{"id":35468,"date":"2024-08-15T16:49:41","date_gmt":"2024-08-15T07:49:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=35468"},"modified":"2024-08-23T12:43:54","modified_gmt":"2024-08-23T03:43:54","slug":"knuckle-heads-an-important-part-of-fighting-game-history-just-became-playable-outside-of-japan-for-the-first-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/knuckle-heads-an-important-part-of-fighting-game-history-just-became-playable-outside-of-japan-for-the-first-time\/","title":{"rendered":"An important part of fighting game history just became playable outside of Japan for the first time\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Namco (now Bandai Namco) is well-known for Tekken, one of the series that helped define the 3D fighting game genre in the 1990s. However, before that, Namco released a little-known Japan-exclusive 2D arcade beat\u2019em-up called <strong>Knuckle Heads<\/strong>. This important part of fighting game history is now available outside Japan for the first time, on PS4 and Nintendo Switch.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Arcade Archives KNUCKLE HEADS\" width=\"1160\" height=\"653\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/8s7lGqErjlw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Debuting in 1993 when Street Fighter II was taking arcades by storm, Knuckle Heads appears to be a carbon copy of the game at first glance. Although the style of the 2D graphics and sound effects are very reminiscent of Street Fighter II, the 2 vs 2 battle royale set-up gives Knuckleheads a different vibe and means that players must adopt alternative strategies to win fights. Like Street Fighter II, Knuckle Heads also features a number of vivid stages set in various countries including Greece, Hong Kong and Brazil. The motley cast of weapon-wielding characters from around the globe call to mind Namco\u2019s later Soul series of fighting games (Soul Blade and Soulcalibur).&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"900\" height=\"506\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" src=\"http:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/20240815-35468-002.jpeg\" alt=\"Knuckle Heads Namco arcade fighting game\" class=\"wp-image-35482\" srcset=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/20240815-35468-002.jpeg 900w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/20240815-35468-002-380x214.jpeg 380w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/20240815-35468-002-768x432.jpeg 768w\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The multi-language rerelease of Knuckle Heads is available on PS4 and Switch in Japan, Europe and North America regions courtesy of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.hamster.co.jp\/american_hamster\/arcadearchives\/index.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Hamster Corporation\u2019s Arcade Archives<\/a>, a project that rereleases classic and forgotten arcade games on modern consoles. With its 2 on 2 fights, up to 4 players can enjoy battling it out in Knuckleheads simultaneously (you can also play 1 on 1). Although the rerelease is based on the Japanese ROM, the menu and manual are available in 5 other languages (English, French, German, Italian and Spanish).&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"900\" height=\"506\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" src=\"http:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/20240815-35468-header.jpg\" alt=\"Knuckle Heads Street Fighter 2 style arcade fighting game\" class=\"wp-image-35481\" srcset=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/20240815-35468-header.jpg 900w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/20240815-35468-header-380x214.jpg 380w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/20240815-35468-header-768x432.jpg 768w\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Knuckle Heads is out on <a href=\"https:\/\/store.playstation.com\/en-us\/product\/UP0571-CUSA47647_00-HAMPRDC000000001\">PS4<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.hamster.co.jp\/american_hamster\/arcadearchives\/switch\/knuckle-heads.htm\">Nintendo Switch<\/a> from August 15, 2024.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Knuckle Heads, Namco&#8217;s 1993 Japan-exclusive arcade fighting game and answer to Street Fighter II, is now available on PS4 and Switch.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":35483,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[17,82],"class_list":["post-35468","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-japan-related-news","tag-retro-games"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>An important part of fighting game history just became playable outside of Japan for the first time\u00a0 - AUTOMATON WEST<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Knuckle Heads, Namco&#039;s 1993 Japan-exclusive arcade fighting game and answer to Street Fighter II, is now available on PS4 and Switch.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/knuckle-heads-an-important-part-of-fighting-game-history-just-became-playable-outside-of-japan-for-the-first-time\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"An important part of fighting game history just became playable outside of Japan for the first time\u00a0 - AUTOMATON WEST\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Knuckle Heads, Namco&#039;s 1993 Japan-exclusive arcade fighting game and answer to Street Fighter II, is now available on PS4 and Switch.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/knuckle-heads-an-important-part-of-fighting-game-history-just-became-playable-outside-of-japan-for-the-first-time\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"AUTOMATON WEST\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-08-15T07:49:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-08-23T03:43:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/20240815-35468-001.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"506\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Verity Townsend\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@AUTOMATON_ENG\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@AUTOMATON_ENG\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Verity Townsend\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"An important part of fighting game history just became playable outside of Japan for the first time\u00a0 - 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She has a soft spot for old-school Sierra adventure games and Final Fantasy VIII (yes, 8!). Can often be found hunting down weird forgotten games and finding out everything about them. Frequently muses about characters and lines from Metal Gear Solid and Disco Elysium. 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