The Wonder Years 10.25.07: Week 27 - Eternal Champions
Posted by Owain J. Brimfield on 10.25.2007
The goriest game of the 16-bit era?
Welcome to the column where all gamers of a certain age come to wallow in 16-bit nostalgia. I'm your host, Owain J. Brimfield, and I'll be discussing some of the hidden gems and instant classics of gaming's golden era. Some of these games may crop up on the Wii's Virtual Console at some point, some may be consigned to the annals of history. Either way, they're worth tracking down if you missed them first time round, or replaying if you were lucky enough to catch them. Let's take a trip to:
ETERNAL CHAMPIONS
(Sega, Genesis, 1993)
For the most part the Super NES had all the luck when it came to one-on-one fighting games - better ports of the Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat series', the TMNT fighting games, and of course Killer Instinct. Yet for the most part, this can all be countered with one simple game which proved surprisingly popular in the US, and which was a shoe-in for a Sega Saturn launch before the Virtua Fighter franchise took over. And that game was Eternal Champions. Not to be confused with any Michael Moorcock novels (which feature a character going by the moniker of Eternal Champion pootling around the Multiverse, battling chaos in all its forms), Champions was an in-house original hit for Sega of America, a beat 'em up that was frequently brutal and always superbly in-depth.
In a welcome diversion from the typical yawn-fest of a beat 'em up plot (I swear there must be a grand martial arts tournament held every other day in gaming world), the game concerns an omnipotent being named, well, you can probably guess, who decides to gather nine fighters from the furthest reaches of space and time (allegedly the character design was based on a series of archetypes whittled down according to the favorites of 11-year-old boys). Each was destined to have a great change on the course of history, but was unfortunately murdered before the time could come. Now they go head to head in a battle to regain their life and fulfill their destiny, so that law and order may one day reign across the cosmos. Not bad, eh?
Ostentatious plot aside, the real draw of Eternal Champions was a vastly in-depth combat system that gave emphasis to real-world fighting styles like capoeira and kung fu, and downplayed the whole "special attacks" that usually permeate these sorts of games. Having said that, each character did have around a dozen unique specials, so maybe "downplayed" is the wrong word. What I'm getting it is the game's Inner Strength feature, an energy meter separate to the characters' health, that depleted every time a special was used. It's an intriguing concept, and certainly makes for some tactical choices in the heat of battle when it's all you could wish for to pull off a Wild Fury Attack. Although off-putting for beginners look for a quick five-minute bashing, it certainly makes for a longer lasting solo game, even if for some inexplicable reason AI opponents seem to be able to disregard their Inner Strength meters, the cads.
Complementing this complex trickery is a visual engine that has clearly had a lot of care lavished over it. The game features some of the finest animation on the Genesis, and the characters are superbly drawn. And, of course, there's the gore. The game's fatalities (or 'overkills', a wonderful bit of terminology) are some of the most graphic seen on a 16-bit console. You have to wonder why all the outrage was centered around Mortal Kombat and its poorly digitized limb-removal when Eternal Champions had death by dinosaur and, memorably, ravaging by killer monkeys. It is, of course, fully integral to the spirit of the game and in no way gratuitous. Also worthy of note, the "insult" option, whereby you can demoralize your opponent with taunts such as "weakling!" and "moron!". Classic.
And yet, despite boasting one of the finest fighting mechanics of its generation, Eternal Champions has been, relatively speaking, forgotten, its legacy overrun by the more famous of its ilk. It's fair to say that the demise of the Saturn incarnation of the game contributed to the end of the franchise, as Sega placed all its stock in Virtua Fighter, which although reasonably enjoyable could never hold a candle to its more accomplished predecessor. It's now sadly rather hard to track down, especially in mint condition (a double shame as the game box features some rather lovely artwork). So if you ever come across copy, and you feel like having a blast at one of the most underrated beat 'em ups of its time, give Eternal Champions a go. You won't regret it, and neither will the forces of Law and Order.
Eternal Champions trivia
The game received a pseudo-sequel in the Mega CD only Challenge from the Dark Side, which despite being relatively unheralded was actually a decent improvement on the original.
It also supported one of the most unwieldy peripherals ever, the Sega Activator, which required the gamer to step inside an infra-red ring and perform punches and kicks. Needless to say, it didn't catch on. What price a Wii adaptation?
From what I remember, EGM once sponsored a touring Eternal Champions tournament where the winner received some sort of horrible leather jacket. I may be wrong in this.
Eternal Champions is an honorable mention in my official all-time Top 100 games.
The Videosphere
Let's take a look at this week's video highlight. A lot of people have apparently taken to hacking open Guitar Hero and implanting their own tunes in there to play along with. What relevance does this have to the retro world? Why, some incredibly cool dude has actually managed to take the MIDI soundtrack to Eternal Champions and glue it into the game. Ladies and gentlemen, WE HAVE WINNAR!
General indulgences
Every week in this section I'll endeavour to provide you, the faithful readers, with a fascinating insight into the various forms of entertainment currently dominating my spare time.
This week, I have been mostly enjoying:
Age of Empires - who'd have thought you could buy the Collector's Edition for under a tenner? Four games in one package? Holy shitballs! One of those games that's always as good as you remember it being, and with a great soundtrack to boot.
Vib Ribbon, after my housemate finally dug out his PS2 and set the thing up. Why hasn't this been released as a downloadable for the PS3 yet? It's utterly charming.
Smalltown, Shining by a relatively unknown guy called John Matthias. Kinda like a cross between Bright Eyes and Mark Mulcahy, it's a gorgeous alterna-folk record.
and The Road by Cormac McCarthy, which is entirely worthy of a Pulitzer Prize and is also the first prize winner I've ever read, despite having worked in a bookshop. Shocking.
And finally…
As always, reader feedback and suggestions are welcome, I respond to everything so just drop me a line. You can also check out my science fiction column "The Flux Capacitor" over at 411 Movies. Next week in "The Wonder Years" - there's some creepy, ooky, spooky goings-on. Until then - keep it real, keep it retro.
