Man i've never seen so much praise for this game. Most of the things in game were never explained especially combat wise. I did play some tournament mode back in the day though. Still i rented it more than once so in a way i "liked" it.
I don't think you'll ever see this much praise for that game anywhere else, lol. I agree, the game's advanced mode was a little hard to figure out at first but it also had the simple mode that resembled standard tournament fighters a little more. There was also that option to play the boss fights RPG style. I remember the game being blindingly hard for me at first but I just powered through and mastered it.
I suggest you revisit it sometime, especially if you like beat 'em up/fighters, it's definitely one of those hidden gems
Well i made my buddy playthrough it, ofc we mostly made joke but he still finished it. Its one of those games that was changed to appeal more to the audience outside of Japan. Just look the Japanese version called "Hiryu No Ken" the characters are different looking.