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Eternal Champions: |
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SEGA
welcomes the warriors that time forgot in this continuation of the
Eternal Champions legend.
Eternal Champions: Challenge from the Dark Side for SEGA CD isn’t much
of a sequel, but rather a continuation to the Eternal Champions for
Genesis. The story is that the Eternal Champion (a master of time and
space) rescued 9 warriors at the moment of their deaths. He brought them
into a temporal distortion, where they will combat to save the world.
The problem is that the Eternal Champion was unaware of 4 warriors that
the Dark Eternal Champion had kept in hiding as well as 4 more that he
reserves. This gives the game a starting roster of 13 fighters, with 4
hidden human opponents.
The main attraction to this game was how well the story was written.
When you read each character profile, it gives believable reasoning as
to why this person is important. This does get farfetched when you
unlock the playmates (which I’ll explain later), but for the most part,
they are well written.
The environments are very creative. Fighters combat in places ranging
from Salem (during the witch trials) to Atlantis. SEGA went all out when
carefully creating each location. Even the backgrounds can be used
against your opponent. Most likely inspired by Mortal Kombat’s “The
Pit”, SEGA added Overkills and Sudden Deaths. Overkills and Sudden
Deaths are stage fatalities. These range from getting impaled on a tow
hook, to the local theater teller blowing your head off with a shotgun.
Granted, these are much more difficult than a simple uppercut finish,
but much more amusing to watch.
I can’t complain about the art, since it’s on par with the day and age.
Characters are well drawn and very creative. Every background is well
planned and executed. Some backgrounds are easy to spot the Sudden Death
or Overkill points. For the most part, this game is nothing special to
look at.
I love the characters. Each character has his/her own attitude. Fighters
like Shadow the ninja assassin, who taunts her opponent by calling them
a coward give the game more amusing audio sound bites. When compared to
the original Eternal Champions (Genesis), they’re faster paced, and
there are no dull/useless fighters. There are hidden characters call
playmates. These are the most ridiculous additions I’ve ever seen in a
fighting game. They range from a Chicken to a Chihuahua. They are
useless fighters, and only serve for amusement purposes.
I can’t complain about the mechanics of the game. Fighting allows for
multiple hit combos by hitting buttons in a logical order. For instance,
if you use a light punch, then follow with a hard punch, it’ll count for
a 2 hit combo, but if you do the opposite, the second hit won’t connect.
Surprisingly, for a game of its time, Eternal Champions: Challenge from
the Dark Side has the most advanced combo system. There’s even a power
bonus for completing a 5-hit combo issuing more than 30% damage. What’s
even better than the combo system is the limitation of projectiles. Each
player has a Yin-Yang symbol that disappears as they use certain special
moves (mainly projectiles or one’s that break the laws of physics). The
more you use special moves, the less and less Yin-Yang power you have.
If you refrain from using Yin-Yang power, it will regenerate.
Eternal Champions: Challenge from the Dark Side has 4 ways to finish
your opponent. My favorite portion of this game is the Cinekills. These
are the hardest to execute, but the most amusing. If you execute a
Cinekill, the Dark Eternal Champion will pull your opponent into a
vortex and kill them himself, using their own fears against them.
Vendettas are similar to the finishing moves from Mortal Kombat, but
much more gruesome. They range from being stabbed to death (with a more
realistic blood spray) to being disemboweled with your intestines
hanging out. The other finishing moves are the Overkills and Sudden
Deaths that I mentioned earlier.
To some things up, Eternal Champions: Challenge from the Dark Side is
another one of SEGA’s overlooked jewels. It surprises me that even the
ESRB didn’t take notice of this game, due to its extremely graphic
nature. This was the last game to carry the Eternal Champions title, but
the best. If you ever get a chance at it, don’t hesitate to play this
phenomenal title.
Written by Carlos Garcia
(Posted 01-03-2004)