Whether it be the old or new, game companies left and right are trying to shove product down our throats so bad that oversaturation is not only inevitable, it’s usually a reality. From any number of trends at the time, you’ll always get your fair share of innovators of substance, and the trailers of mimicry are not far behind. The important idea is to find what suits your needs and go all out with them. While “party” and “casual” have been thrown around as hot words recently, there was a day not that long ago where 2D fighters reigned supreme as the standard. World Heroes Anthology harkens back from the days of SNK and follows up with not only one popular trend, but two in the form of nostalgia, as this series of four old-school 2D fighters tries to remind you why you loved shouting out the names of your favorite arcade moves back in the day.

Of course, the emulation factor for real-life move replication only follows on a rigidly high-brow excellent/goofiness scale and needs to balance itself very carefully. When you have the chance to try a Hadouken on for size or test charging at someone shouting MUSCLE POWER, one of two urges may occur. The first is an urge to thoroughly question what you do with your spare time; the second, the more logical of the two choices, is going into a full-on mantra while releasing your hands in a powerfully liberating hand thrust. Maybe there is more to comparing moves from 2D fighting franchises and their equivalent seconds of entertainment, but the more I played World Heroes, the harder it was to shrug off past encounters with certain Street Figh ... err road brawlers I’ve come to know so well.

The anthology comes from our trusty neighbors at SNK, which usually stand as Capcom’s only real rival when it comes to 2D fighting franchises. Four games serve as a whole this time around, and it includes World Heroes 1, 2, Jet (expansion for 2), and Perfect. A serving of the series’ entire lineage, or lack thereof, going through each title and seeing what it has to offer is not as much a trip down memory lane as SNK would like you to believe. The game will remind you in due time why knowing your roots is of vast importance, so you don’t try to confuse the wrong people in a overarching video game family tree and have an awkward Thanksgiving because you accidentally invited a guy name Mudman instead of Dhalsim. Not cool.

Playing through all of the titles in historical order seemed the only fair way to give the earlier entries a chance. Starting with the first title, I realized quickly how unfortunately dated the entire affair seems to be.

As any up-and-coming 2D fighter started in the early 1990s, there are only eight players to choose from, with no unlockables. It was a standard number at the time, even at the early release this had appeared. The characters together comprise the title of World Heroes, as the story consists of a tournament, a time machine and all you need to know. You’ll see weird imitations of historical figures such as Joan of Arc, Bruce Lee, Rasputin and a terribly offensive 800 year (too soon) reference of Genghis Khan. The only character that could top such a line-up is a robotic general named Brocken, who would had not even existed yet, though I guess if you have a time machine (Delorean not included), why not make good use right? Wrong.

The visual and audio stand up for the first game but never really deliver anything spectacular as memorable level tracks, over-the-top move effects or unique backgrounds. You won’t be distracted by much, and the layout is minimalist, much in consistence with the rest of the package. It’s minimalist in damaging ways, like character variety and the absence of extensive move lists. With almost no discern for creating an ebb and flow to battle, the engine can be described as sludgy and incredibly pressed for any sense of fighting individuality to be found. The clunky nature of trying to create a string of combos is even more offset by what little selection you have, averaging in the range of four to six moves per character, including grapples. The detrimental nature of such a simple approach makes sure to not lend itself to any sort of real strategy, as all of the characters mirror each other too much and will usually result in a sweeping spam contest in which there never are any real winners (morally speaking).

The first game I notice also is a king of reliance on throws, or so it goes, as they are one of the only positively damaging forces that hasten an already painfully slow match. The frame rate only adds to the frustration, as the character movement cycles are short, sporadic and meld little in transition to how well they execute the few moves at their disposal. The lack of depth may be chalked up to the sad fact of being the first entry and testing the waters, but other games at the time were making sure to go the extra mile and include depth that this game is struggling to grasp but never quite seems to attain. The progression with the rest of the game is slow but peaks eventually as we move onto the second entry in the series.

The second entry tries to wade in warmer waters but ends up tripping on some of its own light-hearted ethics. The character design makes a few follies by including some more stereotypical — almost bordering on the offensive — racist and sexist jokes that are commonly carried over in poorly translated Japanese anime. Some of the victory quotes are absolutely ridiculous regarding women and kitchens, and I should not have to explain why a New Guinea man named MudMan might piss at least one country off. Luckily, the engine fails to succumb to the same transgressions and makes a notably impressive step in the right direction, offering more than a dozen moves on average for each character, a more-balanced sense of power throughout the grapples and set lists alike, and starts to appreciate diversity in strategy among the cast. I also give props to World Heroes for being one of the only fighting games I’ve seen that was brave enough to embrace a truly pirate-oriented character in every sense of the word, right down to the fiercely satisfying nature of his uppercut and drop kick. Bravo.

