Eternal Champions (MD)

This is useless without the Sega CD.

Yeah. Iwas hoping for this and just thought about it today. ^^
Finally anotehr good brawler besides SFII and the Neo Geo crop.

is this a beat'em up or a fighting game? i remember seeing the box for this one back in the day and wondering the same thing...

This is your average fighting game (I had it on the Sega CD) with some weapon-attacks and really-difficult-to-pull-off environment (stage) deaths (fatalities)...

This game kicked ass, and still does.

Great game this, well ahead of its time, and that didn't get the recognition it deserved due to the successes of SFII and MK. It's a must-buy for me if/when it comes to Europe. The Mega CD version is a bit better, but not hugely so, and this is definitely worth it.

Man Eternal Champions was MY FAVORITE FIGHTER until Eternal Champions part 2 came out on Sega CD!! Listen to those who have never played this game...I don't know how hard it will be to play this because I used a 6-button sega controller when I played back in the day and I don't know how well a regular Wiimote(that's all I have) or a classic will translate BUT for it's time these characters were HUGE!! There were only about 9 Fighters but they were so UNIQUE and had soo many different fighting styles, projectiles and powers and instead of the people being able to kill you i.e. fatalities from Mortal Kombat, in EC you would fight your opponent in a way to manuever them to a certain place on the level where something in the envoirment would do the job for you. I used to love that. Also the original had an option to replay the entire match and your could rewind and control the speed in which you watched it. Can't get over that combo you put together? Rub it in the face of your opponent but showing it in super slow motion!! LOL Get this game....well unless you have the option of getting EC2: Challenge From the Darkside....that is still one of the most unique, creative and insanely addictive fighters I have ever played!!

Damo, I have only been here a little but so far you seem like a pretty fair reviewer; thank you for you well balanced insight and honesty. BUT you left out some critical things that also set this game apart from the others....
1) Bigger if not the Biggest Character sprites to fit on a tv screen in a fighter in it's time. Didn't matter what tv you played this on..these characters are big in stature and it made the game seem bigger.

2) Replay - What other fighter allowed you to replay the winning round of the fight for rubbing in the bragging right purposes but EC? Yes, you could replay, rewind, fast forward and I believe even play in slow-mo the vicious beat down you gave your friend and relive that had combo that you pulled off flawlessy!!

3) Level Fatalities - I believe the first of it's time (may be wrong) but the thought of just not being able to push in a combo of buttons and kill your opponent because "you got lucky" (lol) and won the match with your abuse of the low sweep was put to rest when EC made it so you had to play "chess" in a way with your opponent and not only beat them but beat in them into certain areas on the level where you would then have to throw them or get a powerful hit in to activate the death the the levels could provide. This added intensity, strategy and an incentive to not just sit back and throw fireballs or weak punch someone to death.
And yes, that can be quite difficult but when you pull it off you feel like more than just a button masher that can remember Left left, right, down A and finish your opponent. Your earned it, now watch and revile in it with glee!!

I had the one on Sega CD. What's the difference between this one?

The game was awesome back in the day. I was blown away with all the special moves. While it isn't as balanced as SF...it's a solid fighter.

If I remember correctly, there are also hilarious taunts in this game (the wizard character calls his opponent a "simpleton"). It was pretty fun in its time, but I don't know if it's aged as well as the Street Fighter games, for example.

Fun game, good characters, some fun little unique elements, but nothing spectacular. 4 star game bumped down to 3 stars because it's a bit dated.

DarkMidst, there are alot of differences between this one and Part 2 which was the one on Sega CD (Challenge from the Darkside was the title)
I won't go to into all the details but a short summary of the differences are as follows:

1) E.C. has 9 characters vs. E.C. 2 has 25 characters (though I must say that 5 of those hidden characters are animals so that weren't put in there as serious contenders but when you get your butt whipped by a chicken it doesn't do much for your ego!! LOL

2) EC 1 has 9 fatalities...basically one per envoirment/level vs. EC2 has 32 fatalities which is 2 per level because every main character (17 main but 25 playable) except the animals, Eternal and Dark Eternal Champion, and Thantos(he shares his level with Xavier the Sorcerer) has their own level which represents their time era AND every character except the animals and Eternal and Dark Eternal Champion can kill themselves like in mortal kombat AND 13 of the Characters can have something happen to them CAlled CineKills where the Dark Eternal Champion comes on the screen, removes from the level back to his place and kills you in 3-D (think of it has a cut scene kill) so in all we are talking about 62 fatalities in ONE GAME!!

3) EC 1 the nine characters you can play with have about maybe 5 to 6 special powers that they can do besides there unique fighting style...so think projectiles, shields, disapper/reappear, etc.
vs. EC 2 has given all the main characters At LEAST anywhere from 12 to 15 moves besides their original fighting styles and then some of the moves have multiple functions like Shadow can disappear by throwing a smoke bomb and she has the options of appearing right next to you or coming from the left or right upper corner with a kick so you can't tell, she can throw stars fast or slow, etc.

