EDITOR'S NOTE:
Welly, welly, welly. The original Fighting Vipers article was uploaded to the Gaming Hell webzone on the 20th of May 2009, our first anniversary. Well over a decade has passed since then. Unfortunately for everyone (mostly me, especially me) Gaming Hell has had the temerity to continue to exist, and a lot has changed, in particular our style and level of quality. At least I'd hope so. As a result, we've done a complete teardown of this article and all its associated pages, just ripped its horrid guts out and rewrote 99% of the damn thing. The original pages are still out there somewhere but you'll have to be a true Fighting Viper to find them...
Anyway, the real note to make here is that the old article was a mish-mash, talking about the game generally but using Saturn shots that were in the wrong aspect ratio. Now, we've shifted to the original arcade version (with character profile shots taken from the Saturn version because it was the only real way to do it and get everyone and also keep Honey's name correct- they're the same as the arcade version but with a different font, live with it) but Model 2 emulation just isn't quite there yet for the purposes of Gaming Hell, and so we had to make a compromise, taking screenshots from the 2012 Xbox 360 version (taken on an Xbox One because wow, I can just press a button? Yes please) using the 'original' screen size while snipping the borders off and ever-so-slightly adjusting the aspect ratio (by like ten pixels) to make bring it to 320 x 240 for something as close as we can get to the arcade experience. We trust this compromise is acceptable to you. If it's not, then... I dunno, actually, go and have a normal one about it elsewhere. Not on my time, that's for sure.
Finally, special thanks to Ultra Powerful Pal of Gaming Hell HokutoNoShock for all the online sessions with this, Fighting Vipers megafan DevilREI for being an inspiration, showing that Fighting Vipers will never die, and Sega Superfan Tracker_TD for their Sega enthusiasm and checking this article for us!

It is the '90s once more, and there is time for fighting games. 3D fighting games, no less!



While Capcom and SNK were still slugging it out in the sprite-based 2D battlefield and would continue to do so late into the decade, Sega and Namco were having their own sparring match in the realm of polygons, both making huge strides in the 3D fighting arena. It's no real surprise, as both had been cutting their teeth on 3D tech for racing games like Namco's Winning Run from 1988 / 1989 and Sega's Virtua Racing from 1991 before moving into fighting games, and their first entries in the genre, Virtua Fighter from 1993 and Tekken from 1994, have something else in common- Seiichi Ishii worked at Sega as coordinator for Virtua Racing and Virtua Fighter before moving over to Namco to direct and design Tekken, and you can find out more about him via this interview translated by VGDensetsu. Much as I'd love to turn this into an overall 3D fighting game history, there's no time to dilly-dally so let's bring things up to the era we're interested in, the year 1995. At this point, both companies were on the second instalment of their flagship 3D fighting game franchises, with Sega's Virtua Fighter 2 having hit arcades in 1994 and Namco's Tekken 2 showing up in 1995, and Virtua Fighter 2 had seen both a tiny revision (2.1 which changes a few things and removes things like the Senbon Punch infinite) and a home port for the Sega Saturn. It wouldn't really be until 1996 and 1997 that you'd see more competition in the 3D space, mostly because there weren't many other companies that could even start to compete with these two juggernauts in the arcade arena (I mean, does the arcade version of Battle Arena Tōshinden 2 count?) and so that gave both companies a little wriggle room to experiment. For Namco, this meant releasing a completely new fighting game, Soul Edge, that would later become the very successful SoulCalibur series, whereas Sega would, in between Virtua Fighter 2 and 3, try a few things including the chibified Virtua Fighter Kids and today's subject, Fighting Vipers.



Yes, nestled comfortably between Virtua Fighter 2 and 3 lies this oddball 3D slugfest. There's not an extensive amount of interviews or development history but we have a few things to look at. First and foremost, Fighting Vipers and Raimais superfan DevilREI interviewed Sega AM2's Daichi Katagiri, whose work at the company consists of almost all their fighting games from Virtua Fighter onwards to the present day. He doesn't talk too much about the first Fighting Vipers there, but he does mention that a big difference between it and Virtua Fighter 2 was that VF2's goal was to "create realistic human motion" while FV on the other hand was the total opposite, "made with the idea of exaggeration, we wanted the action in that game to feel like some sort of crazy anime or manga fight scene" which, well, mission accomplished for sure as we'll see. An interview with Yu Suzuki in Next Generation #11, as well as this interview with Hiroshi Kataoka from Fighting Vipers Digital Collection and this machine-translated interview with Daichi Katagiri from Gamest Mook Vol. 26: Fighting Vipers Technical Manual specifically mention some other elements decided early on- the concept was to be a fighting game with armoured characters fighting in walled arenas, with particular focus put upon the walls element as it's mentioned multiple times. It seems that Ring Outs, a common (and hilarious) sight in Virtua Fighter, was not well-received overseas in particular, and so a 3D fighter was born to chuck that element out while adding its own spin on things, although claims that Fighting Vipers was made specifically to cater to the Western market were something I couldn't find in any specific interviews, just peppered about in issues of Official Sega Saturn Magazine from the UK without being attributed to a name, so maybe take that with a pinch of salt.

According to the English instruction manual for the Saturn port, the plot goes a little something like this...

Hyper-adrenal combatants in full-body armour, battling night and day in back alley rings - only such young urban warriors as these have earned the right to be called VIPERS...
Now, in Armstone City, the mayor has formally announced a fighting tournament on a grand scale, with the final bout to be held atop the staggering City Tower in the centre of town.
With City Tower as their ultimate goal, eight young VIPERS start down the path to victory, a path to which only one will see the end...

