Eternal Champions
Encyclopedia
Eternal Champions is a 2D
fighting game
originally conceived by Scott Berfield, produced by Mike Latham for Sega of America and was developed by the Sega Interactive Development Division.
Sega released Eternal Champions for their Mega Drive/Genesis in 1993, hoping to capitalize on the fighting game mania that the game industry was in the midst of following the massive success of Street Fighter II
(1991) and Mortal Kombat
(1992). The game tried to set itself apart with unique features like a heavier emphasis on its story, characters pulled from different time periods, reflectable projectiles, force fields, fighters that carried weapons, a training mode where players had to defend themselves against robotic traps, a novel method of executing moves, and stage-specific finishing moves called "Overkills" where the fighters were killed off in elaborate ways. It also had the distinction of being one of the only fighting games of its time developed from the ground up as a home console title, rather than being released in arcades first and later ported to home systems, as was the standard during that era.
Two years later, the sequel Eternal Champions: Challenge from the Dark Side
(sometimes known as Eternal Champions CD or Eternal Champions 2) was released for the Mega-CD/Sega CD.
Eternal Champions was added to the Wii
's Virtual Console
download service on December 3, 2007. There were also two spin-off
s, action/adventure games set in the Eternal Champions universe and featuring some of its characters.
, etc.) were voted on, after the number was whittled down to fifty characters, loose sketches were drawn, which were then reviewed by 'kid testers' and finally reduced to ten resulting in the nine characters of the game, including the Eternal Champion.
Unlike most fighting games, or video games in general, there are no characters in this game that are "bad" or "evil". Each character has been chosen because they are either inherently good, or they have the potential to do great good and change the course of history for the better. Despite the ability to kill opponents in this game, this is not relevant to the story. Much like games such as Mortal Kombat (which pioneered finishing moves in fighting games), fatalities or in the case of Eternal Champions "Overkills" are not canon
and simply a gameplay element for the enjoyment of the player. It is actually revealed in a few character endings that some of the fighters had become allies or friends during the course of the tournament.
), forcing users of the standard 3-button Mega Drive/Genesis
controller to purchase a more elaborate, 6-button controller or else use an inconvenient method of switching between punches and kicks by pressing start, as this game was especially developed to be played with the Sega Activator. The joystick or D-pad is used to move away, towards, jump and crouch. There were three punches and three kicks that vary based upon speed and power. The weakest punches and kicks are fast but do minimal damage, medium attacks are a good mix of recovery speed and damage, and strong attacks are the most powerful but recover the slowest. Attacks can be blocked by pressing away (for high attacks) or down and away (for low attacks). Grapples are executed by standing close to an opponent and pressing toward or away and either medium or the strong punch button. These attacks cannot be blocked or escaped.
Each character has their own unique special attacks that are performed differently from those of other characters. If a character is hit several times in a row they become "dizzy" and their opponent can land a free attack. In Eternal Champions, all special move commands are performed by either pressing multiple buttons together, or holding back or down to charge and then pressing towards or up together with a button. There are no rolling motions in this game, and a given special move may only be performed with a specific button.
As seen in Art of Fighting
released the previous year, Eternal Champions has a "special attack meter", which decreases each time a character performed a special move such as a projectile; different special attacks decreased the meter by different amounts and the characters each have a taunt move that decreases their opponent's special attack meter as well. This feature gave Eternal Champions an added element of strategy that made it unique among similar titles of its genre at the time, though it was not without its critics: while its intention was to keep the action fast-paced by preventing fighters from trading endless projectiles from opposite ends of the screen and barring players from cheap wins due to repeated hits on opponents trapped at the edge of the screen, players found they could exploit the game's controls to achieve wins by retreating into a defensive shell to constantly recharge their meter or by circumventing special moves altogether and blitzing their opponent with a flurry of simple button presses. Characters that had more dynamic normal attacks tended to dominate. A problem with the special attack meter on the Sega Mega Drive
original game is that when in tournament mode, the computer opponent operates independently of its special attack power availability. In other words, the computer can repeatedly do special moves even after its meter has reached zero.
The game introduces stage-specific finishing moves called Overkills. These are performed by defeating an opponent such that they fall upon a certain area of ground. If they land in the right spot, the life bars disappear and some element of the background kills them. The Overkills include being pulled underwater and mauled to death by carnivorous plants in Trident's level, knocked into the flaming stake in Xavier's level, electrocuted and vaporized by the neon sign
in Shadow's level, eaten whole and then having an item of clothing or weapon spat out by a Tyrannosaurus rex
in Slash's level, killed in a drive-by shooting
in Larcen's level; getting frozen, disintegrated, and swept up by robots in R.A.X's level; being swallowed up by an earthquake in Jetta's level, having a napalm
bomb dropped on the loser's body in Midknight's level, and getting knocked into a large exhaust fan in Blade's level.
flavor entitled "Sega Eternal Champions Cherry" was once available in 7-11 stores throughout the United States. It came in cups with pictures of the characters on them, and the bottom of the cup contained a temporary tattoo. There was also a special cash++ rebate promotion in July 1993 that was featured in the MTV
.