Sorry so long but those are just some of the things. It was a huge game and still one of the best all around fighters ever!!

I love this game, but I know one thing, its HARD! IDK how well the Classic Controller can help with the hard to perform moves.

To darkmidst

There were alot of differences between the Genesis and Sega CD version.
First off, there was an AWESOME soundtrack to it. It was all redbook audio I believe.

There were also a few more fighters (including secret ones). I think the fighting mechanics were balanced out more too. For example, the inner strength circle thing didn't go down as fast, so you could perform more special moves.

Some characters had different stages too (Midknight and Jetta come to mind). There were three more types of overkills. Besides the normal stage ones, each character had their own fatality type move. And, there was also a thing called a cinekill where the game would switch over to a movie of the character dying in a very gruesome way. And then there was another stage death where the winning character would be transported off of the screen, and then the losing character would die in another way. I think these were called instant deaths.

As far as I remember those are all the differences I can remember. Hopefully it wasn't too confusing for you.

I was wondering... Does this game use six buttons? If so, how could you play it with the Wii remote?

darkmidst: This one has fewer characters than the CD version as well as a few less fatality variants. There are also minor tweaks to the special attacks and power usage. Wikipedia has a little more depth about the differences.

Decent SF2 clone, the CD version is better.

I'm also curious about the controls... How does the Hori Fighting Stick work with this game?

The controls are not that great. You can only do the ABC controls to either Y, B or A on the classic controller and the XYZ contols can only be configured to L, R, or X on the classic controller. I don't like it since I like to have at least two punches and two kicks on the face buttons and the remaining punch and kick on the shoulder (my old SNES SF layout). I am stoked at being able to pull off a couple overkills.

It's always sad when one of your favorite childhood video games gets a bad review. I'll bet their right though. Oh well.

One thing that was fun, though, was fighting through the game with every character to see each of their end stories.

If Sega Japan was not so stuborn the Saturn would have won the US format war against the PSX if they released a version of this over there. People forget how popular Eternal Champions was in the US(and over here for that matter) and I am convinced its absence along with a proper Sonic game is what killed the Saturn in the West. I perfered the Sega Japan pushed Virtua Fighter(different game totally I know) to this but it was foolish of Sega to push VF on the west instead of a game the masses wanted.

Oh man, I didn't know that this was out. I'm downloading it first thing when I get off work tomorrow!

Boring. I never thought it was deserving of my time, with its generic characters, few animations and dull soundtrack. It wasn't even worth the £2 I paid for it on Mega Drive. Pass on this one.

I prefer this version to the Sega CD version its a solid fighter and it'll take a while to master it enough to be able to complete the single player mode. I remember borrowing a Megadrive and hiring the game from our local hire place to play this. It shows when a game is made specifically for the Megadrive instead of a conversion like street fighter you can have large graphics with great sound.
I personally think this is better suited to the Megadrive than Street Fighter was because it was designed with the console in mind and you can see it the sprites are bigger and the music sounds better than Street Fighter's. It show's what is possible when a game is specifically designed for it

I wonder how gory this still is in the european (espacially german o_O) version. I won't dowload this before get an answer to this question...

I hope they release a Megadrive six button controller for this game coz man I don't like the way it plays on the Classic Controller it just doesn't feel right

I loved this game back in the day. It was a GREAT original alternative to SF2 and MK, and the many spin offs those generated. It has large sprites, and interesting characters with varied moves. Playing it now, while still loads of fun, it is almost too easy to counter some of the slower moves because you can see them coming from a mile away. Still, I would highly recommend this to 2D fighter fans as this was one of the better original fighters in a sea of SF2 clones.

I always loved this game when I was young.
Growing up with Mortal Kombat, Sonic and Eternal Champions, Eternal Champions was one of my favorites.: )

Long time since i played this game. I realy like it, buuuut... there are better fighting games out there.

.....why is it censored? Ok, I know why, but is it any possibility to have the censore-thing removed?

I have the Sega CD version and I like it, but it's not what I would call a top-shelf fighting game of the caliber of Street Figher or Garou: Mark of the Wolves.

Aww. I see my old comment regarding Eternal Champions has been wiped. Essentially, I don't like it one bit - but what is there to like about the world's first 'crap-'em-up'?

Top-shelf fighting game? This is so low, it's pratically underground...

This game might not be as fun as KOF XI or Street Fighter III: Third Strike, but its story possessed depth that virtually all other fighting games now are sorely lacking (except for Mortal Kombat, of course). Plus, the graphics and soundtrack were both spectacular. This game is a feast for the imagination, a work of art!

@ Roo

Wrong!

@ Shinnok

Well said!