is a scrolling

beat 'em up The beat 'em up (also known as brawler and, in some markets, beat 'em all) is a video game genre featuring hand-to-hand combat against a large number of opponents. Traditional beat 'em ups take place in scrolling, two-dimensional (2D) levels ...

released as an

arcade video game An arcade video game takes player input from its controls, processes it through electrical or computerized components, and displays output to an electronic monitor or similar display. Most arcade video games are coin-operated, housed in an ar ...

by Sega in 1992 (the displayed copyright year is 1991). Running on the

Sega System 32 Sega is a video game developer, publisher, and hardware development company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, with multiple offices around the world. The company's involvement in the arcade game industry began as a Japan-based distributor of coin-o ...

arcade system, the game uses

pseudo-3D 2.5D (two-and-a-half dimensional) perspective refers to gameplay or movement in a video game or virtual reality environment that is restricted to a two-dimensional (2D) plane with little to no access to a third dimension in a space that otherwis ...

sprite-scaling graphics and supports

cooperative multiplayer A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-control ...

for up to four players.

Gameplay

The gameplay is similar to many

games of the generation, and to Sega's other side-scrolling beat 'em ups ''

Golden Axe is a series of side-scrolling beat 'em up arcade video games developed by Sega. The series takes place in a medieval fantasy world where several heroes have the task of recovering the legendary Golden Axe, the mainstay element of the series. ...

'' and ''

Streets of Rage ''Streets of Rage'' is a series of side-scrolling beat 'em up video games, centering on the efforts of several ex-police vigilantes trying to rid a fictional, large American city from a crime syndicate that has corrupted its local government. ...

'', using three action buttons, one to punch, one to kick and one for a special attack, in this case, magic based, similar to ''Golden Axe'' special attacks. Characters can also throw their opponents, and items can be collected from chests, as well as some enemies, to give extra points, restore health and grant the character their special attack. The game supports

for up to four players. The game uses

sprite-scaling techniques to allow characters to move to the far back of the screen and give a feeling of perspective. The game also makes use of the foreground, something rarely done at this time, as characters perform special attacks very close to the screen, some so close that only their torso and head will fit; likewise enemies can jump from the foreground to fight (characters cannot be hit while in these animations). The backgrounds also utilize

parallax scrolling Parallax scrolling is a technique in computer graphics where background images move past the camera more slowly than foreground images, creating an illusion of depth in a 2D scene of distance. The technique grew out of the multiplane camera tec ...

effects. There are seven stages in the game, set in various locations ranging from

Arabia The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plate. ...

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

Plot

The corrupt Sheikh Sazabiss has abducted Princess Lurana, and he is utilizing every unscrupulous means of power he has at his disposal to achieve his ultimate ambition of conquering the world. The quartet of valiant and fearless warriors bravely come face-to-face with Sazabiss. As they battle to save Lurana, the foursome, freely using magic, their most prized possession, journey to the castle of Sazabiss to save the princess and the planet.

Characters

Four players may play at once with one of four selectable heroes: Sinbat (not a misspelling of " Sinbad"), Ramaya, Goldor or Datta. Sinbat is the game's young, handsome hero, Ramaya is the game's young, attractive female, Goldor is the game's muscle character, who appears to be older than Sinbat and Ramaya, and Datta is a spiritual-looking bald man.

Reception

In Japan, ''Game Machine'' listed ''Arabian Fight'' on their May 1, 1992 issue as being the seventh most-successful table arcade unit of the month. Kurt Kalata of ''Hardcore Gaming 101'' criticized the gameplay for "mediocrity" but praised the graphics, stating "''Arabian Fight'' might be the most technically ambitious 2D beat-em-up ever made" and said the game's background parallax effects were more advanced than ''

Guardian Heroes ''Guardian Heroes'' is a 2D side-scrolling beat 'em up video game in the vein of '' Final Fight'' or '' Golden Axe'', but with RPG elements. The development team called it a "fighting RPG". ''Guardian Heroes'' was developed by Treasure and rele ...

'' (1996) for the

Sega Saturn The is a home video game console developed by Sega and released on November 22, 1994, in Japan, May 11, 1995, in North America, and July 8, 1995, in Europe. Part of the fifth generation of video game consoles, it was the successor to the succ ...

. He also compared it to

Taito is a Japanese company that specializes in video games, toys, arcade cabinets and game centers, based in Shinjuku, Tokyo. The company was founded by Michael Kogan in 1953 as the importing vodka, vending machines and jukeboxes into Japan. It ...

's ''

Arabian Magic is a side-scrolling hack-and-slash arcade video game developed by Taito and released in 1992. It was included in ''Taito Legends 2'' for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, and Xbox (console), Xbox. Gameplay ''Arabian Magic'' has seven differen ...

'' (1992), noting both have a similar ''

Arabian Nights ''One Thousand and One Nights'' ( ar, أَلْفُ لَيْلَةٍ وَلَيْلَةٌ, italic=yes, ) is a collection of Middle Eastern folk tales compiled in Arabic during the Islamic Golden Age. It is often known in English as the ''Arabian ...

'' theme and four-player co-op.

Notes

References

External links

''Arabian Fight''
at Hardcore Gaming 101
''Arabian Fight''
at Arcade-History * {{KLOV game, id=6900 1992 video games Arcade video games Arcade-only video games Fantasy video games Sega-AM2 games Sega arcade games Sega beat 'em ups Sega System 32 games Video games based on Arabian mythology Video games developed in Japan Video games featuring female protagonists Video games produced by Yu Suzuki Cooperative video games Side-scrolling beat 'em ups Multiplayer and single-player video games