If you own a PS1, chances are you played Street Fighter Alpha, Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors, or Tekken 2 in 1996. perhaps Breakers is a cult fighting game from Bisco Corporation that first launched in Japanese arcades at the end of that year and was ported to NeoGeo AES and NeoGeo CD in 1997. It seems like an odd title to bring back, but then, though, times were kind to this colorful Capcom-inspired brawler.
If you’ve never heard of Breakers or its revamped and rebalanced pseudo-sequel, Breakers Revenge, you’ll come as little surprise. These are textbook mid-90s fighters, filled with quarter-circle specials and stereotypes. Pierre Montario, an Italian stallion armed with a fencing sword, strikes with a cyclone of roses. Alcyon III, on the other hand, is an undead Egyptian with poisonous breath. The pixel art and animation are solid, if rarely awe-inspiring, but the sprites are chunky and combat is surprisingly easy. This is he one of those games that you’ll quickly understand if you’re even slightly familiar with 2D fighters.
That said, it doesn’t have the unique gameplay complexity seen in the recent Rumble Fish 2, but it’s still immediately fun to play. Also, the package feels more robust overall. There are online lobbies, ranked play, and rollback netcode. There’s also a team battle option and an art gallery featuring various sketches and design documents from the original release. Even his NeoGeo port on the aforementioned home console never made it out of Japan, so I have to admit I’m not familiar with the original, but the emulation is solid from our experience. It seems that.
Nevertheless, we like this little collection. As a game, Breakers and its updated Breakers Revenge re-release differ little from their contemporaries, but the simplistic gameplay and vibrant aesthetics still make it a fun time. We guarantee it.
