Looking through the credits, Dual Heroes just seems a lot like a passion project between Amemiya and his friends. A lot of the names are artists and composers who Keita Amemiya works with frequently, and they ALL tend to do Tokusatsu related projects together. I believe some of them were classmates at some point. Thanks for bringing this game to my attention, it's genuinely wonderful.
I was rewatching this, and had to pause while Matt was talking about the music as one track sounded so much like it came from the original GARO series (it was the song where the video editor asks if a window was left open). Sure enough, at least one of the composers were behind both soundtracks. Also on the presentation side, I swear Amemiya reused that font style for GARO as well. That alone bumps this gane up in the rankings.
Not even close. Heavy Nova is rock bottom. Wonky collision detection, a shitty energy system, totally unbalanced difficulty, crouching makes you invincible, jumping makes you invincible, but hey, at least the music is good for early Genesis standards.
As a small poo-babby I rented Dual Heros multiple times at my local Blockbuster. This was back then when I was into the Power Rangers and I just looked at the box art and I was just "hey sweet these look like Power Rangers". I dunno I thought it was pretty okay back then, dare I say Dual Heroes started to get me into fighting games, along with Dark Rift and other weird N64 3D fighting games.
It was heartwarming to see you talking about how everyone thought at the day that this game was trash, and then just start to genuinely like its particular charm xD
@@OptimumTaurus Oh, you sweet summer child. You have no idea how deep the bad fighting game barrel goes. Kasumi Ninja, Fight For Life, Way of the Warrior... As Mike Stoklasa would say, endless trash!
@@Boonehams In all fairness Fight For Life was only so bad because Atari refused to pay the programmer and released an early beta version as the finished product rather than paying the programmer what he was owed and getting the completed game. The completed ROM isn't an award-winner but it was at least a playable competent game.
I had this game as kid on my n64 and I played it a lot. I even played it on an emulator years later. And I can say from my expirience that it is not just playable, its actually pretty good. When i read about it online i was very suprised to know that people hate it, for some reason. Because i never thought about it as a bad game, even being an adult. People who say that must have too high standards or didn't saw truly bad games..
@@johnsmith-ck4qt that's with a lot of thing graphics not up to part? Bad game story little bit lacking? Bad game 1 glitch in the beginning of a 10 hour game? Bad game people just expect way to much and be acting like they can do it better but when u tell them to do it them self I can bet u that non of them would do it it's easy to complain
Okay, anyone watching this, NEEDS to check out Keita Amemiya's work in Tokusatsu. 90s movies like Zeiram, Mechanical Violator Hakaider, his Kamen Rider stuff, and most importantly, GARO.
@@kylekiske_ he did design work on Black, Black RX, effects work on the movie Shin Kamen Rider Prologue, design and directed the movies ZO and J, and design work for the Black/RX arc of Decade. Shin, ZO and J are available to watch free, with subs on Toei's Tokusatsu youtube channel.
You can't talk about the worst fighting games ever and not bring up Rise Of The Robots. No, I don't care that you already covered it on Wha Happun. You must relive that agony once more Matt.
Man, if this got a second chance to be developed today I think it could nail a corner of the market. Maybe not an EVO contender, but definitely a local scene. Good ideas here.
Agreed! This had great ideas and potential, it just wasn't well executed. If this game got a remake/sequel that learned from the mistakes of it's predecessor it could be great!
All that Toku talk in the intro got me thinking, Why the fuck has there never been a Guyver fighting game? Or a beat 'em up? or any Guyver games whatsoever?
there are surprisingly A LOT of kamen rider fighting games and they are actually pretty good, i love them and this is coming from someone who doesnt know anything about kamen rider
There is actually an answer to this. Guyvers release and pop-cultural height came in kinda at a terrible time for it. Japan actually changed its age-rating system in the early to late 90ies which led to an end for a lot of 80ies classics like Fist of the Northstar or Guyver for example, because now these shows would actually be more restricted due to their graphic content. Reason for the changes were a lot of tragedys that happened around that time in Japan like, for example, the child murders of Kobe or the Sarin attacks in the Tokio subway to name a few. That's the same reason why it took more then 200 years for JoJo Bizarre adventure to get a proper Tv show adaption, because that was also hit severly by those changes. And together with the American Guyver movies flopping nobody cared about making a Guyver game at any time as well.
OH my god DUDE, i had this game as a child, and for the last 20 years or more i didnt think of that game, i completely forgot about it till i saw your video and the backflashes of this game are hunting done some crazy child memories in me now xD Dude thanks for all the memories i just recieved back xD
I remember playing this at a friends house all the time when i was really little. Could not remember the name of it at all. Then this gets posted and im like, "Shiiiiit! There it is!"
Please continue this series. I've never been the biggest fighting game fan, but I like to dabble here and there. It's nice to hear the perspective of someone who has some chops, but, more importantly, has the ability to write a coherent script and present the evidence.
