I remember the misleading commercial for this game trying too hard to make it look like Mortal Kombat. It was sinister n showed every jab landing like an X-ray move.
3:55 "The Fatalist"? So, he believes that human beings have no power to influence the outcome of their actions and that everything in life is predetermined? Pretty odd philosophy for a character in a fighting game, but hey, you do you, man.
@@PACKERMAN2077 I remembered reading about it A LOT on an issue of GMR (extinct magazine) I had to google it to look at the images to confirm my theory. Which is now law.
The best thing about this game is the music when you win a round. Nice jungle/drum and bass bit lol. Although it already got annoying after only hearing it like 4 times.
I still remember buying this full price on launch day for $50 or $60 whatever games cost on the original Xbox back then. Boy oh boy was I not happy with this. I trusted it since it was John Tobias and thought "This dude made the original MK games with Ed Boon there's no way this can be bad!" If I could go back in time and change anything in my life it would be some of my bad game decisions. "Look here young Derek I know you really want Tao Feng but you really don't, buy any of those games over there by Atlus, literally any of them you'll have more fun."
@totes8363 it was 59.99 at all points in history for a game, minimum, in Illinois. It wasn't cheap anywhere to be a gamer except big cities where they had to compete. Live in the sticks in the 90's and yeah, you paid premium full price nearly everytime.
Back in the day, this was actually a pretty good looking game in terms of visuals. The game showcased good use of the shaders. Ultimately the game was sort of bland/generic in the art direction tho.
Problem with Tobias, he is an artist/lore professional. He can make at least decent art and world building, but he isn't good with game design and mechanics. That was always more of Ed Boon's strength and that's why he (Boon) is still around and Tobias isn't in the game industry anymore.
I rented this when it came out and remember laughing at the juxtaposition of how soft the controls are to the small nuclear explosions that occur when you touch your opponent
This game is a lot of nostalgia for me. Played this with friends back when X-Box was a big deal. We'd get together and duke it out for a while. By the way, that "Johny Unitas" is modeled pretty clearly after Jet Li. :D
I remember playing this for a while years ago on my original Xbox. Back then I actually thought it was fun. Even though the main bad guy basically looks like the Monarch from Venture Bros
Anyone else get the feeling Jade Dragon was designed specifically to be played by Lexa Doig in a straight-to-video, live-action movie adaptation of this game?
I loved Tao Feng, it wasn't afraid to go full 3D and had some great Ideas. You could interact with the boards, it was awesome kicking and throwing opponents around an arcade. The battle Damage during fights was great, and the limb damage added more new nuisances to this game. I personally enjoyed it it more than most other fighting games because of it being fully 3D characters and boards, I was tired of Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat's need to stay as Arcade 2D fighters. Tao Feng was a breath of fresh air, with a little more time and fleshed out characters and a better story I think it would be a contender. The Chi Bar wasn't spammable, you could use it once per fill and you had a choice between three abilities or healing your damaged limb. The get up feature in between fights showing your character hurt but still ready to fight was another nice touch. If anything I think this game was one of the games trying to advance tbe fighting game culture, while 2D Arcade fighters and the fans who love them hold it back. This game was not perfect by no means, but I think to drag it 20 years later is a bit of a disservice. At the end of the day if it wasn't the popular bandwagon games like Mortal Kombat or Tekken in the early 2000's nobody was giving it a chance. This game should have been built upon, negativity has way too much power in the entertainment industry👑
Tekken and Mk have lasted as long as they have for a reason and to say they're bandwagon games is disingenuous. This game just wasnt good no matter how you slice it. It had some cool ideas but executed poorly. The combo system was super shallow too.
@@SolidSnake240 your entitled to your opinion, I gave my review on the game. That included mentioning what could have helped it be a real contender, against more popular fighters. It has it's flaws, but again I found it refreshing over the games I felt were becoming redundant. I personally want a 3 dimensional fighting game, for me personally the popular franchises took a step backwards. The only game as smooth and action packed if DOA, but the combat is too cheap on some parts👑
There is a final boss, you just need to beat quest mode with all characters in the faction, then you fight this guy with 2 swords in an ice cave, beat him and you unlock him (or maybe beat both quest factions before unlock?). Rented this game back in the day, beat it, never bought it. Played the demo a lot, it's fun, but not a lot of content.