Two gamebook
s based on the game, "The Cyber Warriors" and "Citadel of Chaos" were released by Puffin Books. In them, the reader controls the newest Champion and travels through time helping the game characters battle a megalomaniacal artificial intelligence called the Overlord, who is bent on replacing them with duplicates so that they can not change the course of history for the better. It was also given a Sticker Album in 1993 by Panini.
Eternal Champions was adapted by the UK Sega Magazine Sonic the Comic
in a stand-alone magazine Eternal Champions Special, which introduced the main characters and served as an adaptation to the game. The characters also appeared in two stories in the main Sonic the Comic series, first in Eternal Champions (issues 19-24) and then Larcen's Revenge (issues 37-40) which dealt with Larcen Tyler returning to 1920s Chicago and working with Shadow Yamoto to take down the crime boss who killed him. Eternal Champions was the only non-Sonic-related Sega property to receive a special issue of Sonic the Comic.
The rap act Bone Thugs-N-Harmony
have sampled
music from this game for the instrumentals of several of their songs. The songs "Eternal" and "Crossroad" (not to be confused with their song, "Tha Crossroads
") are the most notable cases of using Eternal Champions for their beats. However, Bone does not mention Sega in the album credits for using their copyrighted music. The cartoon show "Courage the Cowardly Dog
" also employed some of the same audio loops (probably included with the same software) as bases for creepy background music.
Electronic Gaming Monthly
sponsored Eternal Champions tournaments in different cities throughout the United States as part of a roaming video game show. The game, however, was not yet completed so the participants were only given the choice of four characters to play as: Shadow, R.A.X, Larcen and Slash. The winner of the finals would receive a copy of the game (when it was finished), a leather lettermans jacket with an embroidered Eternal Champions logo on it, and a resin plaque with the Bushido
symbol (used in the game's logo) on it.
Eternal Champions (cartridge) was the second "packaged game" to be included with the Sega Activator, an elaborate infrared ring controller that players stood in and punched and kicked in order to make the characters perform different combat movements. It was one of only a few games that actually recognized the Activator and took advantage of most of the features of the unit. The player using the Activator was given an advantage of receiving 50% less and inflicting 50% more damage than the player using a regular controller.
, but the game was cancelled shortly after beginning production, in order to push the Virtua Fighter series in the US. In an interview by Michael Latham
, this decision was made by Sega of Japan, believing that one fighting game franchise was only needed in America.
to the main story of the core games, starring several popular Eternal Champions characters.
The first game is Chicago Syndicate
, which was released for the Sega Game Gear
portable platform in 1995. The plot is based in an alternate reality
where Larcen Tyler did not die in 1920 as stated in Eternal Champions, and now seeks revenge on the mafia
for their attempt on his life. It is a 2D action/platform game
.
The second game, X-Perts
, is a side-scrolling beat-em-up released in 1996 for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis. Like Chicago Syndicate
, its plot is based in an alternate reality, this time one where Shadow Yamoto did not die in 1993, and instead went on to form a team that sets out to take down the The Black Orchid Group in revenge for their attempt on Shadow's life.
, was released in 1996. Inexplicably, the entire series has also been notably absent from the several compilations of Sega Genesis games that have been released on various platforms over the years, one of the only mainstream Sega properties released during that era with this distinction.
2D computer graphics
2D computer graphics is the computer-based generation of digital images—mostly from two-dimensional models and by techniques specific to them...
fighting game
Fighting game
Fighting game is a video game genre where the player controls an on-screen character and engages in close combat with an opponent. These characters tend to be of equal power and fight matches consisting of several rounds, which take place in an arena. Players must master techniques such as...
originally conceived by Scott Berfield, produced by Mike Latham for Sega of America and was developed by the Sega Interactive Development Division.
Sega released Eternal Champions for their Mega Drive/Genesis in 1993, hoping to capitalize on the fighting game mania that the game industry was in the midst of following the massive success of Street Fighter II
Street Fighter II
is a competitive fighting game originally released for the arcades in . It is the arcade sequel to the original Street Fighter released in and was Capcom's fourteenth title that ran on the CP System arcade hardware...
(1991) and Mortal Kombat
Mortal Kombat (video game)
Mortal Kombat is a 1992 fighting-game developed and published by Midway for arcades. In 1993, home versions were released by Acclaim Entertainment. Released in the Fall of 1994, the Microsoft Windows 3.1x version was released by Activision Interactive. It is the first title in the Mortal Kombat...
