"MORTAL KOMBAT....wait a minute..."

More fighting games makes for some harsh reviewing. When browsing through the 32X collection, I found a fighting game that I hadn’t played but a couple of times called Cosmic Carnage. A fighting game that was much like your basic fighting games, but not as in-depth as some of the ones that you might find on the market today. You have your basic punches and kicks as well as some special moves and with the six-button controller {which is a must} you have a game that does fairly well for a limited library.

The story line behind the game is something so shrouded in mystery to me, simply because I lost the packaging years ago during the move to my new place. Although I really can’t make heads or tails of what the purpose of the game is, I assume that you’re fighting against some sort of evil being or even trying to win something that will greatly benefit your life. Either way, it’s your typical fighting game with the same old story attached to it, but like most fighting games, you’re playing for the action and hopefully not for the story line that’s involved!

The game play is relatively simple in which you select a fighter and go one on one against the computer in a best of three match up. Punches and kicks as well as some Street Fighter style special moves about rounds out what you have to do, but there is a blend of game play here from other games that you might or might not appreciate. When your opponent’s health is low {or vice versa} performing a special move with knock off a limb of some sort which will end the match. Reminiscent of Mortal Kombat, this portion of the game seems to have a Time Killers feel in which senseless violence and match ending gore makes up the basis of the game.

The control is stiff though, and even with the six-button controller {I’m telling you, you need one} you may find that some of the special moves are hard to pull off and get the correct damage. As with most fighting games, the special moves can be pulled into a combination but without a fixed jump for your characters, you have to use timing and distance in order to really achieve what it is that you’re looking for. To say that the special moves are impossible would be wrong, but when you select your character and the type of armor that they wear, it changes the speed of the fight drastically, which leaves for more strategy!

Visually, Cosmic Carnage isn’t as refined a game as say, Mortal Kombat or Street Fighter, but the character designs and the special moves do tend to hold their own. For the most part, you’ll be fighting in arena’s that have little or no detail to them, revolving around multi-platform locations that will again, change the speed and direction of the fight. What the game is missing though, is the scaling options that you may have found in other fighting games of this type and it does tend to interfere if you’re not careful and not paying attention to the game on-screen. Fatalities and otherwise are gore-filled, but they do tend to look muted, even with the 32X hardware!

Audio wise, you have a decent soundtrack that keeps the pace and theme of the game to the max. Although it isn’t the most impressive bit of music and sound that I’ve heard, for the game that is featured it does a good job in keeping the game in the dark and moody format. However, the sound effects seem to be a little misplaced and in some cases, it almost seems as though they are missing from key points in the battles, so you may be left wondering just what in the hell is going on. All in all, it’s noticeable, but if you’re a fighting game freak, it won’t matter one way or the other!

Cosmic Carnage brings together a couple of different styles of fighting games to the 32X and although it doesn’t have near the depth of Virtua Fighter, it does a decent job in filling the gap of the 32X library. I could only recommend this game to fighting game fans who are tired of the Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat line and want something a little more violent to mess with. However, if you’re into depth and skill, then you need to bypass this title altogether and play Virtua Fighter instead, cause this is a brawl-fest only.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 03/04/02, Updated 03/04/02