintendo trying to make a VR set with the Virtual Boy Amazing video

I remember to read about this game before it's released and felt overwhelmed about technicals details about the gameplay, like if the game were impossible to play for anyone who wasn't an expert. But as soon as I started to play, I couldn't believe how intuitive and easy to play it was. Don't get me wrong, the game is very complex, but it doesn't have a narrow window in which if you fail you lose, it's the opposite; it gives you a lot of room to develop your own strategy and aproach. It's a true masterpiece everyone should play.

That is a crazy amount of depth. I'd love to play this game in a new version.

This was literally my first video game my parents ever got me. Thanks for making this video

Wow I have very vague memories of this. Seeing it in the video game magazines. Never got around to playing it, but the characters and logo stayed in me mind for years.

way too ahead of its time, what a foresight

I've never in my life heard of this game, but you've made me super interested into trying it out. Looks dope

It's about time somebody brought this game up! This game had so many features and was so unique, even down to how you input commands and it had like if I remember correctly a parry system and weapon breaks.

Just wow, this wasn't just a game, this was a love project created with the utmost care for details and for the player experience. Didn't know about it until now, thanks for the video and those developers were and are awesome for creating a game like this.

I love you for leaving the whole Daigo clip play.. like for real. That was satisfaction.

It had EVERYTHING before it EXISTED! D J A M E S

Great to see someone with the insight to give such an amazing game its due. To this day Weaponlord is one of my favorite fighting games of all time because of all the mechanics and personality it offered for its era. It blazed such new ground, and really I think the one thing that held it back because of the execution needed, was not the difficulty of the moves, but the lack of controllers that could make those moves more comfortable and reactable. Playing it even emulated on modern day arcade sticks is such a blast and way less frustrating that it was back on even a 6 button Genesis controller (which wasn't bad for a gamepad). To a degree, you could kinda say the same about Primal Rage. I still had mixed feeling when I first heard about the incoming KI update because I was happy for KI, but it meant that there was no chance of a secret remake or Weaponlord 2 anywhere in the works if James was busy on KI+.

You had me at "Weaponlord".

Always love your content akshon ❤

This was soo cool. Thank you for this. I knew there was a connection between killer Instinct , MK1 and Weaponlord. I could feel it while playing,

Oh wow thanks for this video.. I was young but playing a LOT of games back then and I've never heard of this one until today! Way ahead of its time it seems

What game would you like us to look into or revisit for future videos?

It's refreshing to see someone give this game the deep-dive that it deserves - thank you! Most reviews I've seen (either modern or at the time) have basically taken the cheap route of calling it a "sword and sorcery Street Fighter clone", so seeing you break down the immense number of systems and mechanics (even if briefly) was fantastic. I bought this game when it was released and I was a fighting game obsessed teenager, then I revisited it and went deep after playing Tekken competitively in the early 2000s. I totally agree with your assessment that it's a bit overwrought and over-designed, but it's crafted so intentionally and so obviously with a competitive/tournament environment in mind that it's a shame it wasn't better received and never developed a fanbase back in the day. It's hard to justify really learning all the systems if no one else plays it (which was my curse both times I delved into the game). I feel like if it had had an arcade release then it would have developed a small but devoted following in every arcade with any sort of fighting game scene, who went all-in on the complex mechanics in the same way as there often was for VF and other less-accessible games.

I remember playing this game back in the day and my group of friends and I really liked it. It was so much deeper in it's systems than any other fighting game that wasn't made by Capcom, SNK, or Midway. But I had no idea the level of backstory that this video brings up. Amazing story, and now I really do wished it could be remade with today's console's power, both from a game stand point and online connectivity.

I never knew about this, that's so cool. Great content!

I've been saying I want this series to come back for years. Remember during the SNES days when I used to rent this and Samurai Shodown for a weekend of intense weapon on weapon combat.

Me and my brother had this game and we loved it this was a awesome game the finishing moves was dope AF

YOOO this is the first time I have ever seen a video on this :') This (And MK3) were the first fighting games I ever played back on SEGA Genesis :')

*Weaponlord* is _still_ one of the greatest games I've ever played. Every weekend when we gathered at my house to play D&D, we'd play some Weaponlord for a while first while waiting for everyone to show up. When we first tried the game out and discovered that you blocked attacks by _actually swinging your own weapon_ at the enemy to clash with theirs, we just about lost our shit! And the _feel_ of the weapons: every weapon had a _real weight_ that you could _actually feel_ somehow, with heft and momentum, and it gave each of the character's weapons a certain rhythm you had to learn. Korr's sword had a very different heft and rhythm than Zorn's axe, and you _had_to learn the rhythm in order to get the button presses correct to get the combos going. Push the buttons too fast or too slow, and you lost it. You would learn Korr's rhythms by watching him swing his sword around himself, _feeling_ the weight of it as it spun and swooshed in flashing arcs. I have _still_ never felt another game give me that feeling of a weapon's weight, and certainly not in another fighting game. As for the graphics, it was a big bonus that it still used 2D sprites rather than moving to the chunky, ugly, untextured polygons in the 1st Generation 3D fighters of the time, like your Virtua Fighters and such. Those games just looked awful, and the controls for moving the characters through a 3D environment were still unrefined and tended to be pretty lacking. And while those 3D fighters were stumbling around, Weaponlord came swaggering into the room showing us all just what could be done with a 2D fighting game refined to perfection; there's a damn good reason why so many fighters today have reverted to 2.5D, from the modern _Mortal Kombats_ to _Dragon Ball FighterZ._ If they made a modern update of Weaponlord, I _guarantee_ it would be amazing and beloved.