 By the way, other sources such as Fighting Vipers Perfect Guide (ISBN-10: 4-79730145-7) refers to the tournament as the Nutcracker Tournament. Teehee.




Let's take a look at the cast, shall we? The bios in italics are taken from the English Sega Saturn manual (the translation seems to stick pretty closely to the original Japanese script, but one part for Honey's bio was left out, so I've added it back in thanks to the English on the arcade flyer, see if you can figure out which bit!) with my own commentary afterwards, and the character portraits and info are taken straight from the Sega Saturn version, as they're identical to the arcade profiles except for a different font. I would've replaced them for maximum authenticity but it wasn't really worth the effort and they'd look a little worse, so you'll have to excuse this mixing of versions, just this once. Anyway, this is a pretty long part, so you can click here to hide the profiles.

Grace had her dreams of becoming a professional figure skater broken in high school when her coach betrayed her. Now she makes her living as a fashion model. She may look cold and distant, but the fire of her rage blazes in the heat of the fight.

Rocking the rollerblades and safety gear look, Grace is one of the coolest-looking characters in the game, and she's also the default selection for Player 1 side too. Her speciality being listed as 'Leg Combo' should make it pretty obvious what she does best, of course. Her repertoire includes a lot of kick-focused attacks like spinning on the floor Yoshimitsu-style (but she doesn't get dizzy afterwards, that figure skating training paying off) and lightning-fast downward hop kicks, but she also has a fearsome Frankensteiner that carries a risk- land it and you get a nice throw, but miss and you'll land on the floor and take damage!


Bahn's father abandoned him and his mother when he was still a baby. Now, declaring himself to be "Genghis Bahn III", Bahn has set off across the ocean to prove himself to the father he's never met. But will his long journey find an end in Armstone City?

If Fighting Vipers has a 'main' character, I suppose it would be Bahn here, as he's the closest to the archetypical martial arts master character like Ryu or, more appropriately, Akira Yuki from Virtua Fighter. Hell, he even made his way over to Armstone from Japan! His fighting style has a lot of powerful punch strikes, a double-Shoryuken (a rarity in the 3D space at the time) and he even borrows Akira's legendary Tetsuzanko, albeit sadly without the slick combo moves associated with it that Akira has. Any resemblance to one of those 'JoJos' I've heard so much about are purely coincidental, probably.


Raxel is the guitarist and vocalist for the band "Death Crunch." Female fans are drawn to his dark aesthetic appeal. Raxel dropped out of high school and left home after a fight with his father, who happens to be an Armstone City councilman. This sinewy narcissist is fighting for fame and glory.

Yes, DEATH CRUNCH is the best band name you've heard today, possibly ever. Sporting a powerful mullet with a fringe that sometimes covers one of his eyes (there it is, there's the dark aesthetic appeal!), Raxel is one of two Vipers that incorporates weaponry into his arsenal! That red Gibson Flying V strapped to his back isn't just for show, he can use it for powerful long-reaching strikes and even as part of his pursuit attack. Lucky for him, this isn't Samurai Shodown so he can't be disarmed, so you gotta respect the guitar. As well as some fancy spin-kicks, watch out for his flying Detroit Lockdown throw!


Tokio was brought up in the strict environment of a kabuki actor's household, but when he turned 14 he joined the local gang "Black Thunder." He quickly rose to become their leader, but left after the death of one of the members. This lone wolf looks to the Vipers to provide him with new challenges and thrills.

This is a fighting game from the '90s, so you've got to have one guy that really oozes 'cool', and Tokio's here to fulfill that role- Fighters Megamix even has CG art of him shirtless, oh my! The lone wolf specialises in combo strings with lots of spin kicks and a fair few variations of them to keep the opponent guessing, plus a nasty snapping elbow that hits twice. He is, admittedly, the Viper I've probably spent the least time playing as, but he's definitely got his fans!


Nobody knows much about him, and he isn't saying. The only thing for sure is that he rolled up to the tournament on a big custom hog, and he has a strange fascination with the number 3. Sanman lets his fists do the rest of the talking for him.

Enter, Sanman! Just who is this strange dude? His profile and some of his unlockable portrait images leave only more questions... San, of course, is Japanese for 3, so that's where his name comes from. He's the heavy bruiser of the cast with a selection of powerful throws including a multi-stage chain grab, the dreaded Giant Swing and his trademark 'Bodily Crush' attacks like his aerial body splash and Hip Bomber. He's also got a rushdown arm-swinging combo so he's not just all brawn!


Jane always wanted to join the navy, and she trained all through high school to achieve that dream. Unfortunately, she tends to lose her cool in fights and she was discharged after injuring a fellow seaman in training. Now she's working subway construction, but she hasn't given up on her dream. She wants to show the world just how tough she is.

The other big-hitter of the game, as well as being another really cool character design, Jane's all about striking hard, with a lot of punch-based strikes with great range, some mean close-quarters attacks involving multiple gut-punches and one of my favourite throws in the game where she scrapes her opponent's face against the wall! Those who've played Judgment might remember her as the wall between you and all the Fighting Vipers achievements- Jane just laughs, knowing she's the toughest.


Honey is studying to be a fashion designer. She's usually quiet and shy, but when she puts on the rubber dress she made herself- watch out! She's in this tournament to promote her original fashion line. She is well known as nutcracker girl.

