Clark and Ralph should be familiar characters for all players! From the "King of Fighters 94" period to the current "King of Fighters 15", he has participated in most of the editions, and even has one of the highest appearances in many versions. It has long been a mainstay in the minds of players.
Slightly more advanced players should know that Clark and Ralph originally appeared in the SNK action shooter "Fury", and the two protagonists have participated in three works, and even went to hell to compete with the Great Devil. But to tell you the truth, I didn't know their names at all, and I couldn't even connect with the angry team in the later "King of Fighters" and "Metal Slug".
After seeing Clark and Ralph's appearance and image in "Fury", it is estimated that players are reluctant to admit that they are the Fury team in "The King of Fighters"! Because he completely destroyed the image of the two characters in the shooting game and became a middle-aged greasy uncle.
But that's how the official introduction is, even if the player doesn't want to admit it!
Before they joined "The King of Fighters", in order to cater to the aesthetics of other regions, there were a lot of strange shapes and images, which looked more or less handsome.
Today, the editor will revisit with you the image on the early leaflet of the "Fury" team!
"Fury 1" red and white machine Japanese version, released in 1986
This should be the closest image to the character image of "The King of Fighters", the character looks sunny, young and handsome
"Fury 1" red and white machine American version, released in 1987
The American version promotes the image of a tough guy, so the characters are not so young and handsome. The style of painting is more similar to "First Blood", and Ralph also has a mustache.
"Fury 1" C64 American version, released in 1986
Domestic players only know red and white machines, in fact, there are many competing game consoles in the same era. The C64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commoda International in January 1982. "Rage 1" is distributed on this platform by DATA and EAST. The two protagonists have become background characters. The background close-up of the enemy is larger.
"Fury 1" C64 European version, released in 1986
The cover of the European version adds a personal hero style, where one person fires to suppress another and throw bombs. The muscles are more aesthetic, and the faces of the characters are not so important.
"Fury 1" MSX Japanese version, released in 1987
Although it is a Japanese version, the image of the characters has been completely changed, retaining the Japanese manga style while also adding Western elements. Although the face shape looks very resolute, it is estimated that it will be difficult to stick to the "King of Fighters 96" series and not be replaced!
"Fury 1" Atari 2600 American version, released in 1989
The two brothers share a face, and there is no distinction between red and blue. Thick American comic book style, there are no enemies, I feel that they are a little redundant with guns, it seems that there is no need to develop any plot on the Atari platform.
"Rage Circle" is also known as "Rage 2", this game was actually built together with the original generation, released in 1986, but this generation is fighting all kinds of monsters in hell. The protagonists are also Ralph and Clark, and there is a faceless commander behind the scenes, who is supposed to be Hadirun.
ROARING CIRCLES WERE FIRST RELEASED IN ARCADE AND IN '97 ON APL2, C64, AND PC BY DATA AND EAST.
That's what the cover looked like at the time.
The Japanese version of "The Circle of Rages" was released in 1988
This cover should be the most familiar and acceptable to everyone! After all, in the eighties, Japanese anime was very popular, and it is rare to see game covers in this style. Clark and Ralph get the Sword of Hell and successfully enter the depths of Hell. Clark has black skins in The King of Fighters, which is actually from this game.
Oh, don't tell me that the brother behind me is Hadirun, I don't recognize it.
"Furious Circle" red and white machine American version, released in 1988
Restored the images of Clark and Ralph in the original American version, the battle picture is more hot, but the two protagonists are not portrayed in detail.
Rage 3 was originally released on arcade platforms in 1989. The addition of action, shooting, and swimming gameplay is the final product of the series. It is more mature than the previous two games. But we can clearly see the shadow of "Prison Break" on this game. Changing the shooting game to an action game also shows SNK's helplessness at that time. After playing, you will find that the FC platform is more fun than the arcade.
Covers of the Japanese and American versions of the arcade platform:
The child rescued by Ralph is different in different versions, with a little boy in the arcade version and a little girl in the FC version. It's all the president's kids anyway.
"Fury 3" red and white machine Japanese version, released in 1990
It's clear that the image of the angry team that appears in the King of Fighters series comes from this game. The faces of the two are basically the same, the difference is the color of the bracer and headband. Red is Ralph, blue is Clark.
In generation 2 their image is that of a savior, and in generation 3 they are an evil nemesis. In the poster, the color of the pants of the two is also differentiated.
"Rage 3" C64 American version, released in 1990
"Fury 3" red and white machine American version, released in 1991
When you see these pictures, do you think that you are not very familiar with Clark and Ralph?
In order to cater to the tastes of various countries, the game cover had to make certain compromises, and even needed to cut the game content if necessary before it could be released. (Arcade era original article, will not be published in UC Browser)
Nowadays, when we look back on these games, we always lament that the years have not spared.
The arcade players of the time are long past and have less and less time to play games, but the nostalgia for the arcade is growing day by day.
The bits and pieces of the arcade are still fresh in my memory, after all, this is our best youth!
In fact, we were very lucky to have access to so many wonderful games that year, enough to spend the rest of our lives savoring.
Note: Some of the pictures in the article come from the Internet, such as invasion and deletion