Am I ignorant or is that a new (extremely beautiful) art that really puts the Muscles in McMuscles? I need to thank this artist btw. also any chance we'll see you cover the uh...interesting CGI cutscenes for Dark Rift on PC? Them be somethings
You could talk about all N64 fighting games, then you show Flying dragon (that is super awesome indeed, with better loot and RPG elements than Netherrealm have ever done)
You know, overall this game looks pretty good for the time! It's definitely no Street Fighter or Tekken, far from them, but it's "all right". Also, Katsuya Terada also worked on this!? Man, if this was a modern game and they were able to fully realise Terada's art style into the game with the Sentai theme, this game would have looked super amazing! Now, I want a remake just to see that. XD
i think theres actual concept art of the characters in a terada works compilation book and holy shit is great there, its just sad they couldnt fully realize it in the models and 3d animation
Battle Masters still stands as the worst and most cursed fighting game I’ve ever played. Fighting Eyes and FIST after. Never heard of this one though…. Might have to try it out
@@zackschilling4376 it was import only and it’s a PS One game. There’s a pink haired woman on the cover. It’s hard to find and I hope the guy in Japan I got it from enjoyed his 9 dollars.
@@edgeyberzerker I watch a lil bit of it on TH-cam and it was pretty generic, but I did like the soundtrack (Battle Master: Kyuukyoku no Senshitachi for Super Famicom)
@@edgeyberzerker Wow, I found the PS1 Battle Masters you were talking about and you werent lying, it looks awful. The Super Famicom Battle Master looks like Third Strike compared to the PS1 BM. Its(SNES BM) a wee bit generic but didnt look terrible, and the music was pretty good to great. I was a lil confused cuz it didnt look bad on a Criticom level, but that PS1 Battle Masters is just butt ass ugly and looks like it would play like garbage. Dont know why when I first, searched the SF one was all that came up.
Don't know if anyone would read this, but just wanted to add a few things as someone who both had the game and still keeps the Instruction Manual (by mistake it was never returned after the game was rented at Blockbuster Video). First off, as stated in the Instruction Manual, it states that "depending on how you clear the game, you will be able to use new Heroes". I only have very vague memories, but I think the Final Boss in one or both forms is unlockable.You can change the difficulty under Options and changing the difficulty affects the Ending. I can't recall if it was just enabling a character to be unlocked or did more than that. You can also change the number of rounds and time per round. More interestingly, you can remap the buttons, although you cannot change the Control Stick. Still, you can map two of the button combinations to a single button, which is nice. Second, as seen in the Instruction Manual (which is briefly seen at 13:56), the Lethal Change is not a one-size-fits-all power up, but works different depending on the fighter. Gai and Zen will do half damage through guards. Gun and Juie gain immunity to being knocked down; Retsu becomes invisible except when attacking or getting hurt; Hoe gets increased speed; and Hana and Kumo force opponents off-balance when they guard attacks. It's a surprisingly ambitious system. Third, besides side-stepping in 3D, you can also fully run around, Soul Calibur 2 style, with some moves only possible while running. The catch is, you can ONLY run like that when you are losing and otherwise you are stuck with side-stepping. This is an interesting idea for a fighting game and I think the intent was to allow players to run away and have the extra space to enter the Lethal Change mode, for a comeback mechanic of sorts and/or a guard against winning by button mashing. The VS VR Mode is like a second Story Mode. In fact, I think of it as the real Story Mode because there is no real reason why in Story Mode you fight the other fighters, whereas the VS VR Mode mades perfect sense. You head off to an arcade in a bid to be the champion player of said arcade. Plus, that arcade is the building shown in the main menu, instead of it being related at all to the Story Mode.. You can customise your Icon Profile and the Icons for the people you face are animated and there is personality that comes through. It was a really neat idea. I've always remembered Dual Heroes for two reasons. The first is that I'd heard it was apparently such a bad game, but anyone who has really played it knows it isn't THAT bad. It ain't great, but it really isn't as bad as you'd think hearing about it. The second is that while the game definitely is lacking in execution, it is a game that had several really interesting ideas which have unrealised potential having been left to languish here (aside from the Robot Mode which was Smash Amiibo before Smash Amiibo).
THANK YOU. Someone needs to get Matt to watch the glory of the GARO franchise. Perfect palate cleanser after dealing with bad fighting is to watch amazing fighting (episode 7 of the OG live action series comes to mind, aka the one that was deemed by the staff to be what to aim for quality-wise afterwards).
i had this game. This game is actually really good like really really good. The more you play it. The more amazed you get by how much this game actually offers. This game also allows you to run in any direction and do some other cool stuff.
Actually, Matt McMuscles. One day, you gotta try SD Hiryu no Ken Densetsu, the sequel/upgrade to Flying Dragon’s SD mode on N64. It is Japan only though so, it’ll be hard to know what from what. I covered a lot about it back on my old channel but honestly, I should one day revisit that. It’s a very worthy sequel with its much improved combo system, rpg mechanics, and loot.
Zen in yellow is our friend Golden Knight GARO, but in his default silver he's our boi Silver Knight ZERO. His bio makes me think of a cross between Rei and Barago.
Man… this game takes me back. I remember going to KB Toys with my mom, walking over to the video game section, seeing this game in the display and then BEGGING her to buy it for me.
