INTRO/STORY Art of Fighting 3 - The Path of the Warrior is the third and final installment of the Art of Fighting franchise. In contrast to Art of Fighting 1 & 2, where Ryo Sakazaki is the main character, his best friend and rival, Robert Garcia, is the main man here. Robert Garcia meets with one of his childhood friends, Freia Lawrence, in the middle of a purse-snatching thief's run, and on Robert's way to a date with Yuri Sakazaki, Ryo's younger sister. After meeting with Freia, Robert learns that her father has passed away, and is off to meet one of her friends, Wyler, to return research data from her father, as it was his last wish. The research data was on an extremely rare discovery in South America, and while Freia's father wanted to stop the research, his coworkers kept going. Without notifying Yuri, Robert goes with Freia to Glasshill, a fictional city in Mexico, as a bodyguard should Freia ever run into trouble.
RUN DIFFICULTY LEVEL - 4 (MVS Standard) Robert is one of the two "shotos" of the Art of Fighting games with his standard Hadoken and Shoryuken styled moves, which makes him very accessible. His third strongest combo, which is also very easy to pull off, is jumping K ,B+P, F+P-P-S, B+K, which takes off enough health to get your opponent into heat after you kick your opponent on the ground. In PvP matches or casual playthroughs, you can substitute his Back-Flip Kick at the end for a Geien-Kyaku for some spicy numbers, but for the sake of going fast, we'll stick with the normal Back-Flip Kick combo.
STAGE 1 - RODY BIRTS Rody Birts is a bounty hunter sent by Wyler to retrieve Freia for him. -Easiest stage in the game, I like to use him as combo practice in casual plays -Might throw a couple of punches or kicks at the beginning, but is otherwise harmless -Just take care of him quickly
STAGE 2 - WANG KOH SAN Wang Koh San is a traveling "artist" who travels the lands with his pelican, who stumbles upon Robert and Freia. Thinking of this as an act of violence towards his pelican, Wang steps up to defeat Robert Garcia. -Start with a back jump Hien Ryujin-Kyaku and a ground kick -Follow the ground kick with a jumping kick, he'll usually block this one -Do a B+P to launch him in the air and to the flip combo to rack up some damage -Do a Hien Shippu-Kyaku when Wang stands up, he won't defend against this one -Whoever designed his hitboxes deserves to be fired -Repeat untill KO
STAGE 3 - JIN FUHA Jin Fuha is a warrior in search of Ryo Sakazaki to test his strength, but is also in search of Eiji Kisaragi, a ninja from AoF 1 & 2, to get revenge on him for betraying and leaving a nasty scar on his chest. Jin launches a sneak attack on Robert and demands the whereabouts of Ryo, but Robert does not have an answer. Thinking he is lying, Jin attacks Robert to get answers -Game gets a bit tricky, and enemies block more often here -Start the round with jumping away with a kick, he'll usually dash into the jump kick for some reason -He rarely blocks, but still more often than Rody and Wang -Be wary of his parry throw -Just do the B+P launcher into flip kick combo -Repeat until KO
STAGE 4 - SINCLAIR Sinclaire is a lady who reveals little about herself. While she encourages the creation of Wyler's new drug, she secretly wishes to end the development of the drug. She's got a sword, too, which is unfair for this. Robert wanders into the Wyler mansion in search of Freia, who has gone missing, and stumbles upon Sinclair. Sinclair does not tolerate trespassers in the mansion, and thus attacks Robert in an attempt to scare him off. -Back away to the corner as soon as possible -Keep walking away until she goes in for an attack, which is almost always a low sweep -Block the low sweep and launch into the flip combo -Repeat until KO
STAGE 5 - KASUMI TODOH Kasumi Todoh is the daughter of Ryuhaku Todoh, and also shares a similar moveset and outfit with her father. She knows little English, but she still knows enough to get her around. Similar to Jin Fuha, Kasumi is searching for Ryo Sakazaki to avenge her father's defeat against him. After learning the whereabouts of Freia from Sinclair, Robert begins his journey to the grave of Wyler's father. While walking through a parade, Kasumi crosses paths with Robert. Using her broken English, she demands Robert "Karcia" to stop in his tracks. Already annoyed by Kasumi mispronouncing his last name, he corrects her and asks what she wants. Kasumi proceeds to explain why she is looking for Ryo Sakazaki. Confused by her broken English, Robert tells her to speak English, and Kasumi herself is irritated by the mocking of her inability to properly speak the language, and fights Robert. -Begin the round by jumping away with a kick -After you land, keep taunting -Taunting causes Kasumi to spam her energy slash, draining meter from both the special move and the taunts -Even while she has no meter, she will continue to use the energy slash, leaving her wide open for an attack -Use this opportunity to combo her -Repeat until KO
