"A Fun Game That Is NOTHING Like The Arcade/SNES Versions."

Summary

This is an unbiased review of a game I used to play in my early gaming days. In the very early 90's, there was surge in new fighting game franchises on the market. Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter, Fatal Fury, World Heroes, etc. But none were as ahead of it's time as Pit-Fighter. It obviously wasn't executed to perfection, but for Sega, this game is quite a diamond in the rough.

In this game, you have the choice of 3 characters, an Ex-Wrestler, a "3rd degree blackbelt" (Karate we'll just assume for this review,) and a Kickboxer. They fight in a series of battles in bars, parking lots, etc. to move up in this "tournament" to face the ultimate champion, "The Warrior." Who basically looks like a Road-Warrior nemesis rip-off, even down to the mask and straps on his arms.

Now let's see how it stacks up on individual ratings...

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Graphics - 7

I might be a bit generous here, but I personally didn't mind the graphics that much. There are quite a few spots of bad animation all around, and it's very pixelated and blobby looking. But since this IS Genesis, and made in 1990/91', so it does what it set out to do.

Note- The other versions have better graphics, but only better fighter's graphics really. The other graphics are fairly the same as this version.

Controls - 7

The controls are a bit slow, but it's responsive, unlike it's Arcade and SNES counterparts. Their moves are relatively the same, and executed the same. Pressing A and B at the same time does a throw, and pressing all 3 buttons at once does their "power move." A is the punch, B is the kick, and C is the jump. Fairly standard fair. It's also slower paced than it's other counterparts, which isn't really a bad thing in this case. When you get knocked down, it's a lot faster to get up than the other versions, but you still have to tap the buttons. The faster you tap, the faster you get up. The Genesis version doesn't suffer from the utter cheap ground hits as the others. Pressing punch (A) picks up objects, and pressing the same button either throws the object, or hits the opponent with it. (Depending on what the object is, and how far away from the opponent you are.) Again, it's nothing groundbreaking, but it's so simple that anyone can really pick it up and have a fun time.

Sound - 9

This one shocks the most. This game features many sounds, including loads of voices. Various weapons that can be snapped over people's heads give nice cracks and thuds, which make it stand out. The voices are for the most part clear, except for "The Warrior's," his is real hard to hear/understand. But you can hear various screams, yells, and grunts of the fighters, and most importantly the crowd, which is pretty funny at times. The crowd shouts out various insults, groans when the fighters get hit real hard, etc. It's really a blast to hear. the music is nothing too special, it sounds like wannabe techno, only it's not. A few jingles here and there make the music stand out, but nothing that's noteworthy. The voices are the real star here in the sound department.

Fun Factor / Lasting Appeal - 8

It's not the deepest game in the world, but it will certainly please. The 2 player mode is particularly fun, seeing as how you work together all until the final battle with "The Warrior." Where one of you must battle for rights to challenge him, whoever wins gets to fight him. This makes the game a bit more difficult and ups replay a tad, while making it very fun.

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In conclusion, Pit-Fighter is well worth a purchase, but if you're skeptical, rent (if you can find it.) I can almost say you won't be disappointed.

One last note:

This game might be hard to find so finding the (original) ROM of it might be the only option. There are many bootlegs of the game, so this might abe a chore in itself.

I hope you found this review informative. Thanks for reading.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 10/05/04