Terry Bogard gets surprise spot in Fighting EX Layer & SNK Heroines Tag Team Frenzy

This week, we got not one but two surprise announcements which unveiled cult fighting-game character Terry Bogard as a new addition to Fighting EX Layer and SNK Heroines Tag Team Frenzy. Both of these games are fighting games and themselves feature a curious cast of playable characters.

2018 is shaping up to become one of the better years for fans of traditional fighting games. Just recently, SNK shocked the fighting community with their introduction of Terry Bogard into their tongue-in-cheek fighting game spin-off SNK Heroines Tag Team Frenzy (SNK-TTF). Heroines is meant as lighthearted entry, sporting an all-female cast of cult SNK fighting game characters. With the usual main fighting games series like King of Fighters being rather difficult and competitively oriented, Heroines Tag Team Frenzy aims to introduce an easier and more fun experience for those who can’t or don’t want to put tons of hours into a game to feel capable. SNK Heroines Tag Team Frenzy is releasing September 7th for PS4 and Nintendo Switch.

But wait, isn’t there something incompatible with the description of SNK-TFF and the announcement of Terry Bogard? An all-female fighting game getting a male character. Well, this is where the “fun” aspect of Tag Team Frenzy comes into play, as the developers simply are putting a female Terry Bogar into the game. How does that make sense you ask? The game’s website explains it like this: “As a result of some prank (?) by someone else, he has been stuck in the body of a woman.”. Aha, makes total sense. The important thing is, it doesn’t really need to make sense. Heroines is a weird spin-off, focusing on fun rather than seriousness. 

If that gender-bend surprise wasn’t enough for fighting game fans, during this weekend’s EVO Fighting Game Tournament, arika, the Japanese developer behind the PS4 exclusive fighting game Fighting EX Layer, announced Terry Bogard as an upcoming character for their fighting game. Fighting EX Layer released this June and is a spiritual successor to the Street Fighter EX series of fighting games from the mid-90s. Arika is no stranger to the series, as it was that studio which developed the Street Fighter EX games in the first place. Capcom and arika produced the EX series which featured 3D models instead of the traditional pixel-art.

Understandably, arika wasn’t able to include the cult Street Fighter character in Fighting EX Layer but the team did revive the unique characters they created in the first place for the Street Fighter EX games. Still, it is a niche game aimed at the core fighting game audience but with the news that Terry Bogard will be arriving soon to Fighting EX Layer, this could mean a nice jolt of media attention.

What a week it has been for fans of Terry Bogard.