I actually found this for like $3, and it’s…a fun novelty to own. I think maaaaybe it could’ve worked as a series had they embraced their goofiness instead of taking it so seriously. I’m also glad to see that it’s not just me and a lot of the complaints I have also popped up for Matt. The last stage in quest mode is insanely hard, the camera switching is disorienting and the combat system is super shallow. I’m glad I have it but it’s definitely more of a novelty than a serious option.
I know this was made for content, but I wish you would have at least explored the move list a bit more as well as the Advanced Training Mode. This game is combo heavy and it's very helpful to at least memorize Short Combos and at least 1 Long Combo. Running Attack Combos are also helpful and Jump Attack Combos are essential. Also in Advanced Training Mode, they require you to perform those moves and encourage you to memorize them. That mode also teaches you defensive techniques, which actually helps you in the long run because safe-on-block combos and sidestepping are essential in this game. inb4 someone mentioning the date of the video.
So I just want to point out that Jade Dragon is wearing basically a bra as a top. That style is usually considered underwear back in the 1600s-1900s in China called a dudou.
Growing up Tekken 3 was everything, then our PlayStation broke and we switched to Xbox, not knowing that Tekken was only for PlayStation back then, we looked for a fighting game and Tao Feng was lit, then we got soul caliber 2 and that was it for this game 😂😂
that game looks like it might be fun. the numb limbs feature seems like it would be good to have in fighting games. Im really surprised that there isnt character endings.
New characters idea of tao feng 2. Black mantis. Witch. Grim reaper . Monkey style martial art. Bounty hunter. Egyptian sorcerer shapeshifter. Killer clown aliens . Pale lotus. Wizard. Angle . Kendo ronin . Druken kung fu style. African voodoo warrior. Any idea of new characters?. Any idea of new factions allies to pale lotus and black mantis ?.
If their going to showcase every female in thongs then they may as well drop the fancy mythic title and re-name it to something like 'Strip-strike' and revolve it around rival strippers.
i used to have a demo for this game amd was mever able to buy it. i loved the demo though. graphics were sick at the time and the maps looked dope. i feel like I remember a casino or summ
This game has really good graphics for an xbox game. Now...I remember judgement day on G4TV giving this game like an 8 or a 9? But one of the reviewers/hosts, I believe his name is Victor? Gave Guilty Gear X2 a 4 or something like that, partly because he hated heavy metal music that he referred to as glam rock, and he thought GG was too button mashy.
i remember ripping this to my modded xbox. I was a junior in high school and i would go to blockbuster every friday and rent 3 games for $20. Then I'd rip them and return the games the next day in the drop off box. Those were fun times back then.
I remember that when Maximilian played this he somehow pulled off a "0 hit combo" or something Does John Tobias have like some kind of asian culture fetish? Mk1 and 2 have a lot of asian inspired elements and after that there was few if any
People give a lot of flak to Microsoft these days over the Xbox not having too many exclusives, but back during the Xbox 1 days, they did in fact push heavily to make sure all game genres were represented. Say what you want about the quality of the games, but I liked that Microsoft put in effort to publish their own games. These were the Microsoft published games that I remember off the top of my head: Fighting/Action: Tao Feng, Kakuto Chojin, Grabbed by the Ghoulies Racing: Project Gotham Racing 1&2, Midtown Madness 3, Rallisport Challenge 1&2, Forza Motorsport Platform: Oddworld Munch's Odyssey, Blinx, Voodoo Vince, Conker's Bad Fur Day Vehicular combat: Bloodwake First/third person shooters: Halo 1&2, MechAssault 1&2, Brute Force RPG: Fable, Sudeki, Jade Empire
A game that truly reflects that fashion aesthetic of the early 2000's
Early 2000s aesthetic was driven by the denial that the turn of the century wasn't as groundbreaking as we all thought it would be at the time
Mom: We already have Voldo at home
Voldo at home: *is Wulong Goth*
The character's names sound like reject Wu Tang Clan members.
SeinenWax94 jr thick tiger would a welcome addition.
It's really forgettable names too but the design is 5/10
@@yahyamusseb The girls' outfits are... fine... if not for a fighting game😹 forgettable r34 bait in the early internet era? Perish the thought!
