SNK Boss Syndrome

Ok, so it's pretty common knowledge that bosses in SNK fighting games tend to be bloody hard to beat, it's even been termed SNK Boss Syndrome. It's understandable that bosses should be difficult to keep the coins rolling into coin slots as people repeatedly try to beat the bosses. I've been playing a fair few King of Fighters games recently, and each and every one has got a boss that is completely bullshit. I know a lot of fighting games have tough bosses. They often have obscenely powerful special moves, moves that allow them to regenerate health (looking at you Gill, you son of a bitch), moves that take priority over your own etc. SNK bosses are different, they have all of these traits (health recovery between rounds), and a tendency to constantly use moves that stop you from getting on the inside and hitting them. Then if you do get on the inside they have other moves that drain your health so quick you don't know what's hit you. Take King of Fighters 2001 for example. First you have to beat Original Zero, which is doable but pretty hard, only to then be faced with Igniz, who is so tough to beat it will be a while before I try again. Next up is Rugal Bernstein who just heaped the pain on me in KoF '98 with cheap hits and huge combo's. Now Rugal with enough practice I think I could beat, but one boss I don't think I'll ever beat is Magaki from King of Fighters XI. He is without a doubt the toughest boss I've played against in any fighting game, possibly in any game ever. First you can't get near him, then at distance he fires bubbles at you that do pretty severe damage if they land, and are hard to dodge. If you're lucky enough to get near him (or perhaps unlucky) then he's got a move that sends you flying backwards that he always seems to be able to land when you got in for a hit. Finally his special moves are such a pain in the arse it's forced me to give up trying to beat him. King of Fighters XI is a great game, one that is a lot of fun to play through until the last boss. Unfortunately what seems to be lazy programming has ruined any fun for me in playing the game as I know I'm in for a whooping every time I try to play through it.

An honorable mention goes to Kryzalid from KoF 99, who while an asshole I was able to beat after a few attempts.

Buyee.jp part 2

After giving buyee.jp a serious try I've decided to cease using their service. I've had no issues with them other than cost. The prices spiral out of control at a ridiculous rate, and once you factor in they only ship EMS, so almost everything shipped gets VAT added to it you are looking one expensive way of buying cheap items from Japan. Previously you were allowed to set your own prices that would be marked on the parcel, however that was stopped at the start of October (probably for good reason), but it meant that anything £135+ (including shipping fee) was then subject to not only VAT but further Import duty as well as Parcel Force's own £13.50 fee. 

It's a shame it hasn't worked out as their site is easy to use, and everything seems to run smoothly. I've now signed up for Shopping Mall Japan, which is another proxy service. I'll see how I get on using that service, but if this one doesn't work out well it's likely I'll just do without tapping the Japanese market places unless there is something I simply cannot get elsewhere.

Espgaluda II Marquee

Here's a scan of the Espgaluda II marquee that came with the arcade kit. The game follows on from Espgaluda in a very similar fashion, only this time it's much harder than its predecessor. Straight from the first level there is no settling in period like there tends to be in a lot of shooters. The bullets come fast and furious and if you're not ready for it you will get destroyed... quickly.

Click on the image for a full resolution shot.