This game brings me so much memories. I genuinely think there are some genius takes too, like the credit screen displaying some of the characters moves. It made the credits fun to watch and I also tried to figure out the moves shown in practice mode later and it was always fun! Sure, they could make it so you could skip the credits and have a ingame move list, but figuring the moves out was so awesome! Also the vs-vr mode was really fun 'cause they made it look like you were playing another person when your stupid brother wouldn't play with you lol
I have vague memories of playing this with a friend when I was 10 years old and thinking it was kind of fun. I wasn't aware of this game's awful reputation until over a decade later. Though I do remember liking Juie the monster guy, I thought he was pretty neat.
Gai looks like he came right out of Boukenger (Power Rangers Operation Overdrive), but this predates it so... I guess something about hits was preserved.
I rented this one weekend waaaaay back in the day and had a good time with it! One of the cool ideas it had (and was the only feature that wasn't included in the video) was the VS VR where you would take on virtual arcade opponents who each had a particular style. I think the variations with the virtual opponent was meant to flesh out the limited roster. I can't really remember if they had that much of a discernable difference, but fun idea at the very least. If you're looking for some more good N64 fighting fodder, MACE: The Dark Age and War Gods both spring to mind.
Is it weird that I liked Evil Zone when I was younger? I got a kick out of how... anime it was, complete with the "next episode" previews between fighters. Not sure how the fighting holds up cuz I was very much a button masher back then, though, so maybe it'd suck now that I know what I'm doing.
@@ReaperRedeemer2112 Thaaaaaaat's it. Couldn't remember the title to save my soul...lol. Problem for Matt doing it would be having a WORKING Jaguar, tho...
0:02 Ironically Tattoo Assassins probably wouldn't even place high on this list. Despite its infamy it is just a janky carbon clone of Mortal Kombat 2 with stupid character designs. That still places it far above Criticom or most of the other MK ripoffs of its era.
I hope I'm not the only one who thought the guy in the right of the thumbnail of the video looked like a Power Ranger dressed with a Sonic the Hedgehog armor. Please tell me I'm not the only one seeing a Sonic armor!
@@SoukaDeezNutz Not really since that games takes inspiration from MvC, the game I am imagining is more of a 1 v 1 affair. Plus the Trademark is up for grabs btw.
@@CrimmiSkye Trademark or ownership? Fuck man, I honestly thought about buying the rights to this game so that I could remake it with a fresh coat of paint. Lemme buy.
I gotta say, at least by my first impression, this looks a lot better than Shiticom. I bought Criticom cuz it was a 6 dollar CIB longbox game. I still regret my purchase.
I would've legit liked that game had I known about it back in 1998+ Looks like it would've been fun, especially since I was very much into power rangers in that time period as a kid. That robot mode seems like it was ahead of its time, so that's extra bonus points.
"It could be good to have a slow motion bit for the last hit at the end of the match" "Got it. Layer motion blur effects until the console chugs into slow motion." 😄
Interesting, as this is the last N64 game I played in my childhood that I still haven't picked up for my collection. You convinced me to get it, Matt, so... hurray?
I have a question to the story. Normally,in fighting games there's a tournament or something going on,sooooo... *is there a reason this group of heroes wanting to save the planet and destroying Zorr are fighting EACH OTHER in those stages leading up to him???*
I remember seeing this featured in an old issue of Nintendo Power and wondering what ever happened to it. It's not covered in the video, but a gimmick they pushed was that each fighter would have several different AIs that would play each fighter differently, so for example, a single character could either fight in a noble manner, or use a bunch of cheap tricks, depending on the AI. The idea was to apparently recreate the sort of metagame that one would experience in a vs. match within a single-player experience (and I'm guessing that's what the title "Dual Heroes" is supposed to mean, apart from being a pun on "Duel".) Strange this has such a bad reputation. It honestly doesn't seem so bad, judging from this video, and was even a bit ahead of its time with the "Robot" feature.
Oh man I actually played Dual Heroes in its day. I wasn't taken by it's style. But damn at least the spirit of Hudson's kick ass soundtrack styling kept me coming back! You mentioned Evil Zone. Love that game. The ending being the same for all the characters was all too bad for me. You could go up against 'fictional competitors' in a versus mode. Characters who challenged you would use a one of the 8 character. I saw a shirt with the 'those' characters on it once for sale. Had me puzzled.... Still does.
Sometimes, using the "show, not tell" method for a video game is best. So, for those who aren't aware of what that is or what it means, it describes showing exposition in your story that does not require and/or need dialogue to explain the world and/or the situation at hand. For example, show the person throwing a punch without saying or writing that they are. Or show the trees moving in the wind without explaining in a paragraph that they are blowing in the wind.
remember playing this so much against my little brother, training the robot up to use all the super moves first (because if you trained it on anything else it'd be impossible to transform), all the fighters have gimics associated with their transforms, like Retsu who goes invisible, Hoe goes super fast, etc. as clunky as it was (like most games of that era) theres a charm about it thats hard to deny, its over the top, but at least they made it somewhat unique and didnt just copy sets from other games.
@@crithitjace And a slew of Showa Kamen Rider shows and movies, starting with Black. Although now I wonder if poor Shin inspired some of the Horrors in Amemiya's baby, the GARO franchise.
You have to check Goiken Muyou : Anarchy in the Nippon on Saturn. It's like virtua fighters, but you're fighting your weirdo neighbours. It looks weird, but the gameplay is tight.