I remember the misleading commercial for this game trying too hard to make it look like Mortal Kombat. It was sinister n showed every jab landing like an X-ray move.
Shame the studio didn't match with the promise of great games. All they could make was average games at best
Fun Fact The People Who Made This Also Made Wrestlemania 21 On The Xbox
That was fun.
This 100% feels like one of those games you see kids playing in early 2000's movies that don't actually know what a video game looks like
Man, this game at the time looked mad clean. Boy, did it age.
It had really next gen graphics...
The animation swings wildly from chunky to extremely fluid and lifelike.
@tobyvision this is how I remember that era entirely, hit and miss with the graphics. Terrible to uncanny, same game sometimes.
I love how that big dude breaks his own neck before each fight. That guy is going to have some serious osteo problems later in life.
EXILE IS GOING TO BE IMMORTAL 💪FOR THE BLACK MANTIS WILL DESTROY THE PALE LOTUS
3:55 "The Fatalist"? So, he believes that human beings have no power to influence the outcome of their actions and that everything in life is predetermined? Pretty odd philosophy for a character in a fighting game, but hey, you do you, man.
I want that Flophouse Files on the early Xbox fighters
Kakuto Chojin: Back Alley Brutal...
Got to be part of that
@@PACKERMAN2077 isn't that the game that got canceled because it had a Arabic prayer or chant in one of the stages??
@@zekegonzalez1845 that's a good question I heard about that before but I don't remember what game.
@@PACKERMAN2077 it's that the one you mentioned.
@@PACKERMAN2077 I remembered reading about it A LOT on an issue of GMR (extinct magazine) I had to google it to look at the images to confirm my theory. Which is now law.
Dude, you gotta play Kabuki Warriors next.
You wanna talk dumpster fire, unholy abominations on the Xbox, you NEED kabuki warriors.
when he mentioned this was one of the three weird launch, first-party fighting games I immediately thought of Kakuto Chojin: Back Alley Brutal...
I remember playing the Demo that came on the disk with Brute Force along with the Splintercell demo. Damn this brings me back!
Is that Jet Li as Divine Fist?
It does kinda look like Jet Li from Fist of Legend.
I love this game so much lol
The music
The rivalry between factions
Even the cheesy designs
I loved this game as a kid. My friends didn't share the same sentiment tho
The best thing about this game is the music when you win a round. Nice jungle/drum and bass bit lol. Although it already got annoying after only hearing it like 4 times.
Why does Wulong Goth look like Zorak from Space Ghost?
I THOUGHT THE SAME EXACT THING!!!!!!! DON'T TOUCH ME!!!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
He looks more like Cell from DBZ to me.
SpaceGhost characters should be in Mugens
I feel like this game is what happens when a cheesy early-mid nineties fighting game gets stuck in the body of an early 2000s fighting game.
How is that tje case, when this is actually fully 3D rendered and the newest games are 2D arcade fighters🤷🏿♂️👑
I still remember buying this full price on launch day for $50 or $60 whatever games cost on the original Xbox back then. Boy oh boy was I not happy with this. I trusted it since it was John Tobias and thought "This dude made the original MK games with Ed Boon there's no way this can be bad!" If I could go back in time and change anything in my life it would be some of my bad game decisions. "Look here young Derek I know you really want Tao Feng but you really don't, buy any of those games over there by Atlus, literally any of them you'll have more fun."
49.99 on og Xbox I remember bc it was too expensive for me to get the year it came out
Why are you lying on the internet? lol
@totes8363 it was 59.99 at all points in history for a game, minimum, in Illinois. It wasn't cheap anywhere to be a gamer except big cities where they had to compete. Live in the sticks in the 90's and yeah, you paid premium full price nearly everytime.
me but paying full price for destiny 2 on launch day
I absolutely loved this game. Randomly thought about it tonight and now I’m here
Poor John Tobias, he so desperately wanted to get away from making MK games.....only to make a terrible MK rip off.
Maybe with the characters design and general aesthetics.
But the gameplay seems to look more like Tekken or DOA.
Back in the day, this was actually a pretty good looking game in terms of visuals. The game showcased good use of the shaders. Ultimately the game was sort of bland/generic in the art direction tho.