My brother and I loved this game back in the day. We both enjoyed AD&D so the art direction resonated more with us than street fighter or mortal kombat.

Wow, this looked pretty incredible. Never heard of it before now.

Love this game had a lot of fun back in the day. Good memories 😌

Loved this game. It was my home console answer to Time Killers. I never met anyone that remembers it!!

Dude, I have been thinking about this game for years now and I haven't been able to remember it by name, but seeing the footage...WOw, really takes me back. I slept over a friends house for 2 days and we played this the whole time.. So gory. Loved that shit. Thanks for the video! - leifo

I had completely forgotten this game existed. Thank you for reminding me.

Damn this channel never misses!

I could see this game becoming a household name if Weaponlord was given with an Xband purchase in the 90s.

I love this game and have be pining for it to be made as a 3D/remake/sequel game since it came out. I became a game designer, and this game was one of my favorites that I always wished got a major refresh.

Damn that was excellent. Thank you!

I was just talking about this game yesterday 😮 this is amazing

I remember this game from my childhood.. Had no idea the name of the game... Thanks for the video and nostalgia😊

I know this game had a lot of systems that were new but is there anyone who ever cited as an influence?

Thanks a lot for this video that was very interesting. I want to play this now !!! Legendary game he need more visibility

I love Weapon Lord badass concept and artistic direction. Played ot some years ago in an emulator. That game definitely needs a remake. I hope they will revive it and turn it into a successful franchise.

Holy shit what a dope video. Thank you so much for this educational dive

played and enjoyed the genesis version, didnt know what I was doing until I found a gamepro moves and combo guide. just couldnt find someone to play with on a mid to high level.

Another banger from Akshon Esports ladies and gentlemen

all these mechanics seem sick we should get a remake or port or something

thanks for existing Akshon

that STAGE design!!

Thanks for talking about this gem.

Best esports and games channel on youtube rn

05:39 ^^ ... Btw used to play this gem as a kid...Gr8 retrospective

this game is on the namco collection for the evercade

Thanks for the vid

I owned this on Sega Genesis. Still my favorite fighting game of all time.

This is cool, I wish I played it. For the parry section don't forget Dead or Alive, the system is built around them

weaponlord used to be one of my favorite fighting games back in the day, but that being said it could of benefited of being released in the next gen console, mainly for more memory but the more powerful console would help it run a bit smoother .... it was still an amazing game none the less, id buy a remaster if they ever decided to relese one ^^

What a forgotten gem this is, remember renting this multiple times growing up. Could definitely use a remastered release

Game was whey ahead of his time. I still have the GamePro somewhere where the game was featured on the cover.

Basically these guys are programming geniuses.

I first heard of Weaponlord thanks to twobestfriends before they broke up loved that episode when Matt is showing everyone how deep the game was.

Another game video lets go!

Playing brawlhalla I was having connection issues and I was getting frustrated and thought man at least I’m not trying to play an early online fighter, and then I got curious what the first one was and found you posted the answer 3 days ago haha you got a sub from me dude

Could you imagine playing a game where you can’t spam. That game would be godly today. Please bring this back. I hope they bring this back. It looks so good

This is why Justin has PTSD from the diago parry . Even to this day it’s every where 😂😂

I remember only having the booklet that came with the game and always wanted to play the game.

If I remember Best Friends, the Zaibatsu, and Fighterpedia, it's for their video on this absolutely awesome game.

Man, everytime I think about tbe game all I could think about is Super Best Friends Play, espexially the Fighterpedia episode where Matt and Woolie gush about this game.

I played it back then and it was light years ahead

If theyd had more characters and Streetfighter like inputs it would have stuck around like MK or KS. It was a really fun concept and had a lot of hype but the inputs felt so strange it gate kept the rest of the game from being realized by people. That kid from the review was wrong, but he was also right too WL felt awkward cus eveyrone had it ingrained to do moves like SF or MK and it wasnt the kids fault for not intuitively knowing how to play with some flow.

I had a blast with the arcade/story mode but didn't play with other people much. It was too complicated to teach friends to play. I didn't even know it played online, didn't even notice the X-Band logo. Prolly because I didn't get online until 1997.

Very cool!

that game was ahead of its time the learning curve was just as brutal as the combat i def rem this nightmare lol!!!

This video is incredible

Bisley’s art is amazing.

That looks really really fun

I loved this game! thank god for this video... I couldn't remember the name

This game was greatness!!

I need to give this a try on fightcade

This was a true weapon-to-weapon fighter. I know some players are vocal about not liking the control scheme, but the idea behind the over-the-top d-pad motions was that the devs wanted the players hands to feel like they were rly executing the moves on the screen. Forward/forward would do an elbow smash, while back/forward/down would perform a take down, and so on. You get the idea. Imo, a 32-meg cartridge would bolster the animation (it's very choppy on the 24-meg cart), along with the roaster, but sadly t'was not to be.

I think the conecpt of the tournament mode from the game OMF 2097 is perfect for a mmo fighting game. It only would be needed to get polished.

Still has the best Artstyle and steel meets steel soundt to date.On top a stll fantastic soundtrack

This game was so good. I loved the controls.

Dr. Dave used to write occasionally on Gamepro i believe. From my teenage days reading the magazine i can see he was deep into fighting games, and i remember once that he shared a redizzying method to cheese out oponents in SSSFII, not sure if it was Fei Long or who else was involved. When Soul Edge came out it reminded me of Weaponlord but by then it was 'so long in the past' and found no use in quoting it or mentioning it since i was just some 'dumb 14 year old kid' and nobody remembered it or dismissed it because _it was not relevant_ .

I loved this game.

2:27 cool concept!