Solitary Fighter

About

Solitary Fighter is a 1991 arcade brawler from Taito that follows up on its predecessor. It plays like a standard one on one fighter but with some quirks. Battles take place in open arenas where extra opponents show up. These opponents are easy to beat but get in the way. Bonus stages add new challenges like fighting a bear or tiger in thick cages. Controls are straightforward with simple moves. The game adds two bosses from the original as playable characters. This is a small change but gives more variety. The arcade version has a busy look with many enemies appearing. The cage fights are hard to follow due to the thick bars. The game came out three weeks before Street Fighter II but feels less polished. Some online say it was called Violence Fight II in Japan, but no proof exists. Fans might notice the extra enemies are mostly female, adding a strange detail. All in all it's a brief but flawed entry in the genre.