Why did Joy Tobias leave MK?
@@anaknangfilipina5846 To try his hand at independent development.
Problem with Tobias, he is an artist/lore professional. He can make at least decent art and world building, but he isn't good with game design and mechanics. That was always more of Ed Boon's strength and that's why he (Boon) is still around and Tobias isn't in the game industry anymore.
I rented this when it came out and remember laughing at the juxtaposition of how soft the controls are to the small nuclear explosions that occur when you touch your opponent
Every attack is Dynamite Kick
There is a hidden boss and boss stage. But, you have to beat the quest mode with an entire group(pale lotus or black mantis).
These characters all look like they were designed by 12 year old in 1997
Real
Especially the super edgy tattoos and barely clothed women 💀😭
@@RawrX32009tribal tattoos where huge in the early 2000s.
Also, chicks in fighting games are usually in skimpy outfits. Nothing to clutch pearls over.
@@HiGlowie I know
I'm just pointing out how 2000s this game is
So MK?
I remember G4 hyping up the limb damage system in this game enough to get me to rent it for the hell of it
I used to play this all of the time as a kid. Then I played it a few years back and wanted to go drop an Exile tombstone onto my younger self.
I think the character models are pretty decent/good for the era.
You sound a lot like the dude from New Girl. You know, the guy who voiced Peter Parker in Spiderverse? That’s a compliment. Your voice is endearing.
The character models in the select screen spin so fast that I legit got dizzy watching haha.
This game is a lot of nostalgia for me. Played this with friends back when X-Box was a big deal. We'd get together and duke it out for a while. By the way, that "Johny Unitas" is modeled pretty clearly after Jet Li. :D
I got this game back in 2003. Played on the first generation Xbox. Iconic. I was 8 years old.
I remember playing this for a while years ago on my original Xbox. Back then I actually thought it was fun. Even though the main bad guy basically looks like the Monarch from Venture Bros
I love how half way in this becomes a DSP video.
Not his fault dood!
Only when he said "I can't block." 😆
holy crap these designs. I'm imagining a Crymetina Critiques and it ends with the tv getting busted like 9 times out of 10
Anyone else get the feeling Jade Dragon was designed specifically to be played by Lexa Doig in a straight-to-video, live-action movie adaptation of this game?
This game was genuinely amazing when it came out.
No, it was rated terrible then, it is now as well easy to see it would've been supplanted by everything. MK4 was better, and MK4 was terrible.
Tbh if they brought this back and revamped it, it would probably be great
@@caiusmadison2996It's not terrible. But it isn't good. I have been playing it. It just needs an update
We need Kung Fu Chaos.
Damn right
I only played the demo back in the day but I think you could use the environment, like swing on poles or something.
When Matt was going over their names, I realized that almost none of them actually have names at all. They're just... titles.
They have names in their profiles.
I loved Tao Feng, it wasn't afraid to go full 3D and had some great Ideas. You could interact with the boards, it was awesome kicking and throwing opponents around an arcade. The battle Damage during fights was great, and the limb damage added more new nuisances to this game. I personally enjoyed it it more than most other fighting games because of it being fully 3D characters and boards, I was tired of Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat's need to stay as Arcade 2D fighters. Tao Feng was a breath of fresh air, with a little more time and fleshed out characters and a better story I think it would be a contender. The Chi Bar wasn't spammable, you could use it once per fill and you had a choice between three abilities or healing your damaged limb. The get up feature in between fights showing your character hurt but still ready to fight was another nice touch. If anything I think this game was one of the games trying to advance tbe fighting game culture, while 2D Arcade fighters and the fans who love them hold it back. This game was not perfect by no means, but I think to drag it 20 years later is a bit of a disservice. At the end of the day if it wasn't the popular bandwagon games like Mortal Kombat or Tekken in the early 2000's nobody was giving it a chance. This game should have been built upon, negativity has way too much power in the entertainment industry👑
Tekken and Mk have lasted as long as they have for a reason and to say they're bandwagon games is disingenuous. This game just wasnt good no matter how you slice it. It had some cool ideas but executed poorly. The combo system was super shallow too.