(1992). The game tried to set itself apart with unique features like a heavier emphasis on its story, characters pulled from different time periods, reflectable projectiles, force fields, fighters that carried weapons, a training mode where players had to defend themselves against robotic traps, a novel method of executing moves, and stage-specific finishing moves called "Overkills" where the fighters were killed off in elaborate ways. It also had the distinction of being one of the only fighting games of its time developed from the ground up as a home console title, rather than being released in arcades first and later ported to home systems, as was the standard during that era.
Two years later, the sequel Eternal Champions: Challenge from the Dark Side
Eternal Champions: Challenge from the Dark Side
Eternal Champions: Challenge from the Dark Side is a fighting video game for the Mega-CD/Sega CD...
(sometimes known as Eternal Champions CD or Eternal Champions 2) was released for the Mega-CD/Sega CD.
Eternal Champions was added to the Wii
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
's Virtual Console
Virtual console
A virtual console – also known as a virtual terminal – is a conceptual combination of the keyboard and display for a computer user interface. It is a feature of some operating systems such as UnixWare, Linux, and BSD, in which the system console of the computer can be used to switch between...
download service on December 3, 2007. There were also two spin-off
Spin-off (media)
In media, a spin-off is a radio program, television program, video game, or any narrative work, derived from one or more already existing works, that focuses, in particular, in more detail on one aspect of that original work...
s, action/adventure games set in the Eternal Champions universe and featuring some of its characters.
Plot
Nine of the greatest fighters throughout history have met untimely and unjust deaths. They now compete against each other for a chance to face the Eternal Champion and reclaim their souls. The victor will return to Earth with the chance to change their fate and restore balance to the universe.Characters
To choose the game's original characters, Sega held a biweekly 'focus group' made up of all ages, where a list of archetype characters (pirate, ninjaNinja
A or was a covert agent or mercenary of feudal Japan specializing in unorthodox arts of war. The functions of the ninja included espionage, sabotage, infiltration, and assassination, as well as open combat in certain situations...
, etc.) were voted on, after the number was whittled down to fifty characters, loose sketches were drawn, which were then reviewed by 'kid testers' and finally reduced to ten resulting in the nine characters of the game, including the Eternal Champion.
- Shadow Yamoto - Female ninjaKunoichiis the term for a female ninja or practitioner of ninjutsu .-Etymology:The term is thought to derive from the names of characters that resemble the three strokes in the kanji character for ; said in the order they are written: ku - no - ichi...
assassin from JapanJapanJapan 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...
in 1993. Her fighting style was a system of unarmed combat similar to JujutsuJujutsuJujutsu , also known as jujitsu, ju-jitsu, or Japanese jiu-jitsu, is a Japanese martial art and a method of close combat for defeating an armed and armored opponent in which one uses no weapon, or only a short weapon....
mixed with the NinjutsuNinjutsuor may be:*the arts associated with espionage and assassination in feudal Japan, see Ninja*modern schools of martial arts claiming to be based in these traditions, see Modern Schools of Ninjutsu*fictional depictions, see Ninja in popular culture...
art of invisibility. As a member of the Black Orchid Corp, she rose through the ranks, and became a top-notch killer. After successfully carrying out many missions, she questioned her superiors about the consequences of failure. The answer given to her is that she herself would be assassinated. Feeling vulnerable and endangered, she then decided to escape, and reveal the organization to the public authorities. However, the superiors arranged her death, and had her pushed off the 101st floor of the Corp building, before she could blow the whistle.
- R.A.X. Coswell - A professional kickboxerKickboxingKickboxing refers to a group of martial arts and stand-up combat sports based on kicking and punching, historically developed from karate, Muay Thai and western boxing....
from the year 2345 (R.A.X. stands for Robotic Artificial ExoskeletonExoskeletonAn exoskeleton is the external skeleton that supports and protects an animal's body, in contrast to the internal skeleton of, for example, a human. In popular usage, some of the larger kinds of exoskeletons are known as "shells". Examples of exoskeleton animals include insects such as grasshoppers...
). He was born in a time where the popularity of martial arts started to fade. Martial artists started to combine with machines, and began an era known as "cyber fighting". With a strong desire to stay relevant, he underwent painful surgery to be injected with cybernetic implants, therefore becoming a half human/half machine: a cyborgCyborgA cyborg is a being with both biological and artificial parts. The term was coined in 1960 when Manfred Clynes and Nathan S. Kline used it in an article about the advantages of self-regulating human-machine systems in outer space. D. S...
. He soon began winning many fights, and achieving fame. Before his championship match, his corrupt manager implanted a virus into his cybernetics which would cause his system to shut down. During his championship match his manager activated the virus just before RAX could land the final blow. His death was due to a virus implanted in his cybernetics which caused his systems to shut down.
