Dark Ages - Eternal Champions
It’s funny that we start our little time travel adventure on this game. This randomizer is like my iPod, always playing songs that relate to where I am (if I hear Waterfalls one more time in torrential downpour, I’m going to throw my iPod into the rain). The game I happen to be talking about is Eternal Champions, Sega’s console-only 1993 gem that touted a storyline based around individuals plucked from their untimely deaths to fight for the right to dodge their fatality and continue the good fight. This game is quite the rarity in regards to plot, because there is no set villain in this game. Even Xavier, who seems like a pretty hardcore villain, is just a man who took up alchemy and found a clean, unlimited source of energy and he gets burned at the sake for being a warlock. The Eternal Champion decides to pit these warriors into a contest between them to decide who will earn the right, and in the end you face him in what can only be described as a frustrating battle on the level of some SNK games (though Sega does have experience in annoying bosses, I’m looking at you Dural). Before I delve into that, I am going to stick to my formula for these articles, which is going to be Characters – Gameplay – Synopsis and Rating.
Eternal Champions on the Genesis features 9 unique characters and the unplayable (aside from the mystical power of the GAME GENIE!!!) boss character, the Eternal Champion. Characters were decided by a two week long focus group that whittled suggestions from 50 down to 10, and was built to encompass various time periods. You have:
· Shadow Yamato, a female ninja with projectiles and can phase through players. She was killed by her employers when her resolve was shaken.
· R.A.X. Coswell, a cybernetic kickboxer with jet boosters on his feet. He was killed by his corrupt manager via a virus affecting his cybernetics.
· Jonathan Blade: a Syrian cop from the future who uses stun beams and razor blades. He was killed by the government he worked while being framed for releasing an airborne disease.
· Jetta Maxx: a Russian acrobat from the late 1800’s who uses her rings and trick-based sleeves and agilty. She was killed by a Chinese boxer mercenary who rigged her safety net and tightrope.
· Slash: a prehistoric caveman with unrivaled skill with a club. Oddly enough, he was stoned to death for his brain and not for his brawn.
· Trident: a Roman gladiator seeking a home for his Atlantean race, he uses his namesake replacement of his hand and many fields of energy that cause debuffs. He was killed by a treacherous gladiator who flattened him under a pillar.
· Xavier: the aforementioned alchemist burned at the stake, his projectiles and his staff are a force to be reckoned with. Seriously, his cl.Z does crazy damage and he can switch places with the opponent during the middle of their moves.
· Mitchell Midleton Knight: Midknight, the vampiric grappler, is a scientist from the Cold War who is charged with making a napalm weapon for Vietnam, but it turned him into a vampire, who died at the hands of a vampire hunter.
· Larcen Tyler: a 1920’s cat burgler working for the Mafia, he uses his grappling hook and knuckles to do tricky, agile damage. He died at the hands of the mafia he worked for when he tried to save the cops he was about to inadvertently bomb in a hospital.
· The Eternal Champion: the titular boss of the game, you fight him in four stages, each representing a different form of animal martial arts, along with an elemental projectile. He plucks the fighters out of their untimely deaths to win the chance to continue living, since they prove to better the future they live in. He protects the balance of good in the world.
Eternal Champions would release an extension to their game, subtitled Challenge from the Dark Side. These added characters added villains to the game, as well as a few new good guys. They are:
· Riptide: a former Italian heiress turned pirate, she was brained by a shovel while protecting treasure. Can turn her body to water to teleport.
· Ramses III: seated pharaoh of Egypt who would give birth to Ramses IV that would of prevented Egypt’s conquer by Alexander the Great if he wasn’t sent up the Nile (he can’t swim). Uses nunchucks.
· Raven Gindhar: a voodoo practioner with probably the best anti-air I’ve ever seen in a game period. Was killed by a rival black magic user who turned her time spell against her, decaying her body. Did I mention she is the only time user I’ve ever heard that can manipulate THE TIMER?!?
· Dawson McShane: a European immigrant to the Wild West, he became a deputy to the sheriff on his deathbed, and got hung to protect the murderer. Uses a Lasso better than Wonder Woman, lemme tell you.
