Eternal Champions: Challenge from the Dark Side

"A real mixed back of genius and garbage"

I have a real love-hate affair with Eternal Champions: Challenge from the Darkside. I love it many many millions of times better than the cartridge version of Eternal Champs, which I really never got the hang of and generally thought sucked (way too many ''charge''-moves, which somehow were much more difficult to pull off than they should've been...). But there are times when I'd just as soon take the CD out of my CDX and crunch it into itty bits in frustration; however....on many levels, EC: CFTD is really a masterpiece, and I'm just as tempted to rate the game a 9 or 10 as I am a 1 out of 10.

The stuff I love:
The story.
The characters each have a really great story that is told really well. This is soooo hard to find in a fighting game it's downright pitiful, and it's nice to have. The stories are told with an incredibly well put-together CG sequence that is another masterful stroke in the game. EC: CFTD actually manages to draw you into the game world more intensely than any fighting game (and many super lame RPGs) that I've ever played.
The fatalities and overall brutality.
Mortal Kombat (1 through 4) really look like pansy games after you've seen some of the incredibly well thought-out and drawn fatalities in EC: COTD. Not only are the stage fatalities just incredible (hilarious and gruesome at the same, go figure) - the ''Cinekills'' are a brilliant idea that was executed well. These ''Cinekills'' actually cut to pre-filmed CG deaths from one character acted upon another - and they are GOOOOOD.
The graphics.
Sure, there's not much in the way of animation frames here. But the art on each of the characters, the use of color and sound, and the excellent backgrounds make this very easily the prettiest fighter available on the Genesis, possibly second only to MK II.
The secrets.
Oh, the secrets. There's so many, it's just insane. You can open up so many secret characters you'll be amazed. One of them is a kung-fu fighting chicken. Another is a politician whose moves include the ''kickback'' and the ''red tape entangle''. Ooooh, are they good.

The stuff I really really hate:
The control.
It can be gotten used to....but it takes an incredible amount of patience. And while it's better than on the cartridge version, it still basically bites.
The difficulty.
In combination with the control, this can easily be one of the more frustrating games ever devised. Sadly, victories are often forged through use of the ''one move'' that will defeat a said opponent rather than skilled play, but after a certain point of being cheaped out repeatedly, you do whatever you freaking have to to get the win.

Now normally, any game that has difficulty and control problems would basically get no better than a 5 outta 10, but hopefully the strength of the positives I mentioned will make sense to you on why I gave it a 7. It's a hard and frustrating game, but it's a wonderfully put-together game at the same time. If only Sega coulda gotten Yu Suzuki or some of the Street Fighter guys from Capcom to do the fighting engine, we'd have my favorite fighter ever.
If you've got a Sega CD, I say definitely give this game a shot - there's lots to like (and lots to beware of).

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 03/18/02, Updated 03/18/02