- Jonathan Blade - A former police officerPolice officerA police officer is a warranted employee of a police force...
from the year 2030 who was dismissed, due to a very short temper. He is a master in Kenpo KarateAmerican KenpoAmerican Kenpo or Kenpo Karate is a system of martial arts created by Ed Parker, characterized by the use of quick moves in rapid-fire succession intended to overwhelm an opponent...
. He then became a bounty hunterBounty hunterA bounty hunter captures fugitives for a monetary reward . Other names, mainly used in the United States, include bail enforcement agent and fugitive recovery agent.-Laws in the U.S.:...
back in his home country SyriaSyriaSyria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
, and was in deep pursuit of a mad scientist, who threatened to destroy the human race with a lethal virus. Although he came close to killing the scientist on several occasions, he was only ordered to capture, and bring the scientist to justice. Finally trapping the scientist in an alley, he attempted to retrieve the virus. They were suddenly hit with a stream of lasers, causing the scientist to drop the vial, containing the virus. It is clear that he was set up and killed by his own government. The last image that Blade saw was the broken vial containing the virus.
- Jetta Maxx - A young RussiaRussiaRussia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n woman from the year 1899, who abandoned her originally aristocratAristocracy (class)The aristocracy are people considered to be in the highest social class in a society which has or once had a political system of Aristocracy. Aristocrats possess hereditary titles granted by a monarch, which once granted them feudal or legal privileges, or deriving, as in Ancient Greece and India,...
ic lifestyle to become a circus acrobatAcrobaticsAcrobatics is the performance of extraordinary feats of balance, agility and motor coordination. It can be found in many of the performing arts, as well as many sports...
and travel the world. She was also a master of SavateSavateSavate , also known as boxe française, French boxing, French kickboxing or French footfighting, is a French martial art which uses the hands and feet as weapons combining elements of western boxing with graceful kicking techniques. Only foot kicks are allowed unlike some systems such as Muay...
/Pencak SilatPencak SilatPencak silat is an umbrella term for the indigenous martial arts created in Indonesia. The leading organization of pencak silat in Indonesia is IPSI...
. Targeted by a ChineseChinaChinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
Boxer revolutionaryBoxer RebellionThe Boxer Rebellion, also called the Boxer Uprising by some historians or the Righteous Harmony Society Movement in northern China, was a proto-nationalist movement by the "Righteous Harmony Society" , or "Righteous Fists of Harmony" or "Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists" , in China between...
, she died after her sabotaged tightrope and safety net snapped, causing her to fall to her death. The manual mentions her as being a cousin of Czar Nicholas II.
- Slash - A cavemanCavemanA caveman or troglodyte is a stock character based upon widespread concepts of the way in which early prehistoric humans may have looked and behaved...
from the PrehistoricPrehistoryPrehistory is the span of time before recorded history. Prehistory can refer to the period of human existence before the availability of those written records with which recorded history begins. More broadly, it refers to all the time preceding human existence and the invention of writing...
Great Rift ValleyGreat Rift ValleyThe Great Rift Valley is a name given in the late 19th century by British explorer John Walter Gregory to the continuous geographic trench, approximately in length, that runs from northern Syria in Southwest Asia to central Mozambique in South East Africa...
in the year 50,000 BC. He did not train in any specific martial art, and instead fought in any way which could cause as much pain as possible. Being a hunter of superior intelligence, he would often search for ideas and methods to provide ways of better living for his tribe. However, as time went on, he drew much resentment and animosity from his tribe's elders for his way of thinking. It was at a meeting that he was cornered, and stoned to death for speaking out against the elders in public.
- Trident - A gladiatorGladiatorA gladiator was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gladiators were volunteers who risked their legal and social standing and their lives by appearing in the...
named after the trident that replaced his hand, he was a hero to his race from AtlantisAtlantisAtlantis is a legendary island first mentioned in Plato's dialogues Timaeus and Critias, written about 360 BC....
in the year 110 BC. As a master of CapoeiraCapoeiraCapoeira is a Brazilian art form that combines elements of martial arts, sports, and music. It was created in Brazil mainly by descendants of African slaves with Brazilian native influences, probably beginning in the 16th century...
, he represented his race of people in a battle against the RomansAncient RomeAncient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
. Should he have won, then his people would receive share of land alongside the Romans. However, due to a Roman gladiator's treachery, he was crushed underneath a falling stone pillar. As a result his people were forever banished to the waters.
- Xavier Pendragon - A former blacksmith from SalemSalem, MassachusettsSalem is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 40,407 at the 2000 census. It and Lawrence are the county seats of Essex County...
in the year 1692, at the height of the Salem Witch TrialsSalem witch trialsThe Salem witch trials were a series of hearings before county court trials to prosecute people accused of witchcraft in the counties of Essex, Suffolk, and Middlesex in colonial Massachusetts, between February 1692 and May 1693...