Keita Amemiya worked and released three games on three different consoles in 1997, so it makes sense that one of them ended up being sub par (although this was the only one he directed himself (He did the character designs and wrote the scenario of a Saturn adventure game, and did character designs and presentation for a PS RPG
This is not even close to the worse fighting game ever, in fact I would say this is easily one of the best fighting games on the n64 for the sheer factor that the hitboxes etc. feel a lot nicer than most other fighters on the system. Combat feels good, and when you start picking up your characters combos and special moves you start to feel like a God. Nothing beats that dramatic flipping sound effect. *"HWOOH!!!"*
Dual Heroes: Here's a textbook of lore you need to study up on because the test is in 3 minutes, ok go! Smash bros: It's just a kid playing with their dolls
Looking through the credits, Dual Heroes just seems a lot like a passion project between Amemiya and his friends. A lot of the names are artists and composers who Keita Amemiya works with frequently, and they ALL tend to do Tokusatsu related projects together. I believe some of them were classmates at some point.
Thanks for bringing this game to my attention, it's genuinely wonderful.
I agree. There’s a decent amount of love here
I was rewatching this, and had to pause while Matt was talking about the music as one track sounded so much like it came from the original GARO series (it was the song where the video editor asks if a window was left open). Sure enough, at least one of the composers were behind both soundtracks. Also on the presentation side, I swear Amemiya reused that font style for GARO as well. That alone bumps this gane up in the rankings.
@mindwarp42 yeah and Jule looks like Garo too
@@RileyZilla1001 same character designer!
@@RileyZilla1001 Default color Zen straight up looks like ZERO. Our Makai Knights have come so far.
This game doesn't seem to be THAT bad. It's just a poor man's virtua fighter with sentai characters.
The bottom of the barrel is RISE OF THE ROBOTS.
Why did you have to remind me that Rise of the Robots exists?
Not even close. Heavy Nova is rock bottom. Wonky collision detection, a shitty energy system, totally unbalanced difficulty, crouching makes you invincible, jumping makes you invincible, but hey, at least the music is good for early Genesis standards.
As a small poo-babby I rented Dual Heros multiple times at my local Blockbuster. This was back then when I was into the Power Rangers and I just looked at the box art and I was just "hey sweet these look like Power Rangers". I dunno I thought it was pretty okay back then, dare I say Dual Heroes started to get me into fighting games, along with Dark Rift and other weird N64 3D fighting games.
@@thistoxicguy7219 I actually liked Dark Rift, I rented that a couple of times along with Mace: The Dark Ages lol
i agree... Rise of the RObots is for sure the worst.
It was heartwarming to see you talking about how everyone thought at the day that this game was trash, and then just start to genuinely like its particular charm xD
Like the combo of scripted and gameplay segments for this vid
I personally think Shaq-Fu and Rise of the Robots should be the real contenders for dethroning Criticom
@@OptimumTaurus Me too
Sameeee
@@OptimumTaurus Oh, you sweet summer child. You have no idea how deep the bad fighting game barrel goes. Kasumi Ninja, Fight For Life, Way of the Warrior... As Mike Stoklasa would say, endless trash!
@@Boonehams In all fairness Fight For Life was only so bad because Atari refused to pay the programmer and released an early beta version as the finished product rather than paying the programmer what he was owed and getting the completed game. The completed ROM isn't an award-winner but it was at least a playable competent game.
Honestly? This seems way more playable than Criticom.
There's really no comparison.
I had this game as kid on my n64 and I played it a lot. I even played it on an emulator years later. And I can say from my expirience that it is not just playable, its actually pretty good. When i read about it online i was very suprised to know that people hate it, for some reason. Because i never thought about it as a bad game, even being an adult. People who say that must have too high standards or didn't saw truly bad games..
@@johnsmith-ck4qt that's with a lot of thing graphics not up to part? Bad game story little bit lacking? Bad game 1 glitch in the beginning of a 10 hour game? Bad game people just expect way to much and be acting like they can do it better but when u tell them to do it them self I can bet u that non of them would do it it's easy to complain
@@johnsmith-ck4qt Or they just don't like it.
Is Mcmuscles a shoto?!
Shoto with a charge rising tackle thrown in
Yep
is Mcmuscles an instrument?
@@ALASTOR101.No Patrick, Mcmuscles is not an instrument.
The guy wakes up and dp's 😂
I would have loved this game as a kid 100%
I did.
I did
This game definitely deserves points simply for having the best asscheeks of its era.
Donkey Kong 64
Okay, anyone watching this, NEEDS to check out Keita Amemiya's work in Tokusatsu.
90s movies like Zeiram, Mechanical Violator Hakaider, his Kamen Rider stuff, and most importantly, GARO.
Oh shit this man did that badass Hakaider movie AND Garo?? Is he still working in the industry?
@@Elonyx.studios Garo just had another entry last year. Versus Road was pretty good. Not great, not Crimson Moon bad, just good.
@@kylekiske_ he was a character designer for Black, Black RX, Shin, J, and ZO. He also returned to do a design for the Black episodes of Decade.
@@kylekiske_ he did design work on Black, Black RX, effects work on the movie Shin Kamen Rider Prologue, design and directed the movies ZO and J, and design work for the Black/RX arc of Decade.
