And that’s where the sacred artifact comes in: the Bloody Roar 2 save file.

Remember the late 90s? The smell of a freshly spun CD-ROM, the groan of a chunky grey controller, and the thwack of a wolf-man uppercutting a mole-spider-thing through a bamboo forest.

Bakuryu the mole would still parry your attacks in his sleep. Stun the Insect? No. The AI input-reads harder than a modern fighting game hacker. A save file with everything unlocked was proof that you had the patience of a saint and the reflexes of… well, a beast.

The real Bloody Roar 2 save file lives in your muscle memory. In the way you still hear "BEAST DRIIIVE!" in your head. In the knowledge that Long the Tiger’s throw into fireball is still one of the coolest moves ever animated.