Almost certainly the most well-known of the Fighting Vipers characters owing to her namesake appearing in Sonic-related media (more on that later), Honey is the obvious Gaming Hell choice with an over-the-top rubber costume complete with fairy wings and decorated twintails. She also has cat-like mannerisms and a fighting style with lots of tricky high-low kicks, the all-powerful Bootie Bop and moves to taunt and tease the opponent like vaulting under and over them and even tickling them from behind!


Picky is a typical high school skate rat. He started boarding to impress his first love, Kathryn. But here in Armstone, fighting in the tournament seems to be more popular than thrashing. So Picky took his board to try his luck as the youngest Viper.

The little one of the bunch, Picky makes up for his short stature with lots of fast and annoying moves and a very strange diving pursuit attack, but he's also the second Viper with a weapon. He can use his skateboard to absolutely wallop the enemy, and while perhaps not as versatile as Raxel's guitar, it still packs a punch and gives him a fair bit of range. The kid needs all the help he can get!


Clad in poisonous-snake skin armor, Mahler seems to have a score to settle with the mayor of Armstone, but nobody knows why he has entered the Vipers tournament. He hasn't even bothered to officially register his name.

Well, this fellow's filling in for two characters! B.M. is the final boss of the game, but Mahler is the playable version (which is why he has a profile and B.M. doesn't) unlocked in various ways depending on the version. While they're mostly very similar aside from size and maybe (maybe) strength, the canon treats them as separate characters- B.M. is the mayor of Armstone City and Mahler is a mysterious man who bears a grudge against him. Both Fighters Megamix and Fighting Vipers 2 would differentiate the two a lot more, but it's pretty interesting to see such a clear separation between the final boss and a toned-down 'playable' version, huh?





Released in arcades in November 1995 according to Sega themselves, Fighting Vipers takes the basic structure of Virtua Fighter with its 3D combatants fighting with controls consisting of an eight-way stick and just three buttons- Punch, Kick and Defense (Guard in modern Virtua Fighter nomenclature, so let's use that)- but twists and exagerrates parts of it to create something familiar in style but quite different in feel. In terms of familiar elements, we have the emphasis on button combinations (universal ones such as P + G for grabs and K + G for powerful kicks) and strings of button and directional inputs for moves with a complete lack of fancy things like fireballs or super moves (there are some that use fireball or dragon punch motions but these are few and far berween, forming rather large movesets for the cast. We also have very, very slight 3D movement options, as while sidestepping was a feature in Battle Arena Tōshinden released earlier on the Playstation in 1995, this hadn't been introduced into Sega's fighting game vocabulary (you'd have to wait until Sonic the Fighters for that, no really) so all you've got here is rolling on the floor into the foreground or background when knocked down. If you've played any Virtua Fighter game, you'll be able to grasp this one immediately, or at least the very basics of it.



That's what's similar, but what does Fighting Vipers do to differentiate itself from its spiritual predecessor? Let's start with the two features you think of when you think of FV, the armour system and the walled arenas. These might seem like silly gimmicks to give the game something to make it stand out- and as we've seen with Kaiser Knuckle, just adding a gimmick doesn't automatically make a fighting game good, but they're actually quite impactful on how you play the game, with the added benefit of being nice and flashy to boot. Starting with the armour, the Fighting Vipers have chosen to adorn themselves with heavy protective clothing covering the upper and lower parts of their body, allowing them to really pummel each other out there and look stylish and violently '90s at the same time. However, attacks (whether they land or they're blocked) slowly wear either the upper or lower armour out, indicated by the figure next to the health bar- once weakened, that part will start flashing, and using specific power moves (some make your character flash white, some even offer upper-body invincibility when used) will destroy that armour part, complete with a triple-take from multiple camera angles! It's not just for show either (even if it reveals the characters have different clothes under all that armour) as the part of the body without armour takes extra damage (with removed lower armour also increasing damage on pursuit attacks) and that can really build up quickly, leading to absolutely absurd damage more befitting a Samurai Shodown game, or maybe just another '90s fighting game in general, damage was off the charts back then (flashing lights warning!). It's never entirely hopeless if you've lost all your armour, but it definitely becomes a big consideration, perhaps making you play a bit more defensively until you can get rid of your enemy's own defences, especially since landing on the floor after a hit (unless it's after a wall hit) does a bit of damage that massively increases once your armours gone! The one thing I'd change with this system is to make it clearer what your armour's durability actually is- you just have to guess a little because you don't know how close you are to being vulnerable until it actually starts flashing.

As for the walls, these are primarily here to stop Ring Outs from happening (I didn't realise people disliked them that much, but I can sorta get why, some people may not find them as funny as I do) but also add a few extra wrinkles. They sort-of act like the corner in 2D fighting games, but since they're a physical barrier rather than one purely in the mind of the pugilists for a sense of fair play, you can slam your opponent up against them for extra damage, do unique throws either into the wall or with your back up against it, and some characters can even climb up them to do attacks from the top rope! Those are some nice offensive applications, but there's a defensive one too, as one element from 2D games is here but actually expanded upon- characters like Chun-Li in Street Fighter II could kick off the corner for added mobility, and FV allows every character to do this, but also lets you alter the trajectory slightly, letting you hit the ground earlier, go higher or avoid jumping off it altogether. If you're being bullied, you have a way out using this, although being walloped against the wall means you don't have much time to do it before you get knocked out. Still, as they say, a cornered viper is more dangerous than a jackal [Are you sure they say that? - Ed] so don't count yourself out if you're against the wall! The walls definitely add to the no-holds-barred street brawling atmosphere the game is going for, and also make for a flashy end to a round, as if you wallop your opponent hard enough for a KO, they'll smash through the walls and destroy them (or if you're in a stage with wrestling ring-style ropes, catapult them into the distance). Walls would, in time, become a common feature in 3D fighting games, from contemporaries like Bloody Roar and Heaven's Gate to modern instalments of Tekken and Virtua Fighter, but Vipers was certainly one of the first arcade games to include one, and it's implemented pretty well all things considered.



