Eternal Champions

"Easily the finest 2-D fighter ever. Mortal Kombat WHO?!"

Okay, this is my very first review, but let me start by saying that I've loved this game since I first played it, about ten years ago. It's complex, has great replayability, and is a real pain without a 6-button controller. If only they had made it for the SNES as well...but I digress.

THE PREMISE: The Eternal Champion is a nigh-omnipotent being who lives in a war-ravaged future. He is the living embodiment of all the great fighters who have lived before him (such as Bruce Lee, Hannibal, Alexander the Great, Samson, Tom Arnold...etc.). But for all his considerable power, he is unable to return the world to its former, more inhabitable state. However, in various places and times, in various realities, even, were fighters. People who lived by the fist and fought to survive. Any one of these people could have changed the course of history, but all were snuffed out before they could accomplish what they were meant to. So the Champion has used his powers to resurrect them and bring them to his sanctum. Unfortunately, he only has the power to return one to his or her former life, thus there must be a tournament! The nine warriors have been assembled. Let the tournament begin!

THE PLAYERS: Larcen Tyler, a cat burglar from the 1920's. My personal favorite, he worked for a mob boss, but while he would perform various thefts, he refused to kill. As a result, he was killed, along with countless innocents, by a bomb he unwittingly delivered to the chief of police, who was recovering in a local hospital; Jonathan Blade, a hulking future bounty hunter with a bad temper. He tracked down a deranged scientist with a price on his head, only to find that the scientist was carrying a virus that would annihilate 90 percent of the earth's population. Government forces interfered in his attempt to capture the lunatic, and the last thing he saw was the vial which contained the virus bursting into a thousand pieces; Shadow Yamoto, from present time, an assassin working for the Black Orchid society. When she had a change of heart, her employers arranged a fall from a 50' building; R.A.X. Coswell, a cyborg gladiator from the future, was killed by his manager with the flick of a switch when he refused to take a fall in his championship match; Jetta Maxx, a circus acrobat from 1899, was also a political revolutionary who was stirring up trouble in China. She was killed when her trapeze was sabotaged and her safety net cut; Xavier, a medieval alchemist, was burned at the stake for witchcraft when his scientific discoveries were mistaken for the work of the Devil; Slash, a prehistoric brute, whose nifty ideas to improve life in his tribe got him stoned to death by tribe elders, who thought he was stealing their thunder; Mitchell Midleton Knight, A.K.A. Midknight, is an unfortunate fellow from the 1960's. He perfected a plague that would assist the American troops in winning the Vietnam war, but when he learned that the troops were going to introduce it into the water supply, he was horrified, not wanting to see such mass carnage. He stole his samples and notes from the laboratory, but he was chased by military personnel. To make a long story short, he was knocked, with his serum, into a vat of chemicals. The result was that he was transformed into a vampire of sorts. He spent years trying to find a cure, but was killed (with a magnesium stake through his heart) by government forces just before perfecting it; Finally, Trident, a genetically-engineered Atlantian from ancient times. This poor guy was created due to a bet between Rome and Atlantis to see who would inherit the surface world and who would be forced underwater. The best warriors of each culture would face each other in a fight to the death. He was a fine warrior, but he lost a hand in a battle with a shark. The hand was replaced with a razor-sharp trident, thus the name. It was clear that the Roman champion would be no match for Trident, so the Romans conspired to kill him. He was crushed beneath a stone pillar, and the Atlantians were forced to walk, one by one, into the sea. Not one survived.

(What are the factors in rating it again? Uh...)
THE SKINNY:

Gameplay: Very good. Lots of goodies like practice mode, Battle Room (where the room itself attacks you, not just your opponent!), and the coolest battles you'll ever see. Plus, you can have up to 32-player tournaments. It sounds odd, but it's rather cool. Plus,ach character has a completely original move set--not the same basic moves, ala "Mortal Kombat". The action is quick and responsive, but unless you only plan on playing it with a friend, I'd advise you get a 6-button controller. Anyhoo, it's leaps and bounds over "Street Fighter" and "Mortal Kombat". Rating:10

Graphics: Breathtaking! While not photo-realistic like Mortal Kombat, it's infinitely better-looking. Rumor has it that it's the only Sega game to use over 200 different colors. I believe it. The backgrounds are lush and beautiful, and each stage has a nifty, hard-to-get-to "Overkill" (think Fatality, only not as gory and sometimes funnier. Could use a blood n' gore code, though). The fighters all look distinctive, and the each have their own victory taunts. I say again, wonderful! Rating:10

Sound: Okay, the music is really kinda catchy, better than "Street Fighter II" and "Mortal Kombat" by far. It gets a little old after a while, though. The sound effects are great, but the individual taunts are a little hard to make out sometimes (For instance, I always thought that Xavier was saying "CHEWBACCA!" and Midknight was shamelessly proclaiming "VROOM-VROOM!!" like the V-8 engine from heck). Rating:9.5

Story: The whole tournament thing's a little repetitive, but credit goes to the fact that the characters are all dead. I also like the character bios. Rating:8.5

Replayability: While "Street Fighter II" and even the much-exalted "MKII" get dull after a while, "Eternal Champions" has so much cool stuff, you'll never get bored. (Hint: Use Slash against Dexterity Spheres in Practice mode. Also, pick Midknight as your opponent in the holo-trainer. Let him do a life-drain on you. You'll get more points. And against the main boss on contest mode, use Slash's toss-n'-whack move over and over. It's not cheating...it's survival!)

Overall rating: 10 all the way. If I'm forgetting any categories, they get 10's, too.

Buy or sell: Get a couple of 6-button controllers, call a few friends (say...32 of 'em?), and buy this sucker! You will have a ton of fun bashing each other's (digital) brains out! 'Nuff said!

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 05/03/06