NeoGeo Battle Coliseum [PS2] - play as Goodman

This is a play-through using Goodman in the PS2 version of NeoGeo Battle Coliseum. Read on below for more information... Goodman is the true final boss of the game. He is an unlockable playable character in this version of it. ==== HOW TO UNLOCK GOODMAN ==== In Survival Challenge mode, Goodman is the 21st opponent. Fight and beat him here. After you've done that, on the character select screen, he is found on the top row in the middle between Yuki and Ai. ==== GOODMAN MOVES ==== Key: QCF = Quarter Circle Forward; QCB = Quarter Circle Back; DP = Dragon Punch motion; RDP = Reverse Dragon Punch motion; P = any Punch; K = any Kick; LP = Light Punch; LK = Light Kick; SP = Strong Punch; SK = Strong Kick SPECIAL MOVES Parabolic Attack: QCF + P or K Plummeting Attack: QCB + P or K Pillar Of Fire: DP + P or K Reflector: RDP + P or K SUPER MOVE Power Up: LP + LK + SP (requires 3 power stocks) ==== ABOUT GOODMAN ==== Design-wise, he seems to be somewhat based on Igniz from KOF2001 (which I'll explain later). He wields a flaming whip and his fighting style resembles an animal tamer, relying on his gorilla king spirit called Saru Ou who fights alongside him. ==== GAMEPLAY ==== Goodman cannot crouch nor jump. All but one of his special moves involve the use of the spirit Saru Ou, and there is a great deal of flexibility when it comes to these moves because they can be cancelled into one another and over again. For example, you can perform the Pillar Of Fire and during it you can cancel it into a Parabolic strike. His basics consist of an open-hand strike and a low kick. These basics may look a bit "soft", but don't let that fool you - the Strong versions of them HURT! ==== THE REAL DEAL ==== It should also be noted that he is the only boss in the game where when controlled by a human player, remains exactly the same as when he is CPU-controlled (except for the fast red-part lifebar recovery and inflicting higher energy depletion). When you select him, the game automatically sets him as a lone character, so you cannot have a partner with him. ==== ABOUT NGBC ==== NeoGeo Battle Coliseum happens to be one of my favorite fighting games. The 2-on-2 tag team feature is nice, and I loved the dream match factor of how characters from other SNK-based games are included. Even characters from different time periods (i.e. Nakoruru) are in, some with new/re-drawn sprites as well. The idea that you could face up to 4 bosses (3 of them well-known) offers variety in single-player mode, and the cheesy-but-lighthearted story about Goodman, who I quote: "I will topple NeoGeo's most powerful warriors and put myself on the throne!" adds to it's charm. The interface graphics of the game is very "modern" and is unlike what you usually see in a fighting game. ==== STORY/PLOT ==== The reasons for the game's story/plot is an interesting one, as there is a message behind it from the developers SNK. It also represents real-life happenings back then. For starters, in the game, the name of the organization that hosts the tournament is called "WAREZ", which is an obvious play on the word 'warez' (which means illegitimate software), as SNK Playmore blames software copying as one of the reasons for it's company bankruptcy in 2001. Yuki and Ai, the two protagonists, are sent to the tournament by the Federal Government to investigate and stop WAREZ/Goodman... which is also a play on what the authorities should've done to combat it. Also, the boss Goodman was created to represent the time when SNK and the NeoGeo were under the control of Eolith, so they made him look a bit like Igniz, who of course is Eolith's character. ==== REGION DIFFERENCES ==== There are many differences between the USA and European versions of the game: ---- The European version suffers from incomplete language translation, which is why you don't get any text/dialogue during the boss cut-scenes and character true endings. Also, some character's win quotes on the winning screen just say "dummy4" or "dummy1". The background of the menu screen is also static instead of being animated like in the Japanese and USA versions. ----- The USA version translates the game properly, you will get text/dialogue in the boss cut-scenes and character true endings. The background of the menu screen is animated. Also, the loading times were much faster as well - this was done by stopping the music during loading. Whilst it dramatically shortened the waits between each match, it also meant that it's less authentic to the Arcade version.