Software:Last Battle (video game)

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Last Battle
Developer(s)Sega
Creative Materials (Amiga)
Publisher(s)Sega
Elite (Amiga, C64)
Director(s)Katsuhiro Hasegawa
Programmer(s)Tatsuo Matsuda
Hiroshi Momota
Artist(s)Naoto Ohshima
Yasushi Yamaguchi
Platform(s)Mega Drive/Genesis, Commodore 64, Amiga
ReleaseMega Drive
  • JP: July 1, 1989
  • NA: August 14, 1989
  • EU: September 1990
Amiga, C64
Genre(s)Beat 'em up

Last Battle: Legend of the Final Hero is a side-scrolling martial arts beat 'em up released for the Mega Drive/Genesis in 1989 by Sega. It was one of the six games that were available as part of the Genesis launch lineup in the U.S. The Japanese version, titled Shin Seikimatsu Kyūseishu Densetsu: Hokuto no Ken (新世紀末救世主伝説 北斗の拳; lit. "Fist of the North Star: The New Legend of the Post-Apocalyptic Messiah"), is based on the manga and anime series Fist of the North Star (Hokuto no Ken in Japanese). Since the international version did not retain the Hokuto no Ken license, the graphics and characters' names were altered. It was the second Hokuto no Ken game released by Sega, following the Mark III original, released internationally as Black Belt. Versions for the Commodore 64 and Amiga based upon Last Battle were developed and released by Elite in Europe in 1991.

Gameplay

Last Battle is a side-scrolling action game similarly to its predecessor Black Belt. The player takes control of Aarzak (Kenshiro in the Japanese original), who fights against his enemies using his punches and kicks. Aarzak can attack while standing, jumping, and crouching, for a total of six basic attacks. In addition to his life gauge, Aarzak has a power-up meter that will gradually fill as he defeats enemies. When the meter reaches a certain point (depending on the stage), Aarzak will transform into a super-powered state, allowing him to perform rapid punches and kicks for the rest of the stage. The game's levels (with the exception of boss battles and maze stages) feature a time limit at the lower-right corner of the screen; but unlike other time limits, instead of killing the character immediately when it reaches zero, it will instead gradually drain the player's life gauge until the player completes the level.

The game is divided into four stages or chapters, each featuring several levels. After completing a level the player will be shown a map which displays the player's current location and the paths they can take. Most of the levels are linear side-scrolling segments where the player must simply walk from one to side to the other while fighting every enemy who gets in the way. Other levels are dungeon mazes in which the player must figure out the correct path to the goal while avoiding traps. The player will encounter various allies throughout the game that will increase Aarzak's offensive or defensive strength, or replenish his health. The game features several one-on-one encounters with bosses as well. The player must sometimes complete levels in a certain order in order to finish a chapter.

Ports

Because the English localization of the game did not retain the Fist of the North Star license, the developers changed the names of all characters, as well as their fighting styles, although the plot is relatively unchanged. The original Japanese version is specifically based on the later chapters of the manga (chapters 137-210), which is the portion that was also covered in the Hokuto no Ken 2 TV series. Kenshiro was renamed Aarzak and his two sidekicks from the series, Bat and Lin, became Max and Alyssa. Duke, the initial antagonist is actually Falco, while the three Rashō were rewritten into rebel generals of the empire that after the defeat of Duke escaped and schemed a plot to exact their revenge on Aarzak.

Also, the blood and gore from the original game was edited out of the western localizations. In the original game, any of the normal enemies would have their heads explode, followed by their bodies in a bloody fashion as well as some boss characters having more of a gory finishes to their fights. Last Battle, however, edited down the gore so that the normal enemies would only fly offscreen when hit and many of the bloody animations for the bosses were removed or some of the bosses were recolored to look more like mutants than humans.

List of name changes

Last Battle Hokuto no Ken
Jeet Kune Do Hokuto Shinken
Chun Kuk Do Hokuto Ryuken
Tang Soo Do Gento Koken
Aarzak Kenshiro (ケンシロウ)
Alyssa Lin (リン)
Max Bat (バット)
Luisa Mamiya (マミヤ)
Gere Ein (アイン)
Anne Asuka (アスカ)
Zee Buzz Harn (バズ・ハーン)
Bee Gill Harn (ギル・ハーン)
Syd Solia (ソリア)
Duke Falco (ファルコ)
Sophia Lui (ルイ)
Dare-Devil Akashachi (赤鯱)
Cynara Leia (レイア)
Rob Shachi (シャチ)
Gromm Han (ハン)
Grozz Hyoh (ヒョウ)
Garokk Kaioh (カイオウ)

Reception

Reception
Review scores
PublicationScore
MegaTech32%[1]
Sega Pro69%[2]

Last Battle received mixed-to-poor reviews from critics, with criticism towards its stiff controls, poor dialogue and no continues. MegaTech magazine said it was "a failure on two counts: it neither shows off any of the Mega Drive's capabilities, nor is an enjoyable game in its own right". Mega placed the game at #2 in their list of the 10 Worst Mega Drive Games of All Time.[3]

References

  1. ↑ MegaTech rating, EMAP, issue 6, page 77, June 1992
  2. ↑ "Sega Software Showdown: Part 4". Sega Pro (4 (February 1992)): 18–9. 16 January 1992. https://archive.org/details/segapro04/page/n17/mode/2up. 
  3. ↑ Mega magazine issue 1, page 85, Future Publishing, Oct 1992
  • MobyGames is a commercial database website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes over 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms.[1] Founded in 1999, ownership of the site has changed hands several times. It has been owned by Atari SA since 2022.