. He is a master of HapkidoHapkidoHapkido is a dynamic and also eclectic Korean martial art. It is a form of self-defense that employs joint locks, techniques of other martial arts, as well as kicks, punches, and other striking attacks...
and Cane Fighting. After failing as a blacksmithBlacksmithA blacksmith is a person who creates objects from wrought iron or steel by forging the metal; that is, by using tools to hammer, bend, and cut...
, he tried his hand at alchemyAlchemyAlchemy is an influential philosophical tradition whose early practitioners’ claims to profound powers were known from antiquity. The defining objectives of alchemy are varied; these include the creation of the fabled philosopher's stone possessing powers including the capability of turning base...
. He eventually discovered a clean, unlimited source of energy but before he could put it to use he was captured and burned at the stake after being labeled a warlockWarlockThe term warlock in origin means "traitor, oathbreaker".In early modern Scots, the word came to be used as the male equivalent of witch ....
.
- Mitchell Midleton Knight (also known as Midknight) - A LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
-born biochemicalBiochemistryBiochemistry, sometimes called biological chemistry, is the study of chemical processes in living organisms, including, but not limited to, living matter. Biochemistry governs all living organisms and living processes...
scientist and master of Jeet Kune DoJeet Kune DoJeet Kune Do is a hybrid martial arts system and life philosophy founded by martial artist Bruce Lee with direct, non classical and straightforward movements. Due to the way his style works they believe in minimal movement with maximum effect and extreme speed. The system works on the use of...
who worked for the CIA. He was assigned to make a biological weapon which was intended to be poured into the water supply of North VietnamNorth VietnamThe Democratic Republic of Vietnam , was a communist state that ruled the northern half of Vietnam from 1954 until 1976 following the Geneva Conference and laid claim to all of Vietnam from 1945 to 1954 during the First Indochina War, during which they controlled pockets of territory throughout...
during the warVietnam WarThe Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
. However, in a freak accident, he himself was exposed to the virus and was turned into a vampireVampireVampires are mythological or folkloric beings who subsist by feeding on the life essence of living creatures, regardless of whether they are undead or a living person...
-like creature in 1967. Despite the fact that he hungered for blood, he refused to harm and kill others. He spent many regretful years trying to invent a cure but to no avail, and was killed in the year 2100 by a vampire hunter, who drove a magnesium stake into his heart.
- Larcen Tyler - An ex-cat burglar from 1920s ChicagoChicagoChicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, who worked for a Chicago mob. As a master of Praying Mantis Kung FuPraying mantis kung fuThere are two styles of Praying Mantis Kung Fu:* Northern Praying Mantis , a self-defense technique from the northeast Chinese province of Shandong....
, he carried out many jobs for his boss, Mr Taglalini, though he refused to kill. One day, he received a mission: to plant false evidence in the hospital room of a rival crime boss. However, upon arriving Larcen found not a rival crime lord, but the Chief of Police. Realizing the package was a bomb, he attempted to throw it out the window but was not fast enough. The blast killed Larcen, the Police Chief, and most of the people in the hospital.
- Eternal Champion - A protector of the balance of good, practices DragonDragonA dragon is a legendary creature, typically with serpentine or reptilian traits, that feature in the myths of many cultures. There are two distinct cultural traditions of dragons: the European dragon, derived from European folk traditions and ultimately related to Greek and Middle Eastern...
, TigerTigerThe tiger is the largest cat species, reaching a total body length of up to and weighing up to . Their most recognizable feature is a pattern of dark vertical stripes on reddish-orange fur with lighter underparts...
, HawkHawkThe term hawk can be used in several ways:* In strict usage in Australia and Africa, to mean any of the species in the subfamily Accipitrinae, which comprises the genera Accipiter, Micronisus, Melierax, Urotriorchis and Megatriorchis. The large and widespread Accipiter genus includes goshawks,...
and SharkSharkSharks are a type of fish with a full cartilaginous skeleton and a highly streamlined body. The earliest known sharks date from more than 420 million years ago....
styles. He is the final boss of the game, and an unplayable character by normal means.
Unlike most fighting games, or video games in general, there are no characters in this game that are "bad" or "evil". Each character has been chosen because they are either inherently good, or they have the potential to do great good and change the course of history for the better. Despite the ability to kill opponents in this game, this is not relevant to the story. Much like games such as Mortal Kombat (which pioneered finishing moves in fighting games), fatalities or in the case of Eternal Champions "Overkills" are not canon
Canon (fiction)
In the context of a work of fiction, the term canon denotes the material accepted as "official" in a fictional universe's fan base. It is often contrasted with, or used as the basis for, works of fan fiction, which are not considered canonical...
and simply a gameplay element for the enjoyment of the player. It is actually revealed in a few character endings that some of the fighters had become allies or friends during the course of the tournament.
