Weaponlord is a fighting game developed by Visual Concepts and published by Namco for the Super NES and Genesis in October 1995. Weaponlord has players select a character and defeat a series of opponents. The game is a weapons-based fighter, with various gory moves and a deep counterattack system. Project leads James Goddard and Dave Winstead aimed to design a title for enthusiasts of the fighting game genre. Unlike many other fighting games of the time, Weaponlord was designed specifically for home consoles and was one of the first fighting games optimized for online play. It has also been thought of as the basis for Namco's Soul Edge/Calibur series. The game received mixed reviews upon release, with criticism going towards its graphics and animation, while the gameplay was esteemed for its innovation and depth. Many critics remarked that the complexity of the gameplay would make the game too daunting for all but experienced fighting game enthusiasts. Gameplay At its core, Weaponlord is a standard 2D fighting game experience. Where it differs is in its gameplay mechanics, and in some of its aesthetic choices and presentation. The game features thrust-blocking, an aggressive blocking system similar to Street Fighter III'''s Parry system. Also introduced in the game are Deflect moves, a counterattack maneuver that each character has. Certain special moves, known as "Take Downs", knock opponents onto their back. A player can then follow up with additional attacks while their foe is still on the floor. In addition, when certain attacks are performed on an opponent in mid-swing, the player can cut off a piece of their clothing or their hair. Players can finish off matches using "Death Combos", Fatality-style combination attacks that can have a gory effect on opponents.Weaponlord's fighters possess between 9 and 12 special moves each. Moves can be executed one of several ways: sweeping motions on the directional pad followed by an attack button, "charge" moves where a directional button is held for 2 seconds quickly followed by the opposite direction, and finally an attack button, or hold down moves where the player must first hold down an attack button, followed by a directional motion, and finish it by releasing said attack button. A password is given at the end of a match, so the player can always return to the middle of a game, if need be. A secret password is also given so the Demonlord Zarak