Features

Edits and submissions to the site (including screenshots, box art, developer information, game summaries, and more) go through a verification process of fact-checking by volunteer "approvers".[2] This lengthy approval process after submission can range from minutes to days or months.[3] The most commonly used sources are the video game's website, packaging, and credit screens. There is a published standard for game information and copy-editing.[4] A ranking system allows users to earn points for contributing accurate information.[5]

Registered users can rate and review games. Users can create private or public "have" and "want" lists, which can generate a list of games available for trade with other registered users. The site contains an integrated forum. Each listed game can have its own sub-forum.

History

Logo used until March 2014

MobyGames was founded on March 1, 1999, by Jim Leonard and Brian Hirt, and joined by David Berk 18 months later, the three of which had been friends since high school.[6][7] Leonard had the idea of sharing information about computer games with a larger audience. The database began with information about games for IBM PC compatibles, relying on the founders' personal collections. Eventually, the site was opened up to allow general users to contribute information.[5] In a 2003 interview, Berk emphasized MobyGames' dedication to taking video games more seriously than broader society and to preserving games for their important cultural influence.[5]

In mid-2010, MobyGames was purchased by GameFly for an undisclosed amount.[8] This was announced to the community post factum , and the site's interface was given an unpopular redesign.[7] A few major contributors left, refusing to do volunteer work for a commercial website.{{Citation needed|date=June 2025} On December 18, 2013, MobyGames was acquired by Jeremiah Freyholtz, owner of Blue Flame Labs (a San Francisco-based game and web development company) and VGBoxArt (a site for fan-made video game box art).[9] Blue Flame Labs reverted MobyGames' interface to its pre-overhaul look and feel,[10] and for the next eight years, the site was run by Freyholtz and Independent Games Festival organizer Simon Carless.[7]

On November 24, 2021, Atari SA announced a potential deal with Blue Flame Labs to purchase MobyGames for $1.5 million.[11] The purchase was completed on 8 March 2022, with Freyholtz remaining as general manager.[12][13][14] Over the next year, the financial boost given by Atari led to a rework of the site being built from scratch with a new backend codebase, as well as updates improving the mobile and desktop user interface.[1] This was accomplished by investing in full-time development of the site instead of its previously part-time development.[15]

In 2024, MobyGames began offering a paid "Pro" membership option for the site to generate additional revenue.[16] Previously, the site had generated income exclusively through banner ads and (from March 2014 onward) a small number of patrons via the Patreon website.[17]

See also

  • IGDB – game database used by Twitch for its search and discovery functions

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sheehan, Gavin (2023-02-22). "Atari Relaunches The Fully Rebuilt & Optimized MobyGames Website". https://bleedingcool.com/games/atari-relaunches-the-fully-rebuilt-optimized-mobygames-website/. 
  2. ↑ Litchfield, Ted (2021-11-26). "Zombie company Atari to devour MobyGames". https://www.pcgamer.com/zombie-company-atari-to-devour-mobygames/. 
  3. ↑ "MobyGames FAQ: Emails Answered § When will my submission be approved?". Blue Flame Labs. 30 March 2014. http://www.mobygames.com/info/faq7#g1. 
  4. ↑ "The MobyGames Standards and Practices". Blue Flame Labs. 6 January 2016. http://www.mobygames.com/info/standards. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Miller, Stanley A. (2003-04-22). "People's choice awards honor favorite Web sites". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 
  6. ↑ "20 Years of MobyGames" (in en). 2019-02-28. https://trixter.oldskool.org/2019/02/28/20-years-of-mobygames/. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Plunkett, Luke (2022-03-10). "Atari Buys MobyGames For $1.5 Million". https://kotaku.com/mobygames-retro-credits-database-imdb-atari-freyholtz-b-1848638521. 
  8. ↑ "Report: MobyGames Acquired By GameFly Media". Gamasutra. 2011-02-07. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/game-platforms/report-mobygames-acquired-by-gamefly-media. 
  9. ↑ Corriea, Alexa Ray (December 31, 2013). "MobyGames purchased from GameFly, improvements planned". http://www.polygon.com/2013/12/31/5261414/mobygames-purchased-from-gamefly-improvements-planned. 
  10. ↑ Wawro, Alex (31 December 2013). "Game dev database MobyGames getting some TLC under new owner". Gamasutra. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/game-dev-database-mobygames-getting-some-tlc-under-new-owner. 
  11. ↑ "Atari invests in Anstream, may buy MobyGames". November 24, 2021. https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-11-24-atari-invests-in-anstream-may-buy-mobygames. 
  12. ↑ Rousseau, Jeffrey (2022-03-09). "Atari purchases Moby Games". https://www.gamesindustry.biz/atari-purchases-moby-games. 
  13. ↑ "Atari Completes MobyGames Acquisition, Details Plans for the Site's Continued Support". March 8, 2022. https://www.atari.com/atari-completes-mobygames-acquisition-details-plans-for-the-sites-continued-support/. 
  14. ↑ "Atari has acquired game database MobyGames for $1.5 million" (in en-GB). 2022-03-09. https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/atari-has-acquired-game-database-mobygames-for-1-5-million/. 
  15. ↑ Stanton, Rich (2022-03-10). "Atari buys videogame database MobyGames for $1.5 million". https://www.pcgamer.com/atari-buys-videogame-database-mobygames-for-dollar15-million/. 
  16. ↑ Harris, John (2024-03-09). "MobyGames Offering “Pro” Membership". https://setsideb.com/mobygames-offering-pro-membership/. 
  17. ↑ "MobyGames on Patreon". http://www.patreon.com/mobygames. 
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