Shin, ZO and J are available to watch free, with subs on Toei's Tokusatsu youtube channel.
You can't talk about the worst fighting games ever and not bring up Rise Of The Robots. No, I don't care that you already covered it on Wha Happun. You must relive that agony once more Matt.
That’s the worst one I’ve played and I’ve played o a good amount of these
That game was a pile of shit without the warmth or texture.
First game that i knew the developers paid the reviewers off. Cvg gave it a 90. 90.
You just got your wish!
Man, if this got a second chance to be developed today I think it could nail a corner of the market. Maybe not an EVO contender, but definitely a local scene. Good ideas here.
At least tokusatsu fans would love it, especially with more polish and a better fleshed out story mode.
Agreed! This had great ideas and potential, it just wasn't well executed. If this game got a remake/sequel that learned from the mistakes of it's predecessor it could be great!
This was a game which I rented multiple times from the video store back in the day. This video is giving me a massive wave of nostalgia. Thanks Matt.
Man I feel downright lucky. Mine had battle arena toshinden
As a Brit there's nothing I like more than an American enthusiastically saying Bollocks!
He's Canadian, but I don't know if that changes anythinh.
@@pixelsbykris5494 ah man I knew that too. Damn it. Still awesome to hear though :-)
Bollicks more like
I have a still working copy of this game. Sadly, it's also the only fighting game i'm decent at.
Hey I’m great at Evil Zone.
Dude it’s hella fun
I know I'm not the only one who thinks the green sentai dude looks like The Hand( Okuyasu's stand), especially at 10:33
It's just the bucket head, tho. The rest of the design isn't similar at all
@@Skimmy404 🍪
All that Toku talk in the intro got me thinking, Why the fuck has there never been a Guyver fighting game? Or a beat 'em up? or any Guyver games whatsoever?
I don't think so? Maybe a Japan only release?
there are surprisingly A LOT of kamen rider fighting games and they are actually pretty good, i love them and this is coming from someone who doesnt know anything about kamen rider
There is actually an answer to this. Guyvers release and pop-cultural height came in kinda at a terrible time for it.
Japan actually changed its age-rating system in the early to late 90ies which led to an end for a lot of 80ies classics like Fist of the Northstar or Guyver for example, because now these shows would actually be more restricted due to their graphic content. Reason for the changes were a lot of tragedys that happened around that time in Japan like, for example, the child murders of Kobe or the Sarin attacks in the Tokio subway to name a few.
That's the same reason why it took more then 200 years for JoJo Bizarre adventure to get a proper Tv show adaption, because that was also hit severly by those changes.
And together with the American Guyver movies flopping nobody cared about making a Guyver game at any time as well.
@@EnerKaizer oh, wow
@@EnerKaizer So there could be a significant future in a Guyver revival, perhaps
OH my god DUDE, i had this game as a child, and for the last 20 years or more i didnt think of that game, i completely forgot about it till i saw your video and the backflashes of this game are hunting done some crazy child memories in me now xD Dude thanks for all the memories i just recieved back xD
DAMN
Me Too
"at least it's not Criticom"
is a good + point on a review page.
First saw the thumbnail I thought "is this some type of weird Sonic fan art?"
I remember playing this at a friends house all the time when i was really little. Could not remember the name of it at all.
Then this gets posted and im like, "Shiiiiit! There it is!"
Please continue this series. I've never been the biggest fighting game fan, but I like to dabble here and there. It's nice to hear the perspective of someone who has some chops, but, more importantly, has the ability to write a coherent script and present the evidence.
I'm so glad someone remembers this game
I’ve put so much time in this game at my buddies house can’t find a copy of it anywhere
Maybe it would've been better if the world didn't remember it.
Same, I liked this game growing up. Game is bad, but the music is pretty good along with the designs.
Am I ignorant or is that a new (extremely beautiful) art that really puts the Muscles in McMuscles?
I need to thank this artist btw.
also any chance we'll see you cover the uh...interesting CGI cutscenes for Dark Rift on PC? Them be somethings
You could talk about all N64 fighting games, then you show Flying dragon (that is super awesome indeed, with better loot and RPG elements than Netherrealm have ever done)
Im so glad that someone is talking about this game!! It's jank as hell, but it's got charm.
Matt: "unless theres a 10th stage and i have to fight a celestial"
the game: "and i took that personally"
You know, overall this game looks pretty good for the time! It's definitely no Street Fighter or Tekken, far from them, but it's "all right".
Also, Katsuya Terada also worked on this!? Man, if this was a modern game and they were able to fully realise Terada's art style into the game with the Sentai theme, this game would have looked super amazing! Now, I want a remake just to see that. XD
i think theres actual concept art of the characters in a terada works compilation book and holy shit is great there, its just sad they couldnt fully realize it in the models and 3d animation
Battle Masters still stands as the worst and most cursed fighting game I’ve ever played. Fighting Eyes and FIST after. Never heard of this one though…. Might have to try it out
Was that released in the US? Battle Masters sounds familiar but all I found was a Super Famicom game. It looked like your typical SF2 rip-off.
@@zackschilling4376 it was import only and it’s a PS One game. There’s a pink haired woman on the cover. It’s hard to find and I hope the guy in Japan I got it from enjoyed his 9 dollars.