Those are the biggest changes but there's more going on under the hood to make the game feel unique. When it comes to general movesets there's some common elements- in particular, aerial moves are generic across the cast (although FV seems to only have unique aerials for Punch, most of the Kick ones are the same across all characters whereas VF2 had some more variety in what characters had)- but FV makes some big changes to getting up after being knocked down (VF2 had a load of wake-up kicks and mashing G to roll in and out of the screen, FV removes the wake-up kicks but makes rolling a directional tap, adds forward rolling and lets you mash P to get up in-place quicker) and adds many unique moves when running (VF2 just has you perform the standard Punch or Kick when running). One brand new system mechanic that every character benefits from is the Air Recovery- when knocked into the air, pressing P + K + G will make you somersault, regaining control and making you land on your feet. This can make you more susceptible to juggles if you use it too often and become predictable, and your distance from the opponent is important too, but can also give you time to do a quick counter-attack in the air or prevent your opponent from landing a pursuit attack. This keeps the pace of the fight going, as you don't have to wait around to get off the floor if you don't want to- start your comeback from mid-air!

Speaking of the air, that's another place where Fighting Vipers carves its own path, as the physics of the game, especially jumping, are markedly different from its predecessors. Early Virtua Fighter games have the well-known moon jumps where characters slowly float into the sky when jumping, (something that's been massively toned down as the genre's evolved) and you don't get thrown so far when knocked back so you don't get slung out of the ring in those games. FV still has somewhat tall jumps, but they're a lot weightier with less jump height and, crucially, they're faster, and certain attacks, throws and strikes send you flying across the arena causing the camera to reel back. There's no Ring Out to worry about, so you'll just end up slamming against the wall, no bother! Hell, if you're quick enough, you can do an Air Recovery before you hit the wall, bounce off it with extra momentum and introduce your opponent's face to your feet for being so rude! The weightier feel fits the game's vibe very well as it also makes the attacks feel more brutal, more befitting a street brawl, but aside from adding to the vibe these physics changes give the game a different feel to its contemporaries and help it stand out, but in a good way that really adds to the game rather than feeling like something tacked on to put as a bullet point on the flyer.



So, as we always ask in these fighting game articles, what kind of fighter do these systems create? The intent was to create a fighting game that felt more like a fight scene from a manga than anything else on the market at the time, and I think Sega AM2 absolutely nailed it. The altered physics, extra running moves and power strikes serve to make a dynamic 3D fighting game where you'll frequently be pinballing around the arena, catapulted across it then using Air Recovery and wall-kicking to get right back into the action. The changes to the air physics especially make the game feel very fast-paced and frantic, with little hang-time or waiting around, and while not as fast-paced as the fastest 2D fighting games on the market at the time, it's one of the speedier 3D titles of the time and doesn't feel awkward or stiff, it flows beautifully. There is the feeling that the game is perhaps a bit simpler than Virtua Fighter 2, and that's warranted- as mentioned, almost all of the aerial moves are universal across the cast rather than varying who gets what, and (almost) everyone has the same Irish Whip grab, plus things like counter-holds that Akira and Pai have and Kage's Zenten and Kouten movement options have no FV equivalent, so you could say things are a little less complex. Although I'm OK without having something silly like that Akira move where you gotta let go of G after one frame! The aerials and throws you can perhaps see more as system mechanics rather than individual moves (plus the Vipers have plenty of moves of their own) but I think FV has enough of its own flavour (especially things like its armoured moves and wall-based attacks) to overcome this limitation. More than anything, FV has an immediacy to it, it's definitely one of those fighting games you can just pick up even if it's been a while since you played it and get right back into it, even nowadays when other 3D games of the time might take a bit of adjustment to get used to again.

What really helps it is the charm of the damn thing, the presentation is absolutely up to Sega's usual arcade standard of the era, with the Model 2 hardware pushing some serious polygons to create a fun and colourful cast of characters (complete with detailed models and armour pieces being left on the ground after they're broken off) and some more America-inspired backdrops to fight in, all quite beyond the capabilities of contemporary home consoles to replicate 100%. The character animations are also up to snuff, with a little personality shining through with things like Picky's silly dive attack and Sanman's rotating multi-punch (oh, and Honey and Sanman's bootie bop, of course). The stages are also nice and detailed with touches like the aeroplane taking off at Armstone Airport and the graffiti in Bay Side, plus the single player has some light progression as you move through the town- you start in Old Armstone Town theme park, getting closer and closer to Armstone Tower where you take a gigantic elevator (Stage 7, fighting Raxel), pass through the observation deck (Stage 8, Jane) and finally fight B.M. in his personalised wrestling ring at the top (Stage 9). A little environmental storytelling there, that's a cute touch. The music is also pretty great although perhaps not as memorable as the VF2 soundtrack- it was composed by David Leytze, an Ohio-based musician who created some suitably guitar-heavy tracks but they can sound a little similar to one another, although personal standouts for me are Bay Side / Bay Side Blues for Honey's stage and Top of the City / King of the Mountain for B.M.'s stage. They blend together a bit too much, but they at least fit the setting and separate it from other games of the time.



