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DETAILED DESCRIPTION:
The Warlocks of the Fates is a 1995 one-on-one fighting game designed by Astec-21
(Amusement Soft & Technology 21). It would have been their first NEOGEO title for the
system, but was ultimately canceled. One very unique characteristic about this game is
that most fighting games have the ROUND TIMER and LIFE BARS for the players located at
the top of the screen, yet this game has them located on the bottom. In fact, the only
other arcade fighting game which I can think of that has this unique layout is Konami's
1993 Martial Champion.
It appears that SNK may have assisted with the development of the game, as they are
actually co-credited on the title screen, but to what extent is completely unknown. The
game was 100% completed, as proven by two complete walkthrough videos that have been posted.
Among the lost neogeo games, this one is the LEAST obscure and the MOST well documented.
As a result, it has the LOWEST perceived value of them all. It is 1 of 3 unreleased fighting
games for the console, with The Eye of Typhoon and Mark of the Wolves 2 being the other 2.
INFORMATION TIMELINE:
-- April 1995 -- CD CONSOLES #6 (FRANCE) mentions Aztec21 in a short article.
-- May 1995 -- NEOGEO FREAK #1 (JAPAN) publishes a 2 page spread with screen shots.
-- June 1995 -- Warlocks of the Fates is shown at the 1995 Tokyo Toy Show.
-- June 1995 -- NEOGEO FREAK #2 runs a 4 page spread with screen shots and artwork.
-- July 1995 -- Shown in NEOGEO WORLD Volume 2 page 32 and page 33 screen shots.
-- July 1995 -- NEOGEO FREAK #3 runs a 2 page spread with screen shots and box art.
-- August 1995 -- CD CONSOLES #9 (FRANCE) publishes a short article with screenshots.
-- January 2005 -- Emulated shots surface which prove the games rom data has been dumped.
-- March 2012 -- a sample cartridge is found and put on display in a Japanese video game store.
-- April 2012 -- the above is reported on Twitter by NeoAyato; claiming they LENT it to them.
-- October 2013 -- 2 internal SNK videos are posted by Myaatan on nicovideo in Japan.
-- August 2014 -- the above videos are posted to YouTube.
-- July 2015 -- Mandarake claims the cart was donated by a producer and is not a working rom.
-- June 2019 -- a friend of mine sneaks the first VIDEO showing the cartridge at the store.
-- January 2021 -- a news press video clip filmed in 1995 at a Japan show is posted to Twitter.
-- August 2022 -- more emulated screen shots and software product number NGM-077 confirmed.
-- September 2022 -- emulated video from NeoRageX and MAME are posted to YouTube.
CURRENT STATUS: SAFEGUARDED
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