Fighter's History (ファイターズヒストリー Faitāzu Hisutorī?) is a series of competitive fighting games that were produced by Data East during the 1990s. The original Fighter's History was first released for the arcades in 1993 and then ported to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1994. Two different sequels were produced: Fighter's History Dynamite (ファイターズヒストリーダイナマイト Faitāzu Hisutorī Dainamaito?), known in Europe as Karnov's Revenge, for the Neo Geo in 1994, followed by Fighter's History: Mizoguchi Kiki Ippatsu!! (ファイターズヒストリー 〜溝口危機一髪!!〜 Faitāzu Hisutorī: Mizoguchi Kiki Ippatsu!!?, "Mizoguchi's Moment of Crisis!!"), released exclusively in Japan for the Super Famicom in 1995.
At the time of the first game's release, Capcom U.S.A. sued Data East Corp. over Fighter's History due to what Capcom U.S.A. felt were infringements on its Street Fighter II property. Capcom U.S.A. lost the case on grounds that the copied elements were scenes a faire and thus excluded from copyright.[1] Data East Corp.'s largest objection in court was that their 1984 arcade game Karate Champ was the true originator of the competitive fighting game genre, which predated the original Street Fighter by three years.[2]
The main unique feature of the Fighter's History series is its "weak point system". By repeatedly hitting an opponent's weak point, the player can temporarily stun them once per round, leaving the opponent open for an attack. The location of an opponent's weak spot varies with each character and is usually represented by a specific article of clothing (i.e.: a headband, a vest, a mask).
