<s>
Weaponlord	B-Application
is	O
a	O
fighting	O
game	O
developed	O
by	O
Visual	O
Concepts	O
and	O
published	O
by	O
Namco	O
for	O
the	O
Super	B-Application
NES	I-Application
and	O
Genesis	B-Operating_System
in	O
October	O
1995	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Weaponlord	B-Application
has	O
players	O
select	O
a	O
character	O
and	O
defeat	O
a	O
series	O
of	O
opponents	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Unlike	O
many	O
other	O
fighting	O
games	O
of	O
the	O
time	O
,	O
Weaponlord	B-Application
was	O
designed	O
specifically	O
for	O
home	O
consoles	O
and	O
was	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
first	O
fighting	O
games	O
optimized	O
for	O
online	O
play	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
has	O
also	O
been	O
thought	O
of	O
as	O
the	O
basis	O
for	O
Namco	O
's	O
Soul	O
Edge/Calibur	O
series	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
its	O
core	O
,	O
Weaponlord	B-Application
is	O
a	O
standard	O
2D	O
fighting	O
game	O
experience	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Players	O
can	O
finish	O
off	O
matches	O
using	O
"	O
Death	O
Combos	O
"	O
,	O
Fatality-style	O
combination	O
attacks	O
that	O
can	O
have	O
a	O
gory	O
effect	O
on	O
opponents.Weaponlord	O
'	O
s	O
fighters	O
possess	O
between	O
9	O
and	O
12	O
special	O
moves	O
each	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
the	O
height	O
of	O
his	O
power	O
,	O
his	O
doom	O
is	O
foretold	O
by	O
a	O
shaman	B-Protocol
:	O
"	O
When	O
the	O
night	O
turns	O
violent	O
and	O
the	O
moon	O
bleeds	O
,	O
gripped	O
by	O
the	O
skeletal	O
fingers	O
of	O
death	O
...	O
a	O
child	O
will	O
rise	O
to	O
face	O
the	O
demon	O
in	O
combat	O
...	O
and	O
the	O
lord	O
of	O
demons	O
will	O
fall	O
by	O
the	O
hand	O
of	O
...	O
the	O
WeaponLord	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
25	O
years	O
after	O
the	O
prophecy	O
was	O
made	O
,	O
Zarak	O
holds	O
a	O
great	O
tournament	O
of	O
champion	O
warriors	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Demonlord	O
prepares	O
to	O
meet	O
his	O
destiny	O
head	O
on	O
and	O
to	O
destroy	O
the	O
Weaponlord	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Goddard	O
was	O
co-designer	O
and	O
U.S.	O
producer	O
of	O
Street	B-Application
Fighter	I-Application
II	I-Application
:	I-Application
Champion	I-Application
Edition	I-Application
and	O
Street	B-Application
Fighter	I-Application
II	I-Application
:	I-Application
Hyper	I-Application
Fighting	I-Application
and	O
designed	O
the	O
character	O
Dee	O
Jay	O
for	O
Super	B-Application
Street	I-Application
Fighter	I-Application
II	I-Application
,	O
and	O
Winstead	O
had	O
worked	O
on	O
Super	B-Application
Street	I-Application
Fighter	I-Application
II	I-Application
Turbo	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Both	O
had	O
extensive	O
fighting	O
game	O
tournament	O
experience	O
and	O
wanted	O
to	O
cater	O
to	O
dedicated	O
fans	O
of	O
the	O
genre	O
with	O
Weaponlord	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
They	O
also	O
wanted	O
to	O
optimize	O
the	O
game	O
for	O
the	O
slow	O
dial-up	O
connections	O
of	O
the	O
XBAND	B-Application
service	O
,	O
timing	O
parry	O
animations	O
and	O
character	O
turnaround	O
time	O
to	O
account	O
for	O
lag	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Visual	O
Concepts	O
had	O
an	O
incredibly	O
tight	O
schedule	O
to	O
complete	O
the	O
game	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
decision	O
to	O
add	O
a	O
Genesis	B-Operating_System
version	O
came	O
later	O
into	O
the	O
development	O
cycle	O
than	O
most	O
other	O
multi-platform	O
titles	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Steve	O
Chiang	O
,	O
the	O
game	O
's	O
co-designer	O
and	O
chief	O
programmer	O
of	O
the	O
SNES	B-Application
version	O
,	O
wrote	O
an	O
in-house	O
tool	O
called	O
"	O
Hero	O
"	O
which	O
the	O
team	O
used	O
to	O
hand-tune	O
the	O
collision	O
frame	O
by	O
frame	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Comic	O
book	O
artist	O
Simon	O
Bisley	O
provided	O
the	O
cover	O
art	O
and	O
the	O
game	O
's	O
logo	O
;	O
Forging	O
WeaponLord	B-Application
-	O
GameSpot	O
,	O
October	O
8	O
,	O
