WeaponLord

At its core, WeaponLord is a standard 2D fighting game. 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.

On a battlefield a demon spirit enters the body of a dying mercenary. He is reborn and defeats twenty rulers in bloody combat. He goes on to found the reign of the Demonlord Raith. At the height of his power, his doom is foretold by a shaman: "When the night turns violent and the moon bleeds, gripped by the skeletal fingers of death...a child will rise to face the demon in combat...and the lord of demons will fall by the hand of...the WeaponLord."

Against the advice of his lieutenants to kill the children born that night, the Demonlord waits to face his foretold killer in fair, one-on-one combat. Years later the Demon Zarak overthrows Raith and becomes the new Demonlord. Twenty-five years after the prophecy was made, Zarak holds a great tournament of champion warriors. The winner will face the demon in a final battle. The Demonlord prepares to meet his destiny head on and to destroy the Weaponlord.

The game's lead designers James Goddard and Dave Winstead had previously worked for Capcom. S. producer of Street Fighter II: Champion Edition and Street Fighter II: Hyper Fighting and designed the character Dee Jay for Super Street Fighter II, and Winstead had worked on Super Street Fighter II Turbo. Both had extensive fighting game tournament experience and wanted to cater to dedicated fans of the genre with WeaponLord.

They also wanted to optimize the game for the slow dial-up connections of the XBAND service, timing parry animations and character turnaround time to account for lag. To achieve the creative control they needed to create such a game, they left Capcom to join Namco. There they took over a project led by Ken Lobb codenamed "Melee", a four-player brawler, and redirected it into the one-on-one fighter they had in mind.

WeaponLord was not a large commercial success. James Goddard attributed this partly to it being released at the tail end of the 16-bit console era.

Reviewing the Genesis version, the four reviewers of Electronic Gaming Monthly were divided. Two of them panned the game for the choppy animation and poor control, with one concluding that "The concepts are there, but the game isn't." The other two also heavily criticized the animation and control, but argued that some gamers would feel that the innovative fighting techniques make the game worthwhile in spite of its flaws. A critic for Next Generation also criticized the choppy animation but greatly praised the innovative and deep weapons combat. He concluded the game to be "worthy of at least a good long look".