@@SolidSnake240 your entitled to your opinion, I gave my review on the game. That included mentioning what could have helped it be a real contender, against more popular fighters. It has it's flaws, but again I found it refreshing over the games I felt were becoming redundant. I personally want a 3 dimensional fighting game, for me personally the popular franchises took a step backwards. The only game as smooth and action packed if DOA, but the combat is too cheap on some parts👑
@@SolidSnake240Some Tekken and MK games are jank. So some of it is bandwagoning
Ahh sad there’s no FanArt for these ladies. D: :(
YOU CHECKED?! 💀😭
@@RawrX32009Yes, haha
Almost every other Fighter Game has Fan Art of their Fighters. You revived this idea in me again.
There is a final boss, you just need to beat quest mode with all characters in the faction, then you fight this guy with 2 swords in an ice cave, beat him and you unlock him (or maybe beat both quest factions before unlock?). Rented this game back in the day, beat it, never bought it. Played the demo a lot, it's fun, but not a lot of content.
All characters in both factions
I actually found this for like $3, and it’s…a fun novelty to own. I think maaaaybe it could’ve worked as a series had they embraced their goofiness instead of taking it so seriously.
I’m also glad to see that it’s not just me and a lot of the complaints I have also popped up for Matt. The last stage in quest mode is insanely hard, the camera switching is disorienting and the combat system is super shallow. I’m glad I have it but it’s definitely more of a novelty than a serious option.
Tao Feng was a game I had that I always wondered why I had. Its far from good but god it was funny seeing you run through it Matt!
Another Gamestop shelf space taker, that I always stared at, and then looked at MGS2 instead. Thank you Matt.
I also love the very thorough descriptions from Matt over C tier fighting games characters, haha.
It would have been interesting to see what improvements a sequel would have made.
EI Gigante studios? WCW 1991 reIeased him to produce this game, nice
Ironic since Studio Gigante's second and final game was the abysmal WWE Wrestlemania 21.
Ah yes, the first game that brought about my sexual awakening.
Mine was mk deception I had krush on li mei.
I remember seeing the cover of this game and thinking "...nope."
Good call!
I actually like this game.
I used to play this all the time as a kid, it was awesome
I know this was made for content, but I wish you would have at least explored the move list a bit more as well as the Advanced Training Mode. This game is combo heavy and it's very helpful to at least memorize Short Combos and at least 1 Long Combo. Running Attack Combos are also helpful and Jump Attack Combos are essential. Also in Advanced Training Mode, they require you to perform those moves and encourage you to memorize them. That mode also teaches you defensive techniques, which actually helps you in the long run because safe-on-block combos and sidestepping are essential in this game.
inb4 someone mentioning the date of the video.
Master Sage's alternate costume makes him look like Master Roshi.
14:25 Matt channeling his inner Darksydephil
So I just want to point out that Jade Dragon is wearing basically a bra as a top. That style is usually considered underwear back in the 1600s-1900s in China called a dudou.
I wish this games was back .
I remember playing this game a lot when I was younger.
Glad to see it getting more attention, even though I found it okay at best.
Oh man... this is a THROWBACK! I remember playing the demo for this way back when...
Growing up Tekken 3 was everything, then our PlayStation broke and we switched to Xbox, not knowing that Tekken was only for PlayStation back then, we looked for a fighting game and Tao Feng was lit, then we got soul caliber 2 and that was it for this game 😂😂
At 18:12 the arcade cabinet in the back is "Womens Gymnastics Trivia" my FAVORITE classic arcade title!
I'm pretty sure Exile's voice actor is Shao Kahn. lol
I have this game. I remember liking it. Haven't played it in years.
Jade Dragon looks like Juniper Lee grew up and just gave up in life
The character names sound like they're named after their martial arts style or something
I'm having difficulty to try to think about what Tao Feng is in Chinese language, actually.
that game looks like it might be fun. the numb limbs feature seems like it would be good to have in fighting games. Im really surprised that there isnt character endings.
I think they also made a WWF game on the xbox before calling it quits.
I still remember getting this and being like THIS IS SO COOL.....for 10 min.
We all remember that fateful day the co-creator of Mortal Kombat accidentally created Shaq Fu 3D.