@@edgeyberzerker I watch a lil bit of it on TH-cam and it was pretty generic, but I did like the soundtrack (Battle Master: Kyuukyoku no Senshitachi for Super Famicom)
@@edgeyberzerker Wow, I found the PS1 Battle Masters you were talking about and you werent lying, it looks awful. The Super Famicom Battle Master looks like Third Strike compared to the PS1 BM. Its(SNES BM) a wee bit generic but didnt look terrible, and the music was pretty good to great. I was a lil confused cuz it didnt look bad on a Criticom level, but that PS1 Battle Masters is just butt ass ugly and looks like it would play like garbage. Dont know why when I first, searched the SF one was all that came up.
@@zackschilling4376 I can't even describe the controls! They.... don't work???
Don't know if anyone would read this, but just wanted to add a few things as someone who both had the game and still keeps the Instruction Manual (by mistake it was never returned after the game was rented at Blockbuster Video).
First off, as stated in the Instruction Manual, it states that "depending on how you clear the game, you will be able to use new Heroes". I only have very vague memories, but I think the Final Boss in one or both forms is unlockable.You can change the difficulty under Options and changing the difficulty affects the Ending. I can't recall if it was just enabling a character to be unlocked or did more than that. You can also change the number of rounds and time per round. More interestingly, you can remap the buttons, although you cannot change the Control Stick. Still, you can map two of the button combinations to a single button, which is nice.
Second, as seen in the Instruction Manual (which is briefly seen at 13:56), the Lethal Change is not a one-size-fits-all power up, but works different depending on the fighter. Gai and Zen will do half damage through guards. Gun and Juie gain immunity to being knocked down; Retsu becomes invisible except when attacking or getting hurt; Hoe gets increased speed; and Hana and Kumo force opponents off-balance when they guard attacks. It's a surprisingly ambitious system.
Third, besides side-stepping in 3D, you can also fully run around, Soul Calibur 2 style, with some moves only possible while running. The catch is, you can ONLY run like that when you are losing and otherwise you are stuck with side-stepping. This is an interesting idea for a fighting game and I think the intent was to allow players to run away and have the extra space to enter the Lethal Change mode, for a comeback mechanic of sorts and/or a guard against winning by button mashing.
The VS VR Mode is like a second Story Mode. In fact, I think of it as the real Story Mode because there is no real reason why in Story Mode you fight the other fighters, whereas the VS VR Mode mades perfect sense. You head off to an arcade in a bid to be the champion player of said arcade. Plus, that arcade is the building shown in the main menu, instead of it being related at all to the Story Mode.. You can customise your Icon Profile and the Icons for the people you face are animated and there is personality that comes through. It was a really neat idea.
I've always remembered Dual Heroes for two reasons. The first is that I'd heard it was apparently such a bad game, but anyone who has really played it knows it isn't THAT bad. It ain't great, but it really isn't as bad as you'd think hearing about it. The second is that while the game definitely is lacking in execution, it is a game that had several really interesting ideas which have unrealised potential having been left to languish here (aside from the Robot Mode which was Smash Amiibo before Smash Amiibo).
I like how Jule looks like a proto Garo; a rough sketch before the 2005 show
where is the mention how every character has CAKE
6:30 Matt gradually transforming from Fred Durst to Eminem
I had completely forgot about this one. Never owned it but rented it at least a couple of time. Thanks for bringing back some memories.
honestly, this game looks pretty cute and fun to just mess about in a bit, defs one i'd pick up to play with friends if i found it for a decent price
Dual heroes is amazing. I still remember the headbanger soundtrack and still have my cartridge in perfect condition.
BRO MATT, C'MON DAWG!!
You cant bring up Keita Amemiya without mentioning GARO! That show is faaaaantatsic~
THANK YOU. Someone needs to get Matt to watch the glory of the GARO franchise. Perfect palate cleanser after dealing with bad fighting is to watch amazing fighting (episode 7 of the OG live action series comes to mind, aka the one that was deemed by the staff to be what to aim for quality-wise afterwards).
Was gonna comment this. If there's literally anything that Amemiya is known for, it's Garo, and for good reason.
I noticed there are numbers that appear when you hit someone in Training?
Is that *frame data* in an N64 game???
IS THAT A *SUPRA?*
looking at it, i think it's combo damage
Bottom number is combo damage, top number is individual attack damage.
i had this game. This game is actually really good like really really good. The more you play it. The more amazed you get by how much this game actually offers. This game also allows you to run in any direction and do some other cool stuff.
Actually, Matt McMuscles. One day, you gotta try SD Hiryu no Ken Densetsu, the sequel/upgrade to Flying Dragon’s SD mode on N64. It is Japan only though so, it’ll be hard to know what from what. I covered a lot about it back on my old channel but honestly, I should one day revisit that. It’s a very worthy sequel with its much improved combo system, rpg mechanics, and loot.
Zen legit looks like another of Amemiya's creations, Garo.
Zen in yellow is our friend Golden Knight GARO, but in his default silver he's our boi Silver Knight ZERO. His bio makes me think of a cross between Rei and Barago.
Man… this game takes me back.