Fighting Vipers didn't quite make the same impact that Virtua Fighter did on the general fighting game landscape, but that's OK. You can see that parts of FV did end up influencing VF in later years- in particular, caged arenas and walls would be incorporated in VF3 (alongside uneven terrain, and while the walls would return in subsequent games, the uneven terrain would not) and, while it's maybe just me, I like to think that the wilder character customisation parts from later VFs are a little nod to the character designs of FV. It also had a legacy in a more direct way, as Sega AM2 realised the potential of it and put together a sequel a few years later on Model 3 hardware, Fighting Vipers 2, that's a significant step up both in terms of presentation and system mechanics. Sadly, due to the lack of a home port in the US (the Dreamcast port was Japan and Europe only) and no rereleases outside of being a bonus arcade game in Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name, this sequel was never as widely known as the first one, and no further follow-ups were made afterwards. It's definitely an improved game that separates itself even further from Virtua Fighter, and it's a game this site will cover one day, but even though I'll say the sequel is better... I still have a soft spot for the original, and it's one I like to return to with friends when I get the chance because it's so over-the-top and boisterous. I like my fighting games to have a bit of a breakneck pace, and Fighting Vipers is absolutely one that fits the bill, with mechanics and features that really emphasise that speed. It may have been outdone somewhat by its own sequel and Sega AM2's later works, but there's a reason we say Fighting Vipers will never die!

For bringing hell in a cell to the arcade scene, Fighting Vipers is awarded...

In a sentence, Fighting Vipers is...
The excess of the '90s encapsulated in a single fighting game.


And now, it's that time, folks!
EXTENDED PLAY!


Before we get started, some resources for learning more about Fighting Vipers.



This video guide by Virtua Reality covers the basic systems of the game, ideal for people just starting out.

There's also the GameFAQs guide by TLawson complete with move lists and frame data when you're ready for that level of info!


Let's start with some arcade version secrets!



These are very poorly documented on the internet but are explained in detail on the Sega Ages 2500 Vol. 19: Fighting Vipers official site, so thanks for that, Sega.

Secret Method Effect
Use Player 2 Palette On the Character Select screen, hold the Start button and move the cursor You can select the P2 palette for your character
Random Mode After inserting a coin, hold Up before pressing Start
You fight on the stages in the same order but the opponent order is shuffled
See Staff Credits Hold 1P Start and 2P Start before the first attract sequence (with characters in front of a brick wall) begins
The game's credits are shown
Change Armour Icon Win 8, 16, 24 or 32 matches in Vs. Mode consecutively The pose of the Armour Icon will change
Destroy Honey's Skirt Win 100 matches in a row as Honey
In subsequent matches, when Honey's lower armour is destroyed, her skirt disappears too!
Play as Mahler On a cabinet with over 15,000 versus matches, hold Up and move right (P1) / left (P2) on the Character Select screen until you scroll off it
You can select Mahler, a smaller and less-powerful version of the final boss B.M.
Honey Attract Mode On a cabinet with over 20,000 versus matches, hold 1P Start and 2P Start before the second attract sequence (with characters posing in front of the mirror) begins
Honey, stretching her legs and posing, will replace the Fighting Vipers logo that appears throughout this sequence

This thread by BiggestSonicFan explains that yes, it is versus matches you need for the Mahler and Honey attract mode secrets.



By the way, here's a clip of the Honey skirt-destruction sequence in action, complete with a cameo from VF mega-player Bunbunmaru!


Next, let's talk regional differences in the arcade version, although most of this carries over to the home versions too.



The Western versions are shown above, hover your mouse over to see the Japanese versions!

(Also, these are shots from the Nebula Sega Model 2 emulator as it's by far the easiest way to demonstrate them, so they're a little scuffed!)

There's two main changes here, a character getting renamed and a sponsorship getting removed. First, Honey was renamed Candy outside Japan, a change that kind-of stuck around as all dedicated home versions of the first game released in the West retain this change, but the anthro version of the character in Sonic the Fighters and the Sonic comics is still called Honey, and the arcade and European Dreamcast versions of Fighting Vipers 2 just call her Honey too. Also, as pointed out by The Cutting Room Floor, her weight is listed as a secret in the Japanese version, a sacred fighting game tradition, but they just blurt it out in the USA / Export version. Rude. This shot also shows that the height and weight measurements were swapped from metric to imperial for the USA / Export version.



As for that sponsorship... this interview with Fumio Kurokawa. from Fighting Vipers Digital Collection explains that the Pepsiman advertising campaign Pepsi were running at the time in Japan matched well with Fighting Vipers' aesthetic, and he also mentions ambitions for a type of in-game advertising more elaborate than signboards called "Virtua Advertising". Beyond the Pepsi signboards in the game itself, Pepsi sponsored a tournament for the game (the Pepsi Japan Cup, and there's a playlist on YouTube uploaded by MZR777 and gathered by DevilREI showing the Hakodate qualifiers from April 1996) so they were pretty all-in on it! In any case, the parts affected are the attract mode intro with the mirror (Tokio has a can of Pepsi next to him which is gone in non-Japanese versions), Picky's P1 palette skateboard (it has the Pepsi logo in Japan, a unique design with the text HYPER VIPER elsewhere) and background elements of Picky's UFO Diner stage (a Pepsi billboard and truck are replaced with a Fighting Vipers billboard and a truck with what appears to be a lady using a rocket to pole-dance, perhaps a nod to bomber pin-up girls you'd see on military aircraft, I mean what else could it be?). These changes also apply to most Western versions to this day, although the Saturn version had some more Pepsi-related content that had to be removed overseas, but you'll see him soon, don't you worry.