Gameplay
The game followed the typical 8-way directional pad/stick with 6-button layout common to most fighting games at the time (more commonly in this case, Street Fighter IIStreet Fighter II
is a competitive fighting game originally released for the arcades in . It is the arcade sequel to the original Street Fighter released in and was Capcom's fourteenth title that ran on the CP System arcade hardware...
), forcing users of the standard 3-button Mega Drive/Genesis
Sega Mega Drive
The Sega Genesis is a fourth-generation video game console developed and produced by Sega. It was originally released in Japan in 1988 as , then in North America in 1989 as Sega Genesis, and in Europe, Australia and other PAL regions in 1990 as Mega Drive. The reason for the two names is that...
controller to purchase a more elaborate, 6-button controller or else use an inconvenient method of switching between punches and kicks by pressing start, as this game was especially developed to be played with the Sega Activator. The joystick or D-pad is used to move away, towards, jump and crouch. There were three punches and three kicks that vary based upon speed and power. The weakest punches and kicks are fast but do minimal damage, medium attacks are a good mix of recovery speed and damage, and strong attacks are the most powerful but recover the slowest. Attacks can be blocked by pressing away (for high attacks) or down and away (for low attacks). Grapples are executed by standing close to an opponent and pressing toward or away and either medium or the strong punch button. These attacks cannot be blocked or escaped.
Each character has their own unique special attacks that are performed differently from those of other characters. If a character is hit several times in a row they become "dizzy" and their opponent can land a free attack. In Eternal Champions, all special move commands are performed by either pressing multiple buttons together, or holding back or down to charge and then pressing towards or up together with a button. There are no rolling motions in this game, and a given special move may only be performed with a specific button.
As seen in Art of Fighting
Art of Fighting
is a trilogy of competitive fighting game titles that were released for the Neo Geo platform in the early 1990s. It was the second fighting game franchise created by SNK, following the Fatal Fury series and is set in the same fictional universe...
released the previous year, Eternal Champions has a "special attack meter", which decreases each time a character performed a special move such as a projectile; different special attacks decreased the meter by different amounts and the characters each have a taunt move that decreases their opponent's special attack meter as well. This feature gave Eternal Champions an added element of strategy that made it unique among similar titles of its genre at the time, though it was not without its critics: while its intention was to keep the action fast-paced by preventing fighters from trading endless projectiles from opposite ends of the screen and barring players from cheap wins due to repeated hits on opponents trapped at the edge of the screen, players found they could exploit the game's controls to achieve wins by retreating into a defensive shell to constantly recharge their meter or by circumventing special moves altogether and blitzing their opponent with a flurry of simple button presses. Characters that had more dynamic normal attacks tended to dominate. A problem with the special attack meter on the Sega Mega Drive
Sega Mega Drive
The Sega Genesis is a fourth-generation video game console developed and produced by Sega. It was originally released in Japan in 1988 as , then in North America in 1989 as Sega Genesis, and in Europe, Australia and other PAL regions in 1990 as Mega Drive. The reason for the two names is that...
original game is that when in tournament mode, the computer opponent operates independently of its special attack power availability. In other words, the computer can repeatedly do special moves even after its meter has reached zero.
The game introduces stage-specific finishing moves called Overkills. These are performed by defeating an opponent such that they fall upon a certain area of ground. If they land in the right spot, the life bars disappear and some element of the background kills them. The Overkills include being pulled underwater and mauled to death by carnivorous plants in Trident's level, knocked into the flaming stake in Xavier's level, electrocuted and vaporized by the neon sign
Neon sign
Neon signs are made using electrified, luminous tube lights that contain rarefied neon or other gases. They are the most common use for neon lighting, which was first demonstrated in a modern form in December, 1910 by Georges Claude at the Paris Motor Show. While they are used worldwide, neon signs...
in Shadow's level, eaten whole and then having an item of clothing or weapon spat out by a Tyrannosaurus rex
Tyrannosaurus
Tyrannosaurus meaning "tyrant," and sauros meaning "lizard") is a genus of coelurosaurian theropod dinosaur. The species Tyrannosaurus rex , commonly abbreviated to T. rex, is a fixture in popular culture. It lived throughout what is now western North America, with a much wider range than other...
in Slash's level, killed in a drive-by shooting
Drive-by shooting
A drive-by shooting is a form of hit-and-run tactic, a personal attack carried out by an individual or individuals from a moving or momentarily stopped vehicle without use of headlights to avoid being noticed. It often results in bystanders being shot instead of, or as well as, the intended target...
in Larcen's level; getting frozen, disintegrated, and swept up by robots in R.A.X's level; being swallowed up by an earthquake in Jetta's level, having a napalm
Napalm
Napalm is a thickening/gelling agent generally mixed with gasoline or a similar fuel for use in an incendiary device, primarily as an anti-personnel weapon...
bomb dropped on the loser's body in Midknight's level, and getting knocked into a large exhaust fan in Blade's level.
