Code Chronos

Code Chronos is a 2D fighting game developed by Orange Soft and published by Taito (arcade) and D3 Publisher (console). It is the spiritual successor to the critically-acclaimed Fight or Die series. Released for arcade (Taito Type X3) and the Samsung X-EYE as an exclusive title.

Gameplay
Being the spiritual successor to the Fight or Die series, Code Chronos borrows some gameplay elements from its predecessor.The game uses a four-button system, with two buttons for light and heavy attacks, respectively, one for dedicated attacks, and one for blocking and parries. By combining button presses with d-pad/joystick motions, the player can perform special, super and burst attacks, the latter can only be performed when the Instinct meter is filled at a certain level. Like its predecessor, Code Chronos features instant-kill attacks called "Execution Finishes", which can only be done at match point, when the player's Instinct meter is full and the enemy has less than 30% life remaining. Code Chronos also features new gameplay mechanics: Parrying, which can be done by pressing block slightly before the enemy's attack hits and costs a fraction of the Parry meter, located below the life bar, and Character Abilities, which give the character certain individual skills. Each character (except boss Ash) has three abilities. The ablities can be seen on the character select screen and are shown as icons. The abilities are as follows: There are 9 stages in normal gameplay (7 fights with basic characters, one mirror match and the boss fight with Ash). By default, each stage is a two-out-of -three wins match composed of "encounters" (the announcer says it as: By Order & Chaos, Encounter 1, Clash!).
 * Anti-Stun (characters can recover from a stun period faster)
 * High Jump (chracters can do a high jump by pressing up twice)
 * Charge Attack (charcters can charge special attacks for added damage)
 * Aerial Specials (characters can use special atacks while jumping)
 * Safe Parry (characters can do parries while consuming less of the Parry meter)
 * Quick Parry (characters can do parries with less timing)
 * Safe Burst (characters can do burst attacks while consuming less of the Instinct meter
 * Quick Gain (characters can fill their Instinct meter faster)

Story
After a chain of calamities devastated the Earth, the worldwide comglomerate FutureTech decided to create the world's first fully functional time machine in order to transport the survivors to the past to give them enought time to reverse the calamities' effects. This was known as the "Chronos project".

However, during their journey to the past, the time machine broke down, which caused not only the death of the survivor but also triggered a large-scale time shift, which led to a rapid day-night shift every 6 hours, as well as sudden deaths of elderly people, due to rapid aging weakening their bodies, and unborn children, due to unintentional abortion because of the time shift affecting the birthdates of the infants.

Kain, assisted by a girl named Faye Kurosawa, discovered that the breakdown of the time machine, whch caused the time shift, was not accidental and was caused by a certain entity.

The entity turns out to be Ash, who was also the head of the Chronos project

Characters
Lead character. A mysterious man with a shady demeanor. Fights with his great sword Fatalys. (Anti-Stun, Charge Attack, Quick Gain) A young girl with no memory of her past. Fights with dual bladed tonfas. (High Jump, Charge Attack, Safe Parry) Kain's brother and friendly rival. Fights with a katana (Aerial Specials, Safe Parry, Quick Parry) A blob-like artificial creature. Fights by changing into different forms (Anti-Stun, Safe Burst, Quick Gain) A burly bounty hunter who has an obsession with money. Fights with his fists (Anti-Stun, Charge Attack, Safe Burst) A spunky female detective known for her quick wit and attractiveness. Fights with two pocketknives chained to her wrists. (Charge Attack, Quick Parry, Safe Burst) A vampire ressurected from his 1000-year slumber by the time shift. Fights with his shapeshifting cape (Charge Attack, Aerial Specials, Quick Gain) A professional assasin tasked to eliminate those who harm Aah. Fights with several firearms (Aerial Specials, Quick Parry, Safe Burst) A young gifted child who uses her intelligence to serve for Ash. Fights with a cyborg suit she created. (Anti-Stun, High Jump, Charge Attack) Ash's mistress who is madly obsessed with him. Fights with a whip. (High Jump, Aerial Specials, Quick Gain) Former head of the Chronos project and the entity responsible for the time shift. Fights with his robotic arms (all Character Abilities^) [Final Boss/DLC] Faye Kurosawa's past self. Fights with dual bladed tonfas. (High Jump, Charge Attack, Safe Parry) [DLC] ^This only applies with the final boss Ash. The DLC/One-X playable version of Ash features only three Character Abilities as a normal character. They are: Anti-Stun, Aerial Specials and Quick Parry.
 * Kain (Voiced by:Patrick Seitz)
 * Faye Kurosawa (Voiced by: Erin Fitzgerald)
 * Renji (Voiced by: Josh Grelle)
 * L.D. 50 (Voiced by: "TAKA")
 * Rick Durst (Voiced by:)
 * Mia (Voiced by:)
 * Count Rammstein (Voiced by:)
 * Astrid (Voiced by: Brina Palencia)
 * Lisa Shaddix (Voiced by:)
 * Helena Valentine (Voiced by: Mary Elizabeth McGlynn)
 * Ash (Voiced by: Crispin Freeman)
 * Young Faye (Voiced by: Erin Fitzgerald)

Code Chronos One-X
Code Chronos One-X is an arcade-only update of Code Chronos. Code Chronos One-X contains additional content such as new moves, redesigned stages and two additional characters: Young Faye and a tournament-legal version of the final boss Ash, both of which are later featured as DLC for the console version. As of this writing, Code Chronos One-X is only available to Japanese arcades, although the console version of Code Chronos is based on the One-X update.

Sequel
A sequel to Code Chronos, Code Chronos: Eve of Destruction, is under progress. it will feature new characters as well as new gameplay mechanics and stages. It will be released for Arcades (Taito Type X3) and X-EYE.

Trivia

 * The song in the game's intro is Crawling in the Dark by American rock band Hoobastank. The song was originally released as the lead single from their major label debut album H∞bastank, released in 2001.
 * A demo version of Code Chronos was released in the Samsung Apps LIVEPLAY store months before the official release. The demo versions contalins only three characters: Kain, Faye and L.D. 50, and was available for free.
 * The update to Code Chronos, Code Chronos One-X was named after Canadian rock band Three Days Grace's second studio album One-X, which was originally released in 2006.
 * L.D. 50 is voiced by myself (SecondOpinion), although credited under "TAKA".
 * The credits for the game includes the song "Comatose" by American christian rock band Skillet. The song was originally released in 2006 as part of their seventh studio album Comatose.