Battle Monsters

"Better than Mortal Kombat--but not by much"

I came across a store recently opened that is selling stuff relating to role playing, anime and comic books. There were 6 Sega Saturn games for sale at $10 each and I brought them all. One of them is a game called Battle Monsters. I read the critiques and most say it's a Mortal Kombat clone. I beg to differ. It's more of a combination of games. It has digital graphics like Mortal Kombat, but it also has the camera zoom in and out scenes like Samurai Showdown and the characters look like that they came from Capcom's Darkstalkers. This is a good game and I enjoyed it, but there are faults.

12 combatants from different tribes in the netherworld gather together to battle in the tournament. The winner fights the Big 4 and the victor with gain the power to rule the netherworld for 1,00 years. Good plot, but the problem is that's all there is. Unlike other fighting games, there is no background stories for each character. No reason for them to join the tournament , other than to become ruler of the Dark Domain. So, don't expect them to join because their loved ones are kidnapped, their long foe is involved or just to prove themselves. In fact, there's not much of an ending when you beat the game in any difficulty.

Another fault is the graphic. Almost as good as Mortal Kombat, but they are fuzzy and poorly digitized, making it hard to see what they look like. There is a hint of choppiness and slowdown in certain areas of character movement, but not enough to effect the gameplay. The backgrounds are nice, although some look dark and others have minor breakup when there is too much scene movement.

The sound is limited as well, but not annoying. The grunts and screams from the fighters are like the other games, but a bit unique. When one fighter, La Pa, after finishing the round, turns around and makes a long drone, ''Haaiiiieee.'' I kinds like that. Weird and original. Some others, I admit, are a bit hard to hear. The music has a dark gothic monk sound, which fits the game well, but it gets repetitive and some almost sound like it came from a cheap synthesizer. There's one track of track on the CD, but it's short and it's not from the game.

The gameplay and the design stand out the best. There are two attack buttons, punch and kick. There is a third button for taunt, but can be use for flying and special attacks. Although the two attacks buttons are limited compare to MK's four and Street Fighter 2's 6 attack buttons, it's joystick movement combined makes up for it, creating a lot of combative moves. Some are simple and easy to execute, so this is good for beginners. You saw the Mk stages and noticed how one level and short there are. Well, some of the Battle Monsters stages are anything but that. With 3 jump buttons, you can go to higher planes like another floor level or tower, to attack from there or to escape from a beating. Some can be destroyed, sending your opponent crashing down if he's on top of it. You can even use some of the background items in the stage, such as pushing a big boulder to crush your opponent or lure him to a monster eating plant. Each stage brings out unique, wild fights and sudden upsets, which makes the games exciting.

If only Naxat Soft and Acclaim put more effect on the graphics, sound and story, this game would've been better than Mortal Kombat, instead of being a mere clone. This is good game to buy or even rent, if you can't find other better produced fighting games, like Virtual Fighter, or Street Fighter 2 for sale. At least, I have more fun playing battle Monsters then on Mortal Kombat.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 03/12/02, Updated 03/12/02