I remember going to KB Toys with my mom, walking over to the video game section, seeing this game in the display and then BEGGING her to buy it for me.
This game brings me so much memories. I genuinely think there are some genius takes too, like the credit screen displaying some of the characters moves. It made the credits fun to watch and I also tried to figure out the moves shown in practice mode later and it was always fun! Sure, they could make it so you could skip the credits and have a ingame move list, but figuring the moves out was so awesome! Also the vs-vr mode was really fun 'cause they made it look like you were playing another person when your stupid brother wouldn't play with you lol
why does this game have such deepfried textures, it looks like they ran them through like 6 instagram filters
I have vague memories of playing this with a friend when I was 10 years old and thinking it was kind of fun. I wasn't aware of this game's awful reputation until over a decade later. Though I do remember liking Juie the monster guy, I thought he was pretty neat.
Honestly, I feel like this game had SOME potential.
Gai looks like he came right out of Boukenger (Power Rangers Operation Overdrive), but this predates it so... I guess something about hits was preserved.
I rented this one weekend waaaaay back in the day and had a good time with it! One of the cool ideas it had (and was the only feature that wasn't included in the video) was the VS VR where you would take on virtual arcade opponents who each had a particular style. I think the variations with the virtual opponent was meant to flesh out the limited roster. I can't really remember if they had that much of a discernable difference, but fun idea at the very least.
If you're looking for some more good N64 fighting fodder, MACE: The Dark Age and War Gods both spring to mind.
The game looked SOOOOO much better than I expected. Kinda feel like playing it after watching it
Is it weird that I liked Evil Zone when I was younger? I got a kick out of how... anime it was, complete with the "next episode" previews between fighters. Not sure how the fighting holds up cuz I was very much a button masher back then, though, so maybe it'd suck now that I know what I'm doing.
Evil Zone is great!
Maaan i absolutely love the fact you use the KI theme between segments it's just that little bit of extra icing on the cake
What about that fighting game for the Atari Jaguar...the one with the Scottish guy who lifts his kilt and throws fireballs? Sadly, not even kidding.
Kasumi Ninja. It's pretty awful.
Time killers or something, I know avgn done a segment on it
@@ReaperRedeemer2112 Thaaaaaaat's it. Couldn't remember the title to save my soul...lol. Problem for Matt doing it would be having a WORKING Jaguar, tho...
@@theancientgamer8524 Pretty sure in one of his other videos he showed he had a copy of Kasumi Ninja, so I assume he probably has a jaguar too
@@PuellaSins Awesome! Hope it gets considered for this series...that game is just plain BAD.
I would kill for a tokusatsu series re-using these designs, even if two of them are Proto Garo and Lady Battle Cop Mk2.
0:02 Ironically Tattoo Assassins probably wouldn't even place high on this list. Despite its infamy it is just a janky carbon clone of Mortal Kombat 2 with stupid character designs. That still places it far above Criticom or most of the other MK ripoffs of its era.
I hope I'm not the only one who thought the guy in the right of the thumbnail of the video looked like a Power Ranger dressed with a Sonic the Hedgehog armor. Please tell me I'm not the only one seeing a Sonic armor!
-mom can we have evil zone?
-but whe have evil zone in home.
evil zone in home:
Shadow: War of Succession within the first minute.
_NOW THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKIN' BOUT._
Some of the typography in the game is way ahead of its time-super-stylized lettering that we would later see in SFIV and beyond.
I could imagine this as a 2D fighter, it'd be decent.
Like that power rangers fighting game that recently released?
@@SoukaDeezNutz Not really since that games takes inspiration from MvC, the game I am imagining is more of a 1 v 1 affair.
Plus the Trademark is up for grabs btw.
@@CrimmiSkye Trademark or ownership? Fuck man, I honestly thought about buying the rights to this game so that I could remake it with a fresh coat of paint. Lemme buy.
@@Hot18Shot Doubt Konami would touch it again.
@@CrimmiSkye Would they buy it for 12 sheckles? But no really, who do I have to talk to for it. I need names, numbers, emails.
Amemiya worked on this game?! Dude, he's one of my favorite Japanese creators!
Ever try the obscure movie license Expect No Mercy?
I'm not going to stand for Evil Zone slander because the Japanese intro music whips
As a 9 year old I absolutely loved Shaq Fu and will defend it with my life.
I wonder if Toshinden URA for the Saturn could be a contender.
They joked that URA stood for Ugly, repetitive and awful.
"Is there a command list? There is not."
Was it in the manual?
I gotta say, at least by my first impression, this looks a lot better than Shiticom. I bought Criticom cuz it was a 6 dollar CIB longbox game. I still regret my purchase.
I would've legit liked that game had I known about it back in 1998+
Looks like it would've been fun, especially since I was very much into power rangers in that time period as a kid.
That robot mode seems like it was ahead of its time, so that's extra bonus points.
Then we have “Dong Dong Never Die”, which just breaks the scale and becomes the best fighting game
"It could be good to have a slow motion bit for the last hit at the end of the match"
"Got it. Layer motion blur effects until the console chugs into slow motion."
😄
As a fan of 90's cheesy synth music, I give this game a 10/10.