World Heroes 2 Jet is kind of an iffy inclusion in a lot of ways, as not many actual differences present themselves between this entry and the original World Heroes 2. Two new characters exist sweeten the deal, and the single-player campaign tries to spice things up by really taking advantage of the time-traveling aspect with more colorfully diverse backgrounds and music. The characters are really starting to feel safe in their own insecurities as well, as you can really tell that the aesthetic approach and change is outpacing what kind of improvements the gameplay can offer. The characters also are really starting to create their own ideas (though not being entirely independent of the highest form of flattery — at least high enough for the creators to be on cloud nine as far as sufficient parody goes).

The journey ends with World Heroes Perfect, which might stand as one of the most inaccurately portrayed titles in 2D fighting history. The series end also is ironically its strongest point, as it seems the biggest departure of self-mutilation the games offer. The game distances itself quite strongly from being the creepy stalker to Street Fighter and takes on its own fey quirks to emphasize its own stylized territory. The characters, even original versions, completely stand out almost as outrageous performers of their own overly exuberant art and trade magic as seriously as two parties possibly could. The engine is finally up and beyond a tolerable smooth and even delivers a confident sense of pride in how easy it is to get from one side of the screen to another — and back again. Certain innovations from other series are still snagged, like the combo bar for ultimate attacks and a much wanted yet much delayed arsenal of escalading attacks and a devastating amount of complex fighting executions. The change-up game in this one is fantastic and lets players really find their own by offering a slew of ways to play each character. It also includes a cool countering system that adds a real flare to combat.

With the last title in the game actually impressing me with art direction, music accompaniment and extravagant character selection with a great engine to base it on, I was only lucky enough to realize the series was canceled after this one came out. Was the obvious departure from parody and mimicry of other more successful franchises to a more unique style the element that actually ended up killing the game? Was a more honed talent an honest to goodness try at something different and letting up the reigns to walking in someone else’s shoes the reason the series finally died? I wouldn’t be surprised; people are fickle in complaining about the same but then hating on differences. Ah, the video game world incarnate.

The anthology is a weird recommendation. While it may seem like most of this package is a bad deal, with the block mechanic being the only feature (and an integral part at that) lacking any real refinement, the strength of the last title makes it an interesting pick for hardcore 2D (are there really another kind?) fighting players who want to give this a quick look. The shocking similarities to Street Fighter in comparison are impossible to avoid, as the game was manufactured as a cheap rip off to the big brother of fighting. I’ve enjoyed a healthy swath of very awesome 2D fighters from SNK, so the problem is not the company; it’s the lack of ambition they so clearly displayed with the creation of the series.

The greater portion of hilarity comes from the strongest iteration being the nail in the coffin, showing a timeless “homage” can attract greater notice than a strong attempt at a new franchise all in its own. I guess at the end of the day, the futility may be too great, as Street Fighter II still remains such a strong competitor for retro 2D excellence. The only reason I ever urge even stronger competition is to keep the series on its toes.

Could I be too entrenched in Street Fighter fanboyism to have given World Heroes Anthology a fair shot? Hard to say, as it’s a trifle difficult to gauge originality of a game that decries its own direction for that of a game that invented the now seemingly mandatory player-select feature in all its varied glory. World Heroes Perfect is the very same in reason to pick up and try this out with a buddy for some old-school cult fun. Just don’t say I didn’t warn you when you step from Street Fighter’s home turf into the bizarre world of Avenue Attackers that World Heroes represents, to sometimes side-splitting degrees. Lightning Slash? Please, only one thing I want to launch out of my hand, and its not this game, suffice to say.

After thought: One has to be careful to point fingers when regarding which of the chicken or egg came first, but this is too easy a call. I try to give each game a merit in fair chance while leaving out the rest, but genre familiarity is one thing, and comedic representations are another. Then there’s World Heroes. When a series starts in the first game with time travel and ends on the moon, is there even time to jump a shark in the second, and how will its spinoff children turn out? With hooves, no doubt. Think about it.