This is all somewhat rendered moot though- with the original board, you can change the region in the Test Menu to whatever you desire.


Next, prototype and unused stuff for the arcade version! The unused content in particular is famous for its place in Sega history.



First to deal with prototype material, on AM2's long-gone Fighting Vipers 2 site, there was a post with two images of 'concept art' for Fighting Vipers under the title Armored Fighter. Sadly, only one of those images was saved by the Internet Wayback Machine, but one's better than none. There's not much to say, although it's neat that the core ideas of Fighting Vipers (armour breaking, caged fights) seem to be here in this image. Feel free to wildly speculate from here.



Additionally, something sent in by reader Jake- the Arcade Flyers Archive has an early flyer for Fighting Vipers with some interesting differences from the final game.

The most obvious is Tokio and Honey are missing from the character select screen- their spaces look like they read 'Now Printing' if you squint realy hard. There's also a name change- Jane is called Dominique (a fairly well-known bit of trivia, especially since Honey's stage has 'R.I.P. Dominique' as graffiti) with a different mugshot on the character select screen. The other big difference is that all characters have their name in a standard font both in-game and on the character select screen rather than the personalised ones.

Moving on to unused things hiding inside the final game, there's a few things listed on The Cutting Room Floor, including unused models, an earlier version of the Kumachan model in Old Armstone Town with a different design and graffiti on his belly reading FACK YOU DICK and a Debug Mode code you can enter on real hardware as discovered by suddendesu and BiggestSonicFan. However, I want to focus my attention on probably the most famous and important hidden bits- the unused fighters. I actually remember these documented on the on the long-defunct Sonic-CulT / X-CulT site, and their discovery can be traced back to 2006 again by BiggestSonicFan on their forums. These are definitely less 'unfinished characters intended for the final game' and more... Well, you'll see.



First, there's two Sega AM2 staff members playable- Daichi Katagiri (FV co-coordinator) and Hiroshi Kataoka (FV director) of Sega AM2!

Their models are pretty basic so these were almost certainly snuck in as a joke.



This is a bit more well-known though- the most famous hedgehog in the world and his fox buddy, Sonic & Tails!

Maybe this screenshot looks a bit familiar to you- well, aside from me grabbing that specific one from The Cutting Room Floor, perhaps you saw something like it in a magazine back in the day? Thanks to some assistance from SeventhForce, UK magazine readers might remember it from Computer & Video Games #174 covering Sonic the Fighters. BiggestSonicFan helped out too and showed the real source of it, Saturn Magazine 1996 #09 covering Fighting Vipers secrets- those cheeky gits at C&VG had nicked this shot then cropped out the Fighting Vipers characters, presenting it as if it was from Sonic the Fighters. Busted!

... Anyway, sorry, I had to get that squared away, that screenshot had been bothering me for years, so I'm glad other people knew what was up with it. Anyway, what are these two animals doing here? They're not Vipers! As explained in a 1UP.com interview with Hiroshi Kataoka, Sonic and Tails were added into Fighting Vipers during the game's development as a joke, possibly by Honey's character designer Masahiro Sugiyama although it's only mentioned as 'probably' being him rather than being definitively identified. Whoever was responsible was messing around with character models one day and put the pair in as a little goof (just filling up one character slot- Tails is the 2P palette) which was seen by Yu Suzuki, who then talked about it with Hiroshi Kataoka, who then presented the idea of a Sonic fighting game to Sonic Team head and future insider trading criminal Yuji Naka, who loved the idea so much he approved it, eventually leading to Sonic the Fighters. We'll circle back around to Sonic the Fighters later, but that'll do for now.



Here's a full play through of the arcade game with Sonic, as recorded by Tracker_TD.


Moving on, time to talk about the home versions of the game. There's not that many of them, but there's a lot to talk about here.



We must of course start with the Sega Saturn version, released in 1996 in all regions.



Given a fairly rapid home port (read any coverage of the game in British game mags at the time and they all breathlessly talked about how quick the conversion was), this was developed in-house by Sega AM2 themselves and brings the arcade game home quite faithfully, albeit with plenty of concessions. The Saturn was not 100% up to the task of one-to-one conversions of Model 2 games, but AM2's own ports show that you could make the hardware sing with a bit of effort, although this doesn't look quite as nice as their Virtua Fighter 2 port. Generally, the core of the game's been preserved with all the characters, moves and stages present and correct (the only major thing missing is the original attract mode demos, replaced with an FMV intro that includes a few nods to Sonic the Fighters!) but the character models are a lot less detailed (even less so than the VF2 port, plus broken armour pieces no longer stay in the arena) and the backgrounds are 2D images instead of 3D models but cleverly scaled and scrolled to make them look as 3D as possible. It mostly keeps the rapid pace of the game too, although there is slight slowdown during things like armour breaks, wall smashes and pursuit attacks that give off too much of the pixellated blood effect. At least, in my experience on real hardware, anyway. The music has been redone too, taking advantage of the CD format to create more full-sounding songs with altered melodies (songs like UFO Diner / Occam's Razor and Armstone Town Night / Thirty-30 in particular benefit from the changes), plus a new song to go with the FMV intro, Vipers Venom.