Xbox had this game called STAKE and boy was it a PowerStone Rip off with like 2 songs.
Master Sage looks like he's ripped off of Master Roshi, what with the bald head, beard, sunglasses and shield on his back.
never played it, but something about this game is kinda charming lol
New characters idea of tao feng 2.
Black mantis.
Witch.
Grim reaper .
Monkey style martial art.
Bounty hunter.
Egyptian sorcerer shapeshifter.
Killer clown aliens .
Pale lotus.
Wizard.
Angle .
Kendo ronin .
Druken kung fu style.
African voodoo warrior.
Any idea of new characters?.
Any idea of new factions allies to pale lotus and black mantis ?.
Why is Jade Dragon wearing a thong over and under her trousers?
Double up on the protection
That was the look back in the early 2000’s. They called it the whale tail.
I remember playing the 2 character Demo of this on some games disc in the extras and once in a blue moon I would try to remember what it was called.
Brute Force
I'm not one to hyper focus on character assets but.. Fierce Tiger
Wasn't there like a weird limb damage mechanic in this?
Didn't do much...
They should have called Firey Phoenix Flame Chicken
Forged by Revenge, Tempered by Fire, The Phoenix will Always burn bright!
You forgot the whoosh karate cabbage chop effects
If their going to showcase every female in thongs then they may as well drop the fancy mythic title and re-name it to something like 'Strip-strike' and revolve it around rival strippers.
Who got idea of tao feng 2 culture characters idea with new factions culture?.
i used to have a demo for this game amd was mever able to buy it. i loved the demo though. graphics were sick at the time and the maps looked dope. i feel like I remember a casino or summ
This game has really good graphics for an xbox game. Now...I remember judgement day on G4TV giving this game like an 8 or a 9? But one of the reviewers/hosts, I believe his name is Victor? Gave Guilty Gear X2 a 4 or something like that, partly because he hated heavy metal music that he referred to as glam rock, and he thought GG was too button mashy.
lolz
It took years to block this game out of my memory... and now it’s back...
Wulong Goth's second costume looked like Scarab from Mummies Alive
@himode Straight back to childhood!
Kakuto Chojin next?
👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
Yep!
Should play it in the hardest difficulty.
I actually kind of miss this game
i remember ripping this to my modded xbox. I was a junior in high school and i would go to blockbuster every friday and rent 3 games for $20. Then I'd rip them and return the games the next day in the drop off box. Those were fun times back then.
I had this game and loved it
I remember that when Maximilian played this he somehow pulled off a "0 hit combo" or something
Does John Tobias have like some kind of asian culture fetish? Mk1 and 2 have a lot of asian inspired elements and after that there was few if any
People give a lot of flak to Microsoft these days over the Xbox not having too many exclusives, but back during the Xbox 1 days, they did in fact push heavily to make sure all game genres were represented. Say what you want about the quality of the games, but I liked that Microsoft put in effort to publish their own games. These were the Microsoft published games that I remember off the top of my head:
Fighting/Action: Tao Feng, Kakuto Chojin, Grabbed by the Ghoulies
Racing: Project Gotham Racing 1&2, Midtown Madness 3, Rallisport Challenge 1&2, Forza Motorsport
Platform: Oddworld Munch's Odyssey, Blinx, Voodoo Vince, Conker's Bad Fur Day
Vehicular combat: Bloodwake
First/third person shooters: Halo 1&2, MechAssault 1&2, Brute Force
RPG: Fable, Sudeki, Jade Empire
It would be awesome to see you play Cardinal Syn for the PS1, a not great game I loved as kid!
Pale Lotus is legally distinct--the best kind of distinct.
I believe Vapor is named that because it's what her spine is comprised of.
Phoenix Path: Fist of the Lotus is kinda a cool name though. Very Iron Fist sounding.
I bought this game from a rental store that went out of business afterwards.
How about fight club on original xbox for next video?
Are the sides of the screen supposed to be cut off or is that an error with the recording?
I consider both to be equally likely.
Am I the only one who actually likes this game?
So, the game's obviously in 16:9, yet the video has 4:3 aspect ratio, cutting a chunk of the screen. What happened there?
Dude!! I’ve been trying to remember the name of this game for the longest time!!! I played this so much with my brother years ago lol