Weaponlord is a fighting game developed by Visual Concepts and published by Namco for the Super NES and Genesis in October 1995.

Project leads James Goddard and Dave Winstead aimed to design a title for enthusiasts of the fighting game genre.

[1] The game received mixed reviews upon release, with criticism going towards its graphics and animation, while the gameplay was esteemed for its innovation and depth.

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.

[4] 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.

[6] Visual Concepts had an incredibly tight schedule to complete the game, and the decision to add a Genesis version came later into the development cycle than most other multi-platform titles.

The development team worked closely with XBAND representatives to ensure that the game would not suffer from lag when being played online.

It was originally intended [citation needed] for all of the characters to have a unique death combo but due to the apparent rush to get Weaponlord out the door, only Zarak's was completed.

[10] Following the traditional playtest, Goddard and Winstead arranged to have Weaponlord installed in an arcade cabinet in the Golfland in Sunnyvale, California in order to get direct player reactions.

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.

They criticized the limited number of playable characters, but concluded that "While the advanced gameplay may scare away beginning barbarians, others will appreciate the deep controls.

"[16] A different GamePro reviewer made similar remarks of the Super NES version, commenting that the combat system effectively did away with cheap techniques such as corner traps and simple throws, but could be daunting for many players.

[15] In a retrospective review of the Super NES version, AllGame offered praise for the deep countering system, but said that the complexity of the game may turn off newcomers.

Reviewer Scott Alan Marriott said it was not easy to pick up and play like Mortal Kombat, being "designed for the hardcore fan rather than those new to the genre", and mentioned that the game's computer opponents were far too difficult for novices.