Delta Cross: Future Arena

Delta Cross: Future Arena (デルタクロス: フューチャーアリーナ), originally styled as ΔX, is a 3D fighting game developed and published by Multisoft. It was released in 1996 for arcades and later ported to the PlayStation and Sega Saturn. This game was Multisoft's first 3D fighting game.

Gameplay
The game utilizes a 4-button system, with each button corresponding to Punch, Kick, Block and Hold, respectively. The first three buttons are self-explanatory, while the Hold button acts as both a counter button and a throw button, allowing the player to perform grabs and throws.

The core gameplay of Delta Cross resembles that from various 3D fighting games such as Tekken and Dead or Alive, with a strong emphasis on juggling and preset punch/kick combinations. The game allows free movement in the third axis, enabling characters to sidestep with a quick tap of the up or down buttons. Certain characters can also double jump.

By pressing the Hold button immediately before the opponent's attack hits, the player can counter the opponent's attack, causing damage to the opponent. Doing the same with the Block button would allow the player to parry, which deal no damage, but repels the attack and drops the opponent's guard for retaliation. Parrying and countering attacks are essential defensive techniques in the game, but there are some attacks that cannot be countered or parried.

Delta Cross' key function is the “Combo Tree”, a combo system that emphasizes the usage of varied strikes and blows to chain together a long, damaging combo. Players can begin the combo tree with a “starter” attack, after which the player can chain together at least six hits using a set of preset attacks consisting of either P, K, fP, fK, dP or dK, after which the player can end the sequence by performing a special “combo finisher” to end the combo. The timing for each hit tenses up after each successive hit, so quick reflexes and perfect timing are key in order to perform some of the longest combos in the game.

The game also includes elements from different fighting games; for example, a player can attack a defeated opponent with pursuit strikes like stomps and ground punches. There are also chain-grabs, throws that connect with each other but require a long string of attack combinations to be successfully activated.

Story
In the 22nd century, the galactic conglomerate Spade Million, known throughout the years for their innovations in technology and medicine, has been creating experiments with the data of fighters from across the galaxy for their use in bio-weapons, killing them later once the job is done.

The star of the story is Koji Nagare, an expert pilot part of a space federation force known as FAZE. He grew under the guidance of his mentor Gallus following the death of his parents. Seeing his hidden potential, Gallus trained Koji to be a fighter pilot and enlisted him in FAZE.

Since then, Koji has succeeded in every mission passed by FAZE and led his team to victory until one fateful day, a swarm of Spade Million fighter jets ambushed Koji's team and tried to abduct Gallus. With the help of his teammates, Gallus shot down the jets until a few of the jets shot and destroyed his ship, with him inside, killing him entirely. Shocked by his mentor's death, Koji chased down and shot the remaining Spade Million jets, even disappearing from FAZE's watch.

Years later, Spade Million announced the first Delta Cross: Future Arena tournament, where various fighters gather around to prove who is the strongest of them all. Koji reappears from hiding, willing to avenge the death of his mentor, and enters the tournament to put an end to Spade Million. But unbeknownst to anyone, Spade Million set up this tournament to collect more fight data for their ultimate weapon: Andromeda.

Stages

 * Noise City
 * Azure Lake
 * Dust Castle
 * Blackfade
 * Still Station
 * Sail Town
 * Crimson Plateau
 * Frost Tundra
 * Smoke Ground