Eternal Champions - Challenge From The Dark Side
 

"As one of the greatest fighters in history the Dark Champion has challenged you to the most gruesome contest of all time.  13 champions and 11 hidden characters clash heads in this tournament from hell, featuring vicious Overkills and brutally graphic 3D Cinekills.  This is not a game for the faint-hearted!"
 
Game Information
Developer Sega Enterprises
Publisher Sega Enterprises
Copyright Date 1995
Players 1 - 2
Age Rating(s) BBFC 15
Save Type RAM
Cart Version Yes
 

 
 
Part Numbers
Game 4427-50
Front Cover 670-6572-50
Back Cover 670-6537-50
Manual 672-2433-50
Spine Card 670-6571-50
CD 1 670-6570-50
Bar Code 4 974365 644277
 

 
 

     
     
 
 
 
 
 
The spine card image for Eternal Champions  - Challenge From The Dark Side was  kindly supplied by Damian Maidment
 
Everyone knows that Night Trap featured FMV of young ladies in their night clothes and got a 15 certificate for its trouble.  This is a 2D sprite-based fighter and it carries the same rating - and not just because of the unfeasibly large breasts of every female combatant.  After a (very) long intro sequence 13 fighters from the cast of 24 are available to enter the tournament at 3 levels of difficulty.  Fights can be finished in a variety of gory and hard to activate ways - overkills and sudden deaths which make use of the environment, Mortal Kombat-style vendettas and rendered Cinekills which send the loser back to face their original fate.  Whilst these fatalities require your opponent to be stunned and on the verge of losing, they provide an extra edge to the game.  The sprites are large and well animated and this is the only 16-bit Sega game known to break the 64 colour barrier (though only on certain occasions).  The sound is generally very good, although some of the spot effects are a little rough. 6-button control is available and necessary thanks to the now standard three levels of punch and kick, and the encyclopaedia-sized manual lists most of the available moves to give you a running start.  Make no mistake about it though, this game is HARD.  I don't proclaim to be the greatest gamer on the earth but I can finish Street Fighter II at arcade level and hold my own in Mortal Kombat, yet this game trounces me every single time - be prepared to invest a lot of time and energy into mastering this one.  With so many extras and enhancements if you own the hardware bypass the cart version and grab this one instead - one of the few must-haves for the Mega-CD.

Although you can't directly save your game to the Mega-CD's RAM, once any of the 9 secret characters are unlocked a save file is created so you don't have to activate them again every time you play.