"Art of Fighting (龍虎の拳 Ryūko no Ken, lit. "Fist of Dragon and Tiger") is a trilogy of competitive fighting game titles that were released for the Neo Geo platform in the early 1990s. It was the second fighting game franchise created by SNK, following the Fatal Fury series and is set in the same fictional universe. The original Art of Fighting was released in 1992, followed by two sequels: Art of Fighting 2 (龍虎の拳2 Ryūko no Ken 2) in 1994 and Art of Fighting 3: The Path of the Warrior (ART OF FIGHTING 龍虎の拳 外伝 Art of Fighting: Ryūko no Ken Gaiden) in 1996.
It was the first fighting game by SNK to feature the character designs of former illustrator Shinkiro, who would go on to do the character designs for the later Fatal Fury and The King of Fighters games.
Art of Fighting 2 was released in 1994. The second installment in the AoF series added the "rage gauge"; similar to the "spirit system" of its predecessor, it limited the use and effectiveness of special attacks.
The game's story is set a year after the original. Geese Howard, a rising star in South Town's criminal underworld, calls fighters to the city for a new tournament, "The King of Fighters." Howard was the final boss and series villain of SNK's other fighting game franchise Fatal Fury (though he is a secret boss in this game), whose story took place over a decade after the events of Art of Fighting.
Art of Fighting 2 was the only time Yuri Sakazaki was a playable character in the series. It also marked the only time that she donned her trademark outfit, which was made famous in The King of Fighters series. This game also marks the debut of Takuma Sakazaki without his Mr. Karate persona, as well as Eiji Kisaragi, who both appear in the King of Fighters series.
This game is also notorious for its difficulty, with it being referred in many fighting circles as having some of the toughest opponent AI in a fighting game.
It was re-released for the Wii's Virtual Console in North America on July 28, 2008 at a cost of 900 Wii Points."
