Many gamers unfairly described the game when it first came out in 1994 as a Street Fighter clone. While it’s true that many 2D fighters at the time were created to cash in on Street Fighter II’s success, Yuu Yuu Hakusho: Sunset Fighters successfully added so many features to the tried and true 2D Fighting formula that it’s not an exaggeration to say that it has transcended the status of a clone, and can be considered a completely different – and maybe even better – game.
With famed developer Treasure at the driver’s seat, it won’t be a surprise to say that Sunset Fighters is a visually stunning game for its time, taking advantage of the Megadrive’s hardware capabilities. The console wasn’t capable of producing anime-like visuals, but for what it’s worth, anybody familiar with the Yuu Yuu Hakusho franchise will find the graphics in Sunset Fighters as a decent 16-bit representation of their favorite characters and setting. Even the digitized voices and songs do a great job at reproducing the sounds from the show, from the opening theme song’s distinctive synth pop to the respective characters’ trademark catchphrases.
The visuals do have a flaw, in the sense that the sprites are a little bit on the tiny side, especially when compared to other fighting games from the same generation. But this is not out of ineptitude on the developers’ part, as it actually has a logical tradeoff – the stages are expansive; the stages are very wide and come with two planes, similar to the Fatal Fury series. Coupled with the small sprites and the engine’s addition of a running/dashing mechanic, the matches can be fast and hectic without the fighters being cramped against each other – even if there are four players on the screen at once. And yes, there’s support for four-way matches, either free for alls or 2 vs 2. It’s a feature that was very rare at the time.
As for the gameplay itself, the combat takes its cue more from the Street Fighter games than the Mortal Kombat ones, making it more novice-friendly both in terms of timing and move sequence. On a 3-button controller, the buttons represent light attack, hard attack, and block, and combinations of which allow the use of plane switch, taunt, and dash (which can also be done by tapping the direction twice). On a six button controller, there’s no longer a need for mixing buttons as the additional buttons get used for the plane switch, dash, and taunt.
As mentioned above, it follows the Street Fighter formula so special attacks are done through similar methods (i.e. down forward attack, down up attack, etc.) there are a few tweaks to the formula here and there, such as chargeable projectile attacks and remote-controlled moves. There’s also one key addition: Desperation Moves. All characters can do a special high-damage move when they’re down to 49% health and with a fully charged ki bar, with an exception of one or two characters that can do it even at full health. Treasure’s decision to allow its use at 49% instead of 20% or less like most fighters is a good move, as it allows players to pull off desperation moves without making it too much of a risk to be useful. Missing a desperation move means you just need to charge your ki bar and try again, as opposed to being left open to a killing blow.
The Desperation Moves are very creative and are based on actual moves shown on the anime/manga; from fox-transformation rushes to giant ray guns to dragons made out of dark fire, each move has a specific application and isn’t just for show. Hiei’s desperation move, for instance, is the aforementioned dragon made out of dark fire – its normal application is to hit the enemy for heavy damage, but it can be controlled and even redirected back to Hiei. This gives him a great boost in speed and damage at the cost of being rendered dizzy after a few seconds (bonus on actually showing the character being rendered aflame throughout the duration.) It’s one of those things that show you how much thought was put into the game.
Sadly, Yuu Yuu Hakusho: Sunset Fighters was only released in Japan (under the original name Makyō Tōitsusen) and Brazil (where it got the Sunset Fighters name) because Sega of America passed on the opportunity to bring it to America, probably because the franchise it was based on wasn’t very popular to the West at the time. Who knows how successful the game could have been if it was given a North American release? Regardless of the popularity of the Yuu Yuu Hakusho on the west, Sunset Fighters could have been a blockbuster or at least a sleeper hit, as it is a great game on based entirely its own merits, both as a 2D competitive fighter and as a party game for four or more people.
