Retro Game of the Day — Eternal Champions (Sega Genesis/Mega Drive, 1993)
Sega’s first attempt to capitalize on the fighting game craze of the 16-bit era was the well-received Eternal Champions. This one-on-one side-scrolling fighter featured 9 playable characters and one boss.
Eternal Champions had everything going for it; memorable characters, a competent story, and a big-name publisher pushing it out the door. Mortal Kombat and the controversy around violence in gaming had a huge influence on the project as the game featured gory “Overkills” that acted as finishing moves like MK’s fatalities.
The game was successful enough to spawn a sequel, Eternal Champions: Challenge from the Dark Side, for the Sega CD. Surprisingly, Sega decided to release two single-player spinoff titles based on characters from the roster. Chicago Syndicate, a 1995 Game Gear title, featured Eternal Champions fighter Larcen Tyler while X-Perts, released for the Sega Genesis in 1996, followed the story of Shadow Yamoto.
It’s clear that Sega had big plans for Eternal Champions, but with the sequel and spin-offs underperforming they shelved the franchise and focused on their much more lucrative Virtua Fighter series.
First featured at retrohandhelds.com.
