Groove on Fight
A darker future brawl with only two returning fighters.
Groove on Fight is a 1997 fighting game developed by Atlus, the fourth in the Power Instinct series. It features artwork and designs by artist Range Murata and adopts a darker tone set in the future, with only two characters from prior games returning. The game's visual style was praised, but critics gave the overall gameplay average scores.
Quick Facts
- Developer
- Atlus
- Programmer
- Masahide Yamasaki; Toshiya Morishima
- Artist
- Range Murata
- Composer
- Toshikazu Tanaka
- Series
- Power Instinct
- Platforms
- Arcade, Sega Saturn
- Genre
- Fighting
- Modes
- Single-player, multiplayer
Facts from the source article.
Gameplay
Oume and Otane are the only returning characters from previous games. A tag system, taken from Gogetsuji Gaiden: Saikyou Densetsu, allows each match to have four characters, with players picking two and switching at will, similar to X-Men vs Street Fighter. Players can throw any character, including their partner. Bristol can summon demons from the Shin Megami Tensei series. A gallery mode unlocked after beating the game shows concept art, including unused characters. Up to four players are supported via the Sega Multi-tap.
Development and release
Groove on Fight is the fourth Power Instinct game. Artist Range Murata, who worked on prior series entries and the Saturn title Wachenröder, contributed designs. The game supports the 1MB or 4MB RAM expansion cart and was sold with or without the 1MB cart. The arcade version appeared at the JAMMA 96 trade show at the Atlus booth alongside a 3D fighter called Ultimate Domain, using the Sega ST-V board. The Saturn version, released exclusively in Japan on May 16, 1997, suffers from low frame rate and long loading times.
Reception
Brazilian magazine Super GamePower gave it 3.0 out of 5. GameSpot rated it 6.3 out of 10. Viz Media's online magazine J-Pop gave it 3/5. Three GameFan reviewers scored it 70, 80, and 65; one was highly critical, stating the 3MB of RAM from the extra memory cart should have produced a better game, noting constant loading times and animations comparable to Street Fighter II. Another reviewer praised the art and cast but called the pace slow and the gameplay 'not bad'. The third was more positive, noting lacking animation quality and an easily abusable Super Moves system, but commended the character designs as 'stunningly beautiful', specifically mentioning Solis' outfit, and praised the gameplay as 'wacky'. Three Japanese Sega Saturn Magazine reviewers gave average marks. An import review in English Saturn Power praised the game, saying 'Groove on Fight dares to be different and looks and plays well enough to get away with it'. In 2003, Edge magazine's Retro special called the game derivative and criticized loading times and low frame rate, but called it a decent alternative to Capcom fighting games. In 2006, Play magazine contributing editor Eric Patterson listed the game's cover art, along with River City Ransom, as his favorite game covers of all time.
More in Atlus Games of the 1990s
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