2013	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Retrieved	O
August	O
15	O
,	O
2014	O
.	O
the	O
game	O
was	O
the	O
only	O
title	O
to	O
display	O
the	O
XBAND	B-Application
logo	O
on	O
its	O
box	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
development	O
team	O
worked	O
closely	O
with	O
XBAND	B-Application
representatives	O
to	O
ensure	O
that	O
the	O
game	O
would	O
not	O
suffer	O
from	O
lag	B-Application
when	O
being	O
played	O
online	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
backgrounds	O
were	O
painted	O
by	O
a	O
freelance	O
artist	O
,	O
then	O
scanned	B-Application
into	O
a	O
computer	O
and	O
retouched	O
in	O
Adobe	B-Operating_System
Photoshop	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
originally	O
intended	O
for	O
all	O
of	O
the	O
characters	O
to	O
have	O
a	O
unique	O
death	O
combo	O
but	O
due	O
to	O
the	O
apparent	O
rush	O
to	O
get	O
Weaponlord	B-Application
out	O
the	O
door	O
,	O
only	O
Zarak	O
's	O
was	O
completed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Following	O
the	O
traditional	O
playtest	O
,	O
Goddard	O
and	O
Winstead	O
arranged	O
to	O
have	O
Weaponlord	B-Application
installed	O
in	O
an	O
arcade	O
cabinet	O
in	O
the	O
Golfland	O
in	O
Sunnyvale	O
,	O
California	O
in	O
order	O
to	O
get	O
direct	O
player	O
reactions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Reviewing	O
the	O
Genesis	B-Operating_System
version	O
,	O
the	O
four	O
reviewers	O
of	O
Electronic	O
Gaming	O
Monthly	O
were	O
divided	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
different	O
GamePro	O
reviewer	O
made	O
similar	O
remarks	O
of	O
the	O
Super	B-Application
NES	I-Application
version	O
,	O
commenting	O
that	O
the	O
combat	O
system	O
effectively	O
did	O
away	O
with	O
cheap	O
techniques	O
such	O
as	O
corner	O
traps	O
and	O
simple	O
throws	O
,	O
but	O
could	O
be	O
daunting	O
for	O
many	O
players	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
Next	O
Generation	O
reviewer	O
remarked	O
that	O
the	O
Super	B-Application
NES	I-Application
version	O
looks	O
better	O
than	O
the	O
Genesis	B-Operating_System
version	O
but	O
suffers	O
from	O
the	O
same	O
choppy	O
animation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
a	O
retrospective	O
review	O
of	O
the	O
Super	B-Application
NES	I-Application
version	O
,	O
AllGame	O
offered	O
praise	O
for	O
the	O
deep	O
countering	O
system	O
,	O
but	O
said	O
that	O
the	O
complexity	O
of	O
the	O
game	O
may	O
turn	O
off	O
newcomers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Reviewer	O
Scott	O
Alan	O
Marriott	O
said	O
it	O
was	O
not	O
easy	O
to	O
pick	O
up	O
and	O
play	O
like	O
Mortal	B-Application
Kombat	I-Application
,	O
being	O
"	O
designed	O
for	O
the	O
hardcore	O
fan	O
rather	O
than	O
those	O
new	O
to	O
the	O
genre	O
"	O
,	O
and	O
mentioned	O
that	O
the	O
game	O
's	O
computer	O
opponents	O
were	O
far	O
too	O
difficult	O
for	O
novices	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Marriott	O
also	O
wrote	O
that	O
the	O
game	O
's	O
detailed	O
character	O
design	O
was	O
distracting	O
and	O
that	O
the	O
animations	O
were	O
choppy	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
faulting	O
the	O
game	O
for	O
having	O
fewer	O
playable	O
characters	O
than	O
the	O
Street	B-Application
Fighter	I-Application
II	I-Application
series	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Despite	O
these	O
flaws	O
,	O
he	O
recommended	O
it	O
as	O
"	O
a	O
must-have	O
title	O
for	O
the	O
fighting	O
game	O
enthusiast	O
"	O
.Weaponlord	O
was	O
not	O
a	O
large	O
commercial	O
success	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
at	O
the	O
time	O
Weaponlord	B-Application
was	O
released	O
,	O
the	O
16-bit	O
consoles	O
were	O
still	O
dominating	O
game	O
sales	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Namco	O
informed	O
the	O
developers	O
that	O
they	O
would	O
not	O
be	O
working	O
on	O
a	O
sequel	O
to	O
Weaponlord''	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
game	O
's	O
weapon	O
and	O
parry	O
mechanics	O
were	O
shown	O
to	O
Namco	O
;	O
Goddard	O
and	O
Winstead	O
believe	O
that	O
the	O
gameplay	O
became	O
the	O
basis	O
for	O
Soul	O
Edge/Calibur	O
games	O
.	O
</s>
