NeoGeo Battle Coliseum [PS2] - play as Mizuchi

This is a play-through using Mizuchi in the PS2 version of NeoGeo Battle Coliseum. Read on below for more information...

Mizuchi is one of the bosses in this game. He is an unlockable playable character.

===== ABOUT MIZUCHI =====

Mizuchi is created by WAREZ and is a clone of Orochi who originated from KOF97. Design-wise, his in-game sprites were redrawn and he now has a load of new animations/moves, mainly in the form of crouching basics. These were taken from the PS1 version of KOF97 and redrawn to match the newer style. Because he can now crouch, it makes him a more flexible character and less "stiff".

Gameplay-wise Mizuchi is quite a strong character, however the half-circle motion requirements of some of his special moves and the Soul Extract super means that you cannot abuse these moves that easily. Unfortunately, the player version of Mizuchi is weaker and is slightly different to the CPU boss version of him, as follows:

===== Differences between player and CPU Mizuchi =====

---- CPU Mizuchi can summon multiple Energy Pillars at a constant rate, and can mix the follow-ups with no restrictions. Player Mizuchi cannot do this.

---- CPU Mizuchi has an extra special move in which he creates a mirror shield. If it hits you, it produces a multi-hitting projectile. The player version Mizuchi doesn't have this move.

---- CPU Mizuchi doesn't seem to jump at all.

---- CPU Mizuchi inflicts much higher energy depletion.

---- CPU Mizuchi recovers the red parts of his life ridiculously quickly.

===== ABOUT NGBC =====

NeoGeo Battle Coliseum happens to be one of my favorite fighting games. The 2-on-2 tag team feature is nice, and I loved the dream match factor of how characters from other SNK-based games are included. Even characters from different time periods (i.e. Nakoruru) are in, some with new/re-drawn sprites as well.

The idea that you could face up to 4 bosses (3 of them well-known) offers variety in single-player mode, and the cheesy-but-lighthearted story about Goodman, who I quote: "I will topple NeoGeo's most powerful warriors and put myself on the throne!" adds to it's charm.

===== THE STORY / PLOT =====

The reasons for the game's story/plot is an interesting one, as there is a message behind it from the developers SNK. It also represents real-life happenings back then.

For starters, in the game, the name of the organization that hosts the tournament is called "WAREZ", which is an obvious play on the word 'warez' (which means illegitimate software), as SNK Playmore blames software copying as one of the reasons for it's company bankruptcy in 2001. Yuki and Ai, the two protagonists, are sent to the tournament by the Federal Government to investigate and stop WAREZ/Goodman... which is also a play on what the authorities should've done to combat it.

Also, the boss Goodman was created to represent the time when SNK and the NeoGeo were under the control of Eolith, so they made him look a bit like Igniz, who of course is Eolith's character.

===== REGIONAL DIFFERENCES =====

There are many differences between the USA and European versions of the game.

---- The European version suffers from incomplete language translation, which is why you don't get any text/dialogue during the boss cut-scenes and character true endings. Also, some character's win quotes on the winning screen just say "dummy4" or "dummy1". The background of the menu screen is also static instead of being animated like in the Japanese and USA versions.

----- The USA version translates the game properly, you will get text/dialogue in the boss cut-scenes and character true endings. The background of the menu screen is animated. Also, the loading times were much faster as well - this was done by stopping the music during loading. Whilst it dramatically shortened the waits between each match, it also meant that it's less authentic to the Arcade version.