THE ART OF FIGHTING SAGA
PAGE 3
- THE EPISODES -
There were only three episodes of the Art of Fighting series in all and for all, Neo Geo and other media included. Fortunately for Ryo and his cronies, they were ubiquitous in the saga "The King of Fighters". While Opus 94 '(first of the series) put clearly in a position of rivals both heroes of Fatal Fury (Terry Bogard, Andy Bogard, Joe Higashi) and those of Art of Fighting (Ryo Sakazaki, Takuma Sakazaki, Robert Garcia), the following episodes feature them as 'ever-present' KOF characters. Many other fighters of our saga appear elsewhere in these successful series, as we shall see later.
The action takes place in Southtown, back in 1978. Ryo Sakazaki and his father Takuma jointly manage the Kyokugenryu dojo of the city. They have a lot of rivals - even enemies - due to the success of their school, but also their systematic refusal to cooperate with the local underworld. And what had to happen happens: Yuri, the young girl of the family, is kidnapped. Ryo with the help of his friend Robert Garcia, go search for her in Southtown. Suspecting first the rival school of martial arts Todoh, they get there and obtain some information by Ryuhaku, which ultimately had nothing to do with this rapt. Opponent after opponent, the two friends infiltrate the slums of Southtown, to finally see that the various protagonists they fought had one thing in common: they all have, one way or another, something to do with Mr Big, a "godfather" unfavorably known of the local population. It will turn out later that he is a minion of the almighty Geese Howard... This is after inflicting a severe correction to Big that our friends arrive to the responsible: the mysterious 'Mister Karate', a fighter wearing a Tengu mask. After the confrontation, Ryo and Robert discover that the fighter behind the mask is no other than... Takuma! The man suffered an odious blackmail from Geese Howard and was involved in the abduction despite himself. All's well that ends well: the Sakazaki family is united again and no one was injured. However, the infamous Geese is still running ...
The following year, the Sakazaki have every intention not to leave unpunished the heinous acts perpetrated by Geese Howard and his clique. The opportunity is also too good, and sounds like a provocation: the bad guy opens a whole new martial arts tournament held in Southtown, named "The King of Fighters". Ryo, Robert, Takuma, Yuri and the others participate this fantastic event. The Sakazaki father will clear his name once and for all. After getting rid of all his opponents, the Master of Kyokugenryu confronts the man who blackmailed and shamefully used him for years. After an epic battle, Geese is defeated ... but manages to escape with the help of his henchmen. He exiles in Japan for a while, and the Sakazaki family quietly resume their lives in a - temporarily - cleaned Southtown. But the acts of the evil Howard will go: in the end, we learn that he plans to kill a man in the city who is trying to get in his way: Jeff Bogard ...
More than two years have passed since the end of the first King of Fighters tournament, the defeat of Geese and the return to normal in Southtown. Robert Garcia recently received a visit from his childhood friend Freia Lawrence. The woman turned to him because she is facing a dilemma: one of her closest friends, Tom Wyler, has recently resumed research undertaken years ago by their fathers. They had developed an elixir that can multiply the physical strength of the man who absorbs it. After the abandonment of research by Professor Lawrence and Wyler's father passed shortly after, only Freia had entrusted the formula of this fluid. Tom has made up his mind to take back this project and bring it to an end ... and to achieve this, he needs the girl. Robert agrees to accompany Freia to Grasshill, against the advice of his family. With no news of our friends after several days of silence, the Garcia family sends a henchman looking for Robert, while Yuri and Ryo also go to Mexico to find their sidekick. Wyler use the potion on himself and is finally stopped by Ryo. In the end, Robert and Yuri fly together to Italy, while Freia stay there to take care of Tom, seriously injured.
