"It never ends...the more Primal Rage versions I play, the worse it seems to get..."

Primal Rage is a hard game to describe, and even when you find words for it, it's still one of those games that you really can't put into words! Featuring some primal creatures that range from dinosaurs to wild ass gorillas with attitude, you've got a wild ride of a fighting game with plenty of gore and mindless violence to go along with it! The Earth has been destroyed during a great apocalypse, and the result is the re-emergence of these wild creatures that hail from deep within the Earth and even from the Moon. Humans are no longer on top of the food chain, but rather handy snacks there for the munching and crunching during battle! The focus of the game isn't on advanced combinations, or even learning to be some masterful expert, nope, it's based solely on if you can turn your opponent into a pile of mush and bloody flesh or not. Now, featured on the 32X, the game hasn’t changed one bit, and just like every other freaking version of the game, it still features all of the problems that it has on the other systems and because it is run through the Genesis hardware, there is nothing that saves the game from a bad rating in any way, shape or form.

With the 32X version of the game, it is one of the few home systems to have this title that actually allows you to partake in all of the violence and gore that the arcade original had to offer. Even though the SNES version is cleaner in both visuals and audio, the 32X and Genesis versions have the appeal of leaving the game intact, much like they did with Mortal Kombat! That being said, you’ll find that all of the characters that appeared in the original arcade version of the game make a reappearance here as they did in the Genesis version, but it is still the same game with the same characters, moves, fatalities and rather boring game play. When you boil everything down in the game, it is a rather cheap attempt to create a following on several different home systems, but ends up falling flat on its face, simply because its too weird to comprehend!

It's not the most scientific of fighting games, with the moves being laid out for you on the control panel, but it is rather fun to pound someone into the ground using attacks that range from fire and ice to toxic venom and even the occasional fart of death! Primal Rage takes a twist for the gruesome when you put the Domination Moves into effect, which are more or less brutal finishing moves ala Mortal Kombat. There is nothing like whizzing on your opponent and watching the flesh melt away, leaving a pile of bones in its place! The challenge of the game is to be able to make it through all of the opponents and not get yourself killed in the process. This can either be very easy, or very hard depending on the strategy and combinations that you use in play. There are other options that you have during game play that really offer the gamer something slightly different such as eating human beings in order to regain health and using cheap tactics to win the match! These small things do not take away from the basic fact that this is a game you have seen before, and you will probably see again in the future if you’re really not character. Most of the complaints aren’t with the originality, but more with the mechanics of the game itself. The combination system really isn’t there and the combinations that you can learn take such reflexes and timing that you have to literally be jacked into the Genesis in order to get them all off smoothly. I think after about twenty hours of play, I was able to perform one of Blizzards combinations, but it’s a small one and I haven’t been able to perform another yet!

Weak and Strong punches and kicks as well as a block button to round out your control set. The special moves take a little practice, but really the only moves that need the most practice are the Domination Moves. Learn those, and you'll have a hell of a time bash and mashing your opponents! Other than that, the control is easy enough to learn, and like it said before, the special moves are all laid out for you to practice. What the problem here is that the Genesis controller is stiff when it comes to fighting games that you have to learn precise control for. Some of the special moves require diagonal direction movements and with the Genesis control, you’ll find that actually getting that accomplished is next to impossible! If you have the three button control, you’ll also find that making the different moves happen takes more skill than any one beginner can hope to have and even a veteran of the game will have rough times when the battles become intense.

As far as the audio goes for Primal Rage, all you have to listen to is some sort of primeval rock beat that matches the game, but doesn't really fit the mood. You have a ton of sound effects that range from people screaming as you scoop them up and eat them, down to the various explosions and guttural growls that you'll hear from the different characters! When you put all of this together, it doesn’t come across as a bad part of the game. However, when you compare it against high-end systems and even the arcade, it is rather small in comparison and even with the small sound effects, they are strangely muted. The Genesis is like this with fighting games, and Primal Rage is no exception to the well-known rule. What makes this twice as bad, is that the 32X version of the game runs through the same hardware, which doesn’t help anything out in the long run in any case!

With the Genesis, Primal Rage is well drawn but poorly detailed; every character has a different style about them that can easily be seen. Special effects in the game really don't flash with much flare, but what special effect there are, do show! People flying into the air just before you eat them, noxious clouds of gas, and bloody chunks of flesh being ripped out and thrown around come through with plenty of style. The backgrounds were teeming with life and animation in the arcade version, but don’t be on the look out for that when you start playing, because it really is missing from this version of the game! Something that the 32X and Genesis versions have up on most of the other systems is that it was the first Primal Rage to offer the gamer the full effect of the Domination Moves. This was something of a selling point for most fighting game fans, but it quickly dies down because those moves are also strangely muted.

Primal Rage is a fighting game that steps into the surreal and doesn't really come back. With the occasional slick visuals and marginally decent sound, as well as intense game play depending on how far you're willing to get into the game, you'll find that Jurassic Park and King Kong on a bender is actually a fun to play. If you can get past the stiff Genesis control {three or six-button both}, the muted visuals and sound {the 32X doesn’t help matters at all} and the fact that this version isn’t any different than any other Primal Rage that you may play for any other system! Genesis owners, 32X owners and collectors might do all right if they collect this based on the fact that for a relatively well known system, you could have the blood and guts, but lacking in everything else.

Reviewer's Score: 3/10, Originally Posted: 01/12/02, Updated 01/12/02