Battle Monsters
Encyclopedia
is a Versus fighting game game originally developed and published by Naxat Soft in Japan
for the Sega Saturn
, and later published in North America
and Europe
by Acclaim Entertainment
.
's Pit-Fighter
, the game makes heavy use of digitized human actors as the characters, plus some blood influenced by Midway
's Mortal Kombat series. One of the most unique features in it are multiple platforms to jump or drop on.
The Big 4, a team of four palette-swapped
jester-like unplayable boss characters. They can only all be fought, one by one per round, via a seven-round final battle in a one-player game.
In the Japanese version of the game, several names were originally as follows:
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
for the Sega Saturn
Sega Saturn
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console that was first released by Sega on November 22, 1994 in Japan, May 11, 1995 in North America, and July 8, 1995 in Europe...
, and later published in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
and Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
by Acclaim Entertainment
Acclaim Entertainment
Acclaim Entertainment was an American video game developer and publisher. It developed, published, marketed and distributed interactive entertainment software for a variety of hardware platforms, including Sega's Mega Drive/Genesis, Saturn, Dreamcast, and Game Gear, Nintendo's NES, SNES, Nintendo...
.
Gameplay
Similar to AtariAtari
Atari is a corporate and brand name owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by Atari Interactive, a wholly owned subsidiary of the French publisher Atari, SA . The original Atari, Inc. was founded in 1972 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney. It was a pioneer in...
's Pit-Fighter
Pit-Fighter
Pit-Fighter is a 1990 arcade game by Atari Games, notable for its early use of digitized live actors. The Japanese arcade release was published by Konami. The graphic animation for the player character and opponents were created through a bluescreen process, where the various poses & moves of the...
, the game makes heavy use of digitized human actors as the characters, plus some blood influenced by Midway
Midway Games
Midway Games, Inc. is an American company that was formerly a major video game publisher. Following a bankruptcy filing in 2009, it is no longer active and is in the process of liquidating all of its assets. Midway's titles included Mortal Kombat, Ms.Pac-Man, Spy Hunter, Tron, Rampage, the...
's Mortal Kombat series. One of the most unique features in it are multiple platforms to jump or drop on.
Fighters
There are 12 playable characters to choose from. Some have different names depending on regional versions. The names listed here have been taken from the English version of the game.- Albiole (アルビオレ), a mysterious wraith that's able to use lightning and teleporting as his basic movelist. None of his profile entries have any information written in them.
- Chili and Pepper (チリ＆ペッパー), two characters acting as one, including attacks such as Chili using Pepper as a projectile. They come from the Gemini tribe.
- Deathmask (デスマスク), a rather tall golemGolemIn Jewish folklore, a golem is an animated anthropomorphic being, created entirely from inanimate matter. The word was used to mean an amorphous, unformed material in Psalms and medieval writing....
using mainly grapples. - Drethdok, a cyclopeanCyclopsA cyclops , in Greek mythology and later Roman mythology, was a member of a primordial race of giants, each with a single eye in the middle of his forehead...
monster that's able to breathe fire and heal himself. He comes from the Monocle tribe, which is most likely a reference to his one eye. - Fangore, a towering skeleton with long red hair and a scimitarScimitarA scimitar is a backsword or sabre with a curved blade, originating in Southwest Asia .The Arabic term saif translates to "sword" in general, but is normally taken to refer to the scimitar type of curved backsword in particular.The curved sword or "scimitar" was widespread throughout the Muslim...
, somewhat reminiscent of Killer InstinctKiller InstinctKiller Instinct is a fighting game developed by Rare and published by Midway and Nintendo. Initially released in arcades in 1994, and rumored to use an "Ultra 64" hardware engine, in reality the proprietary arcade hardware was co-developed by Rare and Midway. The game received a high profile launch...
's Spinal. - Headless Harn, a man that carries his own head by his ponytailPonytailA ponytail is a hairstyle in which most or all of the hair on the head is pulled away from the face, gathered and secured at the back of the head with a hair tie, clip or similar device, and allowed to hang freely from that point. It gets its name from its resemblance to the undocked tail of a...
. He comes from the Chai tribe. Harn's ending depicts him putting his head back on. - Kap Ka (カ・フカ), who seems to be a magician. He has an arsenal of magic-based attacks, the majority of them coming from his weapons, two levitating iron balls. His profile states that he is a tricksterTricksterIn mythology, and in the study of folklore and religion, a trickster is a god, goddess, spirit, man, woman, or anthropomorphic animal who plays tricks or otherwise disobeys normal rules and conventional behavior. It is suggested by Hansen that the term "Trickster" was probably first used in this...
. - La Pa (ラ・ファ), a living dollDollA doll is a model of a human being, often used as a toy for children. Dolls have traditionally been used in magic and religious rituals throughout the world, and traditional dolls made of materials like clay and wood are found in the Americas, Asia, Africa and Europe. The earliest documented dolls...
whose movelist seems to be based around balletBalletBallet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with...
. - Makaryudo (マカリュード), a barbarianBarbarianBarbarian and savage are terms used to refer to a person who is perceived to be uncivilized. The word is often used either in a general reference to a member of a nation or ethnos, typically a tribal society as seen by an urban civilization either viewed as inferior, or admired as a noble savage...
who sports a shield, spiked knuckles and a fire bow. - Naga (ナーガ), a standard gorgonGorgonIn Greek mythology, the Gorgon was a terrifying female creature. The name derives from the Greek word gorgós, which means "dreadful." While descriptions of Gorgons vary across Greek literature, the term commonly refers to any of three sisters who had hair of living, venomous snakes, and a...
. She is able to actually morph into a cluster of snakes in a few of her attacks. - Shion (シオン), the only human character in the game, is a samuraiSamuraiis the term for the military nobility of pre-industrial Japan. According to translator William Scott Wilson: "In Chinese, the character 侍 was originally a verb meaning to wait upon or accompany a person in the upper ranks of society, and this is also true of the original term in Japanese, saburau...
who wears an eyepatchEyepatchAn eyepatch or eye pad is a small patch that is worn in front of one eye. It may be a cloth patch attached around the head by an elastic band or by a string, or an adhesive bandage. It is often worn by people to cover a lost or injured eye, but it also has a therapeutic use in children for the...
and, like Fangore, brandishes a scimitarScimitarA scimitar is a backsword or sabre with a curved blade, originating in Southwest Asia .The Arabic term saif translates to "sword" in general, but is normally taken to refer to the scimitar type of curved backsword in particular.The curved sword or "scimitar" was widespread throughout the Muslim...
. - Skythe, a half-bird, half-human creature. It is able to fly around the battlefield. It apparently comes from the Dark Side tribe.
The Big 4, a team of four palette-swapped
Palette swap
A palette swap is a practice used in video games, whereby a graphic that is already used for one element is given a different palette, so it can be reused as other elements. The different palette gives the new graphic a unique set of colors, which make it recognizably distinct from the original...
jester-like unplayable boss characters. They can only all be fought, one by one per round, via a seven-round final battle in a one-player game.
- Behemoth (bronze, uses rock element)
- Jinnee (gray, uses wind element, most of the time only his outline is shown)
- Leviathan (blue, uses water element)
- Salamander (yellow, uses fire element)
In the Japanese version of the game, several names were originally as follows:
- Drethdok is Strawbelly Jam (ストロベリー・ジャム)
- Fangore is Ki Ba (キ・バ)
- Headless Harn is Heart Heat Harn (ハートヒート・ハーン)
- Skythe is Kuja (クウジャ)