Where the Saturn version shines is in its extra features, which to this day aren't present in any other version. There's a few modes that were slowly becoming standards of home ports at the time, specifically Training to let you practice moves, a dedicated Vs. option with a streamlined character select screen and Team Battle to duke it out with teams of characters, as well as the less-common-at-the-time Playback that lets you record matches and watch them again later, plus watch exhibition matches from AM2 staff members and even famous VF players like Bunbunmaru! There's also two extra revisions of the core game, Arrange and Hyper, available in the options menu of all modes. As briefly explained in Computer & Video Games of all places, Arrange is a rebalanced version of the arcade game with adjusted damage, armour and recovery values to make things a little fairer, while Hyper adds elements from Sonic the Fighters, specifically a sidestep with Back or Forward + P + K + G and a Hyper Mode done with Back + P + K that removes recovery from moves for the rest of that round (think the custom combos from Street Fighter Alpha 2) but leaves you without armour for the rest of the match. It's rare enough to see the home version rebalance the arcade game, but to include a bonus revision including over-the-top features from another game? Only on the Sega Saturn.



We're not done with extras though, as there's a whole bunch of silly unlockables to keep you playing, although the Japanese version has a couple of well-known exclusive extras. All versions have B.M. (the big boss), Mahler (the smaller boss) and Kumachan & Pandchan (the giant mascot statue seen in the Old Armstone Town stage) unlockable, with the Japanese version also having Aloha Honey (Honey with a ukelele), Uniform Honey (Honey in a school uniform) and Pepsiman (the only one who can quench your thirst) hidden too. There's also an extra set of options first unlocked by beating the game with any character with some further unlockables therein, including a portrait gallery (Japanese and European versions only!), Big Head Mode, a stage select for Arcade and more. You can learn more about these in our special guide just for the Saturn version! These extras also get a little mention in this Official Sega Saturn Magazine interview with Hiroshi Kataoka about the conversion process which might be pretty interesting to read.

One thing worth noting about the Saturn version is there's at least two revisions- listed as Rev. A and Rev. C online, we were alerted to the existence of an earlier revision by @GrimDark on Twitter, who mentioned that the first run of the Japanese version of Fighting Vipers was actually recalled due to a save glitch! According to their recollection, 'I experienced it 1st hand, system wouldn't save progress or high scores!' (he couldn't return his copy, living in the UK and all). We corroborated this with resident FV expert @Zerochan who confirmed something like this did happen, but was hazy on specifics. The only other lead we have is this Japanese fansite that explains the game wiped out all of their save data on their Saturn's internal memory. Ouch. Unfortunately, that's all we have on this. If you have any more info, please get in touch at themetalslug at gmail dot com.



We'd have to wait nine years for the next port, with 2005's Sega Ages 2500 Vol. 19: Fighting Vipers for the Playstation 2.



This was at the middle point of the Sega Ages 2500 series, meaning they were at that in-between phase of after they were done remaking older games in 3D but before they got M2 to belt out some of the best-in-class retro compilations on the PS2. That doesn't mean this port is a slouch, far from it, and this is a very solid port. The official website even touts that the Model 2 port work has been improved from Vol. 16: Virtua Fighter 2, particularly the lighting, and like that game this includes a 57.5 FPS option for something closer to the arcade game (although as Kimimi points out- and you should probably be reading that article instead- this is achieved with some wibbly technical stuff involving doubled-frames) so accuracy was indeed the aim. There's not much in the way of modes- Arcade, Ranking (as a separate menu option) and Vs. (now with a stage select rather than random stages), which means no Training, a real shame- but considering how rare accurate Model 2 ports were at this time (and still are, honestly), just having the arcade game at home, without any compromises as with the Saturn port, will be enough for the die-hard Vipers out there.

While being an exacting port of the arcade version means all the extras from the Saturn port are gone (although the FMV intro music, Viper's Venom, is used in the Options menu), the arcade extras are present and correct as listed earlier (as is the Pepsi advertising) with a few alterations to the unlock methods to make them a bit more manageable for home use. Instead of requiring 15,000 matches and an awkward code to play as Mahler, for example, you just need to play 150 or beat the arcade mode, and the famous skirt-destruction trick only needs 10 victories in a row instead of 100. The other changes methods are listed on our secrets chart page, but there's one new secret that, according to the official site, was originally only implemented in a one-night-only event in 1995 and not included in the released version, Kids Mode! Yes, that silly Big Head mode from the Saturn version was actually a reproduction of this one-off thing! It's about as goofy as it is in the Saturn version, but now in even higher fidelity. While somewhat rendered obsolete by the next version, the 57.5 FPS option remains exclusive to this port, so those who can play import PS2 games might want to still seek this version out.



While we're here, enjoy these scans of the filofax thing that came with this version.

We need to get it translated. Someday.



Next, a slightly shorter wait- just seven years this time- for 2012's Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 digital rerelease.