Promotion and merchandise
A SlurpeeSlurpee
A Slurpee is a flavored frozen drink sold by 7-Eleven. In 1967, 7-Eleven licensed the product from the ICEE Company, and began selling it as the Slurpee.-Slurpee history:Machines to make frozen beverages were invented by Omar Knedlik in the late 1950s...
flavor entitled "Sega Eternal Champions Cherry" was once available in 7-11 stores throughout the United States. It came in cups with pictures of the characters on them, and the bottom of the cup contained a temporary tattoo. There was also a special cash++ rebate promotion in July 1993 that was featured in the MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
.
Two gamebook
Gamebook
A gamebook is a work of fiction that allows the reader to participate in the story by making effective choices. The narrative branches along various paths through the use of numbered paragraphs or pages...
s based on the game, "The Cyber Warriors" and "Citadel of Chaos" were released by Puffin Books. In them, the reader controls the newest Champion and travels through time helping the game characters battle a megalomaniacal artificial intelligence called the Overlord, who is bent on replacing them with duplicates so that they can not change the course of history for the better. It was also given a Sticker Album in 1993 by Panini.
Eternal Champions was adapted by the UK Sega Magazine Sonic the Comic
Sonic the Comic
Sonic the Comic, known to its many readers as STC, was a UK children's comic published fortnightly by Fleetway Editions between 1993 and 2002...
in a stand-alone magazine Eternal Champions Special, which introduced the main characters and served as an adaptation to the game. The characters also appeared in two stories in the main Sonic the Comic series, first in Eternal Champions (issues 19-24) and then Larcen's Revenge (issues 37-40) which dealt with Larcen Tyler returning to 1920s Chicago and working with Shadow Yamoto to take down the crime boss who killed him. Eternal Champions was the only non-Sonic-related Sega property to receive a special issue of Sonic the Comic.
The rap act Bone Thugs-N-Harmony
Bone Thugs-N-Harmony
Bone Thugs-N-Harmony is an American Hip-Hop/R'n'B band from Cleveland, Ohio formed in 1991. It originally consisted of rappers Layzie Bone, Flesh-n-Bone, Bizzy Bone, Krayzie Bone, and Wish Bone. Rapper Eazy-E of the group N.W.A signed Bone Thugs-N-Harmony to Ruthless Records in 1994, when Bone...
have sampled
Sampling (music)
In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, who physically...
music from this game for the instrumentals of several of their songs. The songs "Eternal" and "Crossroad" (not to be confused with their song, "Tha Crossroads
Tha Crossroads
"Tha Crossroads" is a Grammy Award–winning song performed by the hip hop group Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, dedicated to the late rap icon Eazy-E and released in 1996...
") are the most notable cases of using Eternal Champions for their beats. However, Bone does not mention Sega in the album credits for using their copyrighted music. The cartoon show "Courage the Cowardly Dog
Courage the Cowardly Dog
Courage the Cowardly Dog is an American animated television series created by John R. Dilworth for Cartoon Network. Its central plot revolves around a somewhat anthropomorphic dog named Courage who lives with his owners, Muriel and Eustace Bagge, an elderly, married farming couple in the "Middle of...
" also employed some of the same audio loops (probably included with the same software) as bases for creepy background music.
Electronic Gaming Monthly
Electronic Gaming Monthly
Electronic Gaming Monthly is a bimonthly American video game magazine. It has been published by EGM Media, LLC. since relaunching in April of 2010. Its previous run, which ended in January 2009, was published by Ziff Davis...
sponsored Eternal Champions tournaments in different cities throughout the United States as part of a roaming video game show. The game, however, was not yet completed so the participants were only given the choice of four characters to play as: Shadow, R.A.X, Larcen and Slash. The winner of the finals would receive a copy of the game (when it was finished), a leather lettermans jacket with an embroidered Eternal Champions logo on it, and a resin plaque with the Bushido
Bushido
, meaning "Way of the Warrior-Knight", is a Japanese word which is used to describe a uniquely Japanese code of conduct and a way of the samurai life, loosely analogous to the concept of chivalry. It originates from the samurai moral code and stresses frugality, loyalty, martial arts mastery, and...
symbol (used in the game's logo) on it.