6:30
Reminds me of those days trying to read the paragraphs that would scroll up before every StarWars movie 😅
Interesting, as this is the last N64 game I played in my childhood that I still haven't picked up for my collection. You convinced me to get it, Matt, so... hurray?
I have a question to the story. Normally,in fighting games there's a tournament or something going on,sooooo... *is there a reason this group of heroes wanting to save the planet and destroying Zorr are fighting EACH OTHER in those stages leading up to him???*
Blame the gaiathyst?
You can imagine they are cooperatively training, or that their different factions are clashing in the run-up to discovering who the real enemy is.
I remember seeing this featured in an old issue of Nintendo Power and wondering what ever happened to it. It's not covered in the video, but a gimmick they pushed was that each fighter would have several different AIs that would play each fighter differently, so for example, a single character could either fight in a noble manner, or use a bunch of cheap tricks, depending on the AI. The idea was to apparently recreate the sort of metagame that one would experience in a vs. match within a single-player experience (and I'm guessing that's what the title "Dual Heroes" is supposed to mean, apart from being a pun on "Duel".)
Strange this has such a bad reputation. It honestly doesn't seem so bad, judging from this video, and was even a bit ahead of its time with the "Robot" feature.
Loving the idea of this as a series! The format of gameplay/essay is super clean too
Hudson Soft!?
The Same Videogame Studio That Made Some Of The First 4 And Majority Of The Entries In The Mario Party Series For Nintendo!?
I'm loving these videos! I'm watching the Kasumi Ninja one next. 🤘🔥
16:32 man the Sonic Movie Sequel is lookin pretty dope! 🤣
Love the new format! Thanks for all the content!
I know its not a bad game but you should play Plasma Sword at some point.
Oh man I actually played Dual Heroes in its day. I wasn't taken by it's style. But damn at least the spirit of Hudson's kick ass soundtrack styling kept me coming back! You mentioned Evil Zone. Love that game. The ending being the same for all the characters was all too bad for me. You could go up against 'fictional competitors' in a versus mode. Characters who challenged you would use a one of the 8 character. I saw a shirt with the 'those' characters on it once for sale. Had me puzzled.... Still does.
I hope the final boss has a manservant. A Gezorr butler, as it wer.
Sometimes, using the "show, not tell" method for a video game is best.
So, for those who aren't aware of what that is or what it means, it describes showing exposition in your story that does not require and/or need dialogue to explain the world and/or the situation at hand.
For example, show the person throwing a punch without saying or writing that they are. Or show the trees moving in the wind without explaining in a paragraph that they are blowing in the wind.
A new series from Mathew.. don’t call me that Mc muscles I’m down for it.
Did anything in the game explain why it's called 'Dual Heroes'? Is there something 'dual' about them or was it actually supposed to be 'Duel Heroes'?
remember playing this so much against my little brother, training the robot up to use all the super moves first (because if you trained it on anything else it'd be impossible to transform), all the fighters have gimics associated with their transforms, like Retsu who goes invisible, Hoe goes super fast, etc.
as clunky as it was (like most games of that era) theres a charm about it thats hard to deny, its over the top, but at least they made it somewhat unique and didnt just copy sets from other games.
-1 for "screen like this", -1 for speed it scrolled by at and -9999 for misuse of "loses" versus "looses". There should be a law...
FUN FACT: Keita Amemiya directed 2 episodes of Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger (aka MMPR)
He also designed characters for the Metal Heroes shows Spielban & Metalder which were used for VR Troopers
@@crithitjace And a slew of Showa Kamen Rider shows and movies, starting with Black. Although now I wonder if poor Shin inspired some of the Horrors in Amemiya's baby, the GARO franchise.
You have to check Goiken Muyou : Anarchy in the Nippon on Saturn.
It's like virtua fighters, but you're fighting your weirdo neighbours.
It looks weird, but the gameplay is tight.
Keita Amemiya worked and released three games on three different consoles in 1997, so it makes sense that one of them ended up being sub par (although this was the only one he directed himself
(He did the character designs and wrote the scenario of a Saturn adventure game, and did character designs and presentation for a PS RPG
that texture warp at 7:32 on the big-ass tower that's obviously the focus of that picture had me cracking the fuck UP
That version of your avatar had me laughing my ass off for a bit
The opening crawl turned Matt into John Moschitta.
This is not even close to the worse fighting game ever, in fact I would say this is easily one of the best fighting games on the n64 for the sheer factor that the hitboxes etc. feel a lot nicer than most other fighters on the system. Combat feels good, and when you start picking up your characters combos and special moves you start to feel like a God. Nothing beats that dramatic flipping sound effect. *"HWOOH!!!"*
the ai is what completely kills the entire game with it being incredibly stupid or completely brain dead
What a fantastic idea for a series. I am here for every episode forever
Is that... Is that a new 2D avatar graphic?
I must sniff...
One would think it would be called "Duel Heroes"
12:00 what is that from?
I’d love for this game to get a remake. It’s such a neat idea and I love the character designs.
Dual Heroes: Here's a textbook of lore you need to study up on because the test is in 3 minutes, ok go!
Smash bros: It's just a kid playing with their dolls
13:23 Shunya Yamashita worked on this?! The same person whose illustrations become Kotobukiya figures?!
@2:43 Brainlord's OST are bangers