Part of a five-game line-up of Model 2 ports (Virtua Fighter 2 and Sonic the Fighters would be released worldwide, but Virtual On: Cyber Troopers and Virtua Striker would remain Japan-exclusive), this version of Fighting Vipers is somewhat similar to the Playstation 2 version in that it brings the arcade game home with some adjustments to its secrets to make them easier to unlock (in particular, Mahler is now available from the start) but also has the significant addition of online play, at long last. The netcode is decent enough, certainly not a disaster like Street Fighter II': Hyper Fighting on Xbox Live Arcade but not best-in-class like the Code Mystics Neo Geo ports, it does the job. Otherwise, this is very much an arcade-accurate port, only missing the 57.5 FPS option from the PS2 release, everything else is in-tact. This does include regional differences though- the US and EU marketplaces versions are based on the USA / Export version of the arcade game, so Honey is Candy again and the Pepsi advertising has been removed, but the JP marketplaces have the Japanese version of the game, which means Pepsi for TV game and Honey as Honey- photos of the Pepsi sponsorship provided by Ultra Powerful Pal of Gaming Hell, Kimimi.



Finally for now, we go to that place where all Sega arcade ports live these days, I guess- the Yakuza / Like a Dragon series, or rather the spin-offs 2018's Judgment and 2021's Lost Judgment.

Not a whole lot to be said here, but in Judgment you'll find a set of Fighting Vipers cabs in the Club SEGA location on Nakamichi Street, and in Lost Judgment you'll still find them at that Club SEGA but also at the Sasaki Arcade on Tsurukame Alley in Ijincho's Commercial District, 100 Yen per play. You can also play it from the title screen as a versus minigame with a second player if you want! However, none of the secrets appear to work- no Mahler and certainly no Kids Mode, sorry. Additionally, both are based on the Japanese arcade version but, even in the Japanese versions of both games, the Pepsi advertising is no longer present. Would've been funny if they retroactively replaced it with one of the drinks brands present in the main Judgement games (a bit like how the Wii port of Gunblade N.Y. replaced some adverts with ones for Sonic and the Black Knight) but oh well.


Next, references to Fighting Vipers in other Sega games, although there's not that many!

Unlike Namco or Capcom who will throw any kind of reference to previous works in their games at the drop of a hat, Sega seems to work a little differently and crossovers with their games are a bit less common, with a lot of paperwork and back-and-forth involved in the process. A famous example in recent memory is Joe Musashi being planned for Streets of Rage 4 but Sega not giving approval, and there was also Steve Lycett on Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed talking about how each character had to get the OK from the IP owner within Sega. It sounds complicated, and so it doesn't happen that often. Not to say it never happens of course- the Super Monkey Ball games tend to get a lot of crossover stuff- but it's not all over the place like with Namco. Still, there are a few, so let's take a look...



... Starting, of course, with Sonic the Fighters. Told you we'd get back to it!



Back in 1996, Sonic the Fighters came out in arcades with eight playable characters and two non-playable bosses, but a few other characters were hiding in the code. Shortly after the release of Sonic Gems Collection on Playstation 2 and Gamecube in 2005, BiggestSonicFan found remnants of a completely unused character that had its model removed from the Gems Collection version and, upon exploring the arcade version and documenting the findings on Sonic CulT / X-CulT, found what remained of Honey the Cat, a scrapped character based on Honey from Fighting Vipers but as a Sonic-style cat! That's years before we got Blaze the Cat, don't you know. The findings are also on The Cutting Room Floor alongside the other unused characters, also noting how Honey is mostly complete (many of her moves are taken from Knuckles but she has her traditional Bootie Bop from FV) but has some visual oddities- her eye-tracking is broken, her lower body turns into Amy's body when squished and she has no pre-match profile image. Despite these visual glitches, she's unique amongst the StF cast though as, while everyone else has a black-and-white clone, she has her 2P colours (blue clothes, blonde hair and pink fur) in mirror matches! Those who paid attention during the Saturn FV section might even recognise her 2P outfit here~

Honey's rediscovery many years after the game's release lead to an influx of interest and fanart of her, eventually being half-canonized into Sonic lore when the 2012 Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 port of Sonic the Fighters included a fixed-up version as a secret character (press Start over Amy's portrait on the Character Select screen- sadly, you can't play as her in Ranked matches) as well as appearances in both the Archie and IDW Sonic comics. However, as explained by Sonic series writer Ian Flynn in Bumblecast Mini! for April 24th, 2024 (at 6:23) found via Sonic Wiki Zone, Honey is legally in a strange position and not particularly easy to include in other Sonic media or games because of how she's based on a Sega character from a different department of the company, which makes sense given what we know about crossover stuff within Sega.

Next is 2002's Gamecube port of Beach Spikers, although this one's more related to the second Fighting Vipers. May as well leave it here, though!

GameFAQs lists some names you can enter in World Tour mode for extra customisation options, and one of them, FVIPERS...



... Unlocks some face, hair and uniform options based on Honey's look from Fighting Vipers 2. That's it.



Finally, we have 2012 / 2013's Project X Zone for the 3DS, which crosses over Namco, Capcom and Sega franchises, including Fighting Vipers.

Bahn shows up as a Solo Unit in Chapter 2: The Fighting Vipers with Old Armstone Town as his theme song.

I don't have much else to add but the video above shows his interactions with the rest of the cast, some of which are pretty funny.




Of course, the main reason you're here is for our Fighting Vipers guide.

Produced with love, for you, this guide has all the portrait pictures and all the unlockables including, characters, options and Japan-only stuff...

It's got almost everything you need to know about the hidden content in the Saturn port of Fighting Vipers. So read it. Whee!




And so ends our look at Fighting Vipers, one of the most ridiculous and lovable video games of the 90s.

FIGHTING VIPERS WILL NEVER DIE. BLUE SKIES F-O-R-E-V-E-R