Eternal Champions (cartridge) was the second "packaged game" to be included with the Sega Activator, an elaborate infrared ring controller that players stood in and punched and kicked in order to make the characters perform different combat movements. It was one of only a few games that actually recognized the Activator and took advantage of most of the features of the unit. The player using the Activator was given an advantage of receiving 50% less and inflicting 50% more damage than the player using a regular controller.
Eternal Champions: Special Moves Edition
A handheld game by Tiger and a part of the Sega Tiger Electronic Pocket Arcade game series. Eternal Champions: Special Moves Edition is basically a small and simple remake of Eternal Champions. It includes all nine characters and The Eternal Champion as a playable character from Eternal Champions. And, it has three different types of gameplay, one-on-one, one against three, and team battle.Eternal Champions: Challenge from the Dark Side
Eternal Champions: Challenge From the Dark Side kept the controversial special attack meter but made most special attacks use less of the meter than in the previous game. The characters also gained a multitude of special attacks that did not deplete the special attack meter as well. These two innovations kept the flow of rounds much more consistent. Eternal Champions CD actually had an ebb and flow similar to the heralded and popular Street Fighter II series, but with less emphasis on special attacks. Three new types of finishing moves were added in Challenge from the Dark Side: a second Overkill in each stage called Sudden Death (that could actually be activated when the victim still had a little life left), Vendetta, and Cinekill. Combo attacks were also introduced and jumping attacks could be linked to ground attacks and most normal attacks could be linked into other normal attacks. In addition, the game was significantly more violent and bloody than its predecessor, especially in the brutal new finishing moves.Cancelled third game
A third and a final title Eternal Champions: The Final Chapter was advertised for the Sega SaturnSega 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...
, but the game was cancelled shortly after beginning production, in order to push the Virtua Fighter series in the US. In an interview by Michael Latham
Michael Latham
Sir Michael Anthony Latham was British Conservative Member of Parliament for Melton from February 1974 to 1983, and for Rutland and Melton from 1983 until he stood down in 1992....
, this decision was made by Sega of Japan, believing that one fighting game franchise was only needed in America.
Spin-offs
There are two video games which are spin-offs of the main Eternal Champions series, and are considered as being part of alternate universesMultiverse
The multiverse is the hypothetical set of multiple possible universes that together comprise all of reality.Multiverse may also refer to:-In fiction:* Multiverse , the fictional multiverse used by DC Comics...
to the main story of the core games, starring several popular Eternal Champions characters.
The first game is Chicago Syndicate
Chicago Syndicate
Chicago Syndicate is an arcade-oriented fighting video game that was released by Sega of America in North America for the Game Gear in 1996. It is a spin-off of Eternal Champions centering around former cat-burglar Larcen Tyler.-Plot:...
, which was released for the Sega Game Gear
Sega Game Gear
The was Sega's first handheld game console. It was the third commercially available color handheld console, after the Atari Lynx and the TurboExpress....
portable platform in 1995. The plot is based in an alternate reality
Parallel universe (fiction)
A parallel universe or alternative reality is a hypothetical self-contained separate reality coexisting with one's own. A specific group of parallel universes is called a "multiverse", although this term can also be used to describe the possible parallel universes that constitute reality...
where Larcen Tyler did not die in 1920 as stated in Eternal Champions, and now seeks revenge on the mafia
Mafia
The Mafia is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering...
for their attempt on his life. It is a 2D action/platform game
Platform game
A platform game is a video game characterized by requiring the player to jump to and from suspended platforms or over obstacles . It must be possible to control these jumps and to fall from platforms or miss jumps...
.
The second game, X-Perts
X-Perts
X-Perts is a side-scrolling fighting action video game produced by Sega of America and released only in North America for the Mega Drive/Genesis in...
, is a side-scrolling beat-em-up released in 1996 for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis. Like Chicago Syndicate
Chicago Syndicate
Chicago Syndicate is an arcade-oriented fighting video game that was released by Sega of America in North America for the Game Gear in 1996. It is a spin-off of Eternal Champions centering around former cat-burglar Larcen Tyler.-Plot:...
, its plot is based in an alternate reality, this time one where Shadow Yamoto did not die in 1993, and instead went on to form a team that sets out to take down the The Black Orchid Group in revenge for their attempt on Shadow's life.
Legacy
Though Eternal Champions saw strong sales and was at one point a popular enough property to warrant a sequel, a remake, two spin-offs, and various multimedia tie-ins, after the planned third game in the core fighting series was cancelled Sega has seemingly abandoned the franchise and hasn't produced any new work on it since the last Eternal Champions title, X-PertsX-Perts
X-Perts is a side-scrolling fighting action video game produced by Sega of America and released only in North America for the Mega Drive/Genesis in...
, was released in 1996. Inexplicably, the entire series has also been notably absent from the several compilations of Sega Genesis games that have been released on various platforms over the years, one of the only mainstream Sega properties released during that era with this distinction.