STAGE 6 - LENNY CRESTON Lenny's story is similar to Rody's, and is even his partner in bounty hunting. Despite this, Rody and Lenny are not lovers. Lenny runs up to Robert to tell him to not look for Freia anymore. Robert refuses, and Lenny is required to use brute force. -Begin the round by jumping away and kicking -When you kick in the air, Lenny should do one of two things: A turnaround whip crack, or a barrage of short-ranged cracks -Both of these are unsafe on whiff, so dash in once she's done attacking and go for the combo -Taunt to keep her meter down and bait her into approaching. -Back away to the corner and spam taunt and block incoming attacks, be careful of her grabs -Once you block her shoulder bash, combo her -Repeat until KO
STAGE 7 - KARMAN COLE Karman Cole worked with Robert's parents in the Garcia Foundation and knew Robert since he was a kid. Robert wanders into Bar Santana to get himself a drink, and meets Karman, who insists Robert should return home as his father requests. Refusing his request, Robert brings up his hands, and for the first time, starts the fight himself -Begin the round by jumping away and kicking -Begin taunting, this will make Karman whiff his launcher again and again -When you feel the time/price is right, go in for a combo -From here on out, his AI changes, so it's just your skill, but something that works most of the time is to keep taunting and use Ryugeki-kens to chip away at his health, or jump away with kicks -Repeat until hopefully you KO
STAGE 8 - RYO SAKAZAKI Here he is, the main man of AoF 1 & 2. Ryo thinks he should still be the main guy in AoF 3 so he confronts Robert to take his place. Because of this, Ryo and Robert fight. -Begin the round by jumping away and kicking -After the jump kick, he may go for a low blow, so do a crouch guard -The low blow is unsafe on block, so combo him -After you combo him, drain his meter by taunting -He'll go for throws, Ryugeki-Kens, or Hien Shippu-Kyakus, maybe even a Haoh Shoko-Ken, so be on the lookout for these -Empty Shippu-Kyakus and Ryugeki-Kens are unsafe on block, so combo him when you get the chance -He doesn't block the second hit of the P-P-K rush attack, so be sure to do that if you want some space -Repeat until KO
STAGE 9/FINAL - WYLER After defeating Ryo in a battle, Robert sails to the nearby graveyard on a small island where Wyler and Freia are. Robert confronts them and requests that Freia must come back due to the dangers of the drug as mentioned by Sinclair. Wyler interrupts their touching scene and sighs. Wyler presents his drug and takes it, giving him superhuman strength and the power to make hurricanes similar to Joe Higashi's of Fatal Fury. -Begin the round by walking away just a bit, then back-dash away -When you backdash, Wyler usually sends a hurricane swipe to try and catch you, but Robert's back-dash hitboxes are wonky, almost like he's invincible to these kinds of attacks -After dodging the hurricane swipe with the back-dash, send one full taunt, then mash the taunt button -Taunting causes Wyler to spam his hurricanes similar to Kasumi's energy slash spam -This leaves him open for a combo, so go for it once he sends an empty hurricane swipe -Repeat until KO
EPILOGUE Upon defeating Wyler, his monstrous form reverts back to his normal self, but a side-effect of his drug regressed his mental state to a child, back when he was living with his father. Due to this, Freia must stay with Wyler to care for him, otherwise he would be leaving him just like his father did. Robert understands this, and leaves Freia with Wyler. As a final goodbye, Robert tells Freia to take care. In the Glasshill Airport, Robert is about to leave back to Italy "wherer" his old man lives, when Yuri catches up with him and presents that she has her own ticket to go with him. Robert jokingly says he prefers the Southern Islands of Italy for their honeymoon, and a laugh is had between them. And with that, the Art of Fighting trilogy is concluded.
RUNNER'S NOTES While doing my run for 3m37s, it did not feel as satisfying knowing that I only needed 1-round games to beat SnakeSoldier's record, but since AoF 3 is such a lesser-known game, I don't blame the mods for it. Personally, Art of Fighting 3 is a very solid fighting game that felt like it could be played at a competitive level compared to AoF 1 & 2, which felt like arcade games rather than traditional fighters. This game is great with friends(especially if one of you decides to go as Wyler!), and still a solid game on your own.