· Thanatos: the God of Time and Death itself (I shit you not, he is no boss. Regular character. Just broken as hell). A palette swap of Xavier, he was usurped from his role and defeated by a warlock killed during the Salem Witch Hunts.
· Chin Lo: a Chinese acupuncturist whose skill at fighting (like Fei Long) was unparalleled. He was challenged by a member of the royal class, and knowing a lose-lose when he sees one, chose to be executed in shame instead.
· Thomas ‘Blast’ Chavez: a Green Beret tasked with dropping weapons behind enemy lines. He was killed by his partner, who revealed himself as a double agent. The token black guy, I swear.
· Senator: the literal middle fighter to lobbyists around violent games, the Senator is outright bad news. Steals the money out of you with a move. He died having a heart attack after losing an election.
· Five animals that are really low to the ground so their hitboxes are very tiny. A dog, chicken, snake, owl, and monkey.
· The Dark Champion: Representing the balance of evil, he is the one to deliver the killing blow in every Cinekill in the game, and you fight him as the true final boss after fighting a new version of the Eternal Champion. Uses natural disasters as moves.
Eternal Champions and its extension CoDS uses the six-button format Genesis staple controllers really couldn’t do. If you had a 3-button controller, you had to use the Start button in game to change the kicks to punches and vice-versa. It could also work with the Sega Activator, which let you wiggle your arms around in a reader to perform your moves. Believe it or not, if you had the Sega Activator, your character had 150% defense and attack. Luckily, I do have a means to have a six-button controller, so there wasn’t that many control issues. Specials are done with either charge motions or two-button inputs (or both), and uses a taijutsu meter next to the health meter, with some specials taking ¼ of it while others can take a half or ¾ of it. Players can also taunt to lower their opponents’ meter down. There are high and low attacks, and you can activate a throw with either close medium and hard inputs. With no overheads though, you can just crouch-block the whole time to gain meter, only hitting an opponent to fend off throws since you can’t tech them, though some characters like RAX and Trident can get themselves out of the corner by turning incorporeal or spinning through your move. Hitstun doesn’t mean much in the first game, since you can’t really combo since the code states that when you start a move the player is able to block regardless, though in the second one you can combo into specials as well.
Don’t let this glaze let you think this donut is delicious. Like donuts, there is a big hole in this game, in both of its iterations. For one, in the first game, the computer could use their specials without meter, so taunting them isn’t really smart at all, but they can taunt away. Also, every special in the first game takes a bit of meter for you, so it leaves you an insurmountable mountain to climb. Luckily, the sequel fixed that and added new specials to the characters that don’t cost meter. The hitstun, unfortunately, causes a lot of infinites to be able to be used, especially since moves that can freeze a character in place can be canceled from normals. And with no forced pushback on light attacks, characters like RAX and Midknight can tap you all day until you go into stun like Marvel Super Heroes. RAX can actually hit with a light, cancel into his spin move, rinse and repeat. It’s hilarious when you do it on a computer opponent. Every character has an exploit, and as characters go, there isn’t really an unfair matchup, unless the opponent is Xavier. His range is ridiculous with his cane and its close-up damage is staggering.
For a series cut off from its third entry on the Sega Saturn because it would take away from Virtua Fighter, there is a lot more interesting characters and moves here that I would rather have in my life than just another generic karate guy fighting another generic fighting stereotype (oh right, while I’m here, the views and opinions expressed by C.C. Master Onion doesn’t reflect the opinions and views of one Kick-Punch-Block). That said, like Super Turbo before it, the combos do massive damage and there is a heavy potential to take advantage of stun. Mix that with the chance to freeze opponents like Sub-Zero and you have a game that devolves to just having the first hit and working from there. If you want to try it out, Eternal Champions is available on the Wii’s Virtual Console, but the superior version is only on the Sega CD as it stands. It wasn’t available on arcades because it was a game made on consoles for consoles. It is worth 10 minutes to check out the characters, maybe even check out some playthroughs on YouTube and check out the impressive Vendettas and Cinekills. That’s it for today, you can go on to the next stage now. CHA!!!
theartofmadeline
yousharknotpass
pixelskylines
gracieabrams
germansingergirl
ellievsbear
