Keep in mind, growing up I did own all four Mortal Kombat games on Sega Genesis. At one point I did own Killer Instinct on SNES. But I owned Eternal Champions for several years. A couple years ago through Sega Genesis Classics on Steam, I got to own it again. I always remembered when starting the game up on the console.
At random, each character does something different to the Sega label. I still haven't seen many games that does this truthfully. I am not trying to piss off MK fans. Eternal Champions has a better written stories for the characters. The actual plot is the world has become dead.
The Eternal Champion uses most of his power to revive a group of people through out time. In order to maintain the balance that was broken a long time ago. Essentially, each character would've done some truly great things if they didn't get killed. He hosted a contest between them to determine who gets to fix their mistake.
Honestly, for a MK rip off game the roster is actually pretty solid. Just like Killer Instinct series in it's own right. Slash is the oldest with R.A.X. ends up being the youngest. Yeah that's a major time line to follow. The animations in this game are fantastic. The audio overall is some of the finest for an fighting game on the console.
Eternal Champions does have some interesting level designs. There is stage finishers called Overkills that can be confusing to pull off right. This game also works with Sega Activator. Personally I never owned one of those but just going by The Angry Video Game Nerd episode I'll pass. This game does often get compared to Killer Instinct on SNES.
I will be honest to say as surprising this might be to people. I actually do prefer Killer Instinct over this. There are a few problems that make playing this game difficult. For starters, the AI of your opponents is a little too high. Also it is critical when you lose. Like losing to the next opponent, you go right back to your previous opponent instead.
Sometimes, it sends you back two opponents. Oh wait I haven't got to the worst difficulty spike in single player yet. Every character has an intro & an ending all written in long texts. To be fair, if you actually take the time to read it. You will be amazed how beautifully written it all actually is. Also there is a bad ending if you lose twice to The Eternal Champion himself.
You only get two chances at defeating the final boss. He goes through five different phrases. Yes you have to win a long, repetitive match that comes more intense than an endurance match in UMK3/MKT. I felt most of the characters do come off like actual MK characters in different ways. Eternal Champions is a true fighting game classic.
It is an epic in a time line that involves time travel with their lives on the line. At the end taking on a very old being whose likely got centuries worth of experience under his belt. Why does that sound so familiar lol. This is the closest Sega ever came to Mortal Kombat series. Unlike most rip offs, this one is a great game.
I should point out, there is a mode you can set up hazards. The limit is low but some of the options sorta blends together. It's difficult to explain unless you took the time to fully explore all of it's options. I do like the level of gore in this game. I will be honest, most of it's fans prefers the sequel on Sega CD.
Sadly, Sega attempted to making a trilogy of fighting games. Due to financial problems, Sega had to decide between this & Virtua Fighter since keeping both franchises was costing too much money. Ultimately they chosen Virtua Fighter. Respectively, I felt they made the right choice. Virtua Fighter was a bigger franchise with a bigger fan base.
The games were easier to make despite being done in 3D. I felt Sega could cover all grounds better in the long run then if they were to chosen Eternal Champions instead. Honestly, I wonder what Mr. Boon would say about Eternal Champions. I do know he has stated to like Killer Instinct in the past. So I do think it is a shot.
Eternal Champions plays on all aspects but at the same time turns it into it's own thing. Sega did go the distance with this game. Sure it may lack finishing moves but most of them are done just right. I am aware time travel was done differently in MK series. But I can't ignore in both franchises, most playable characters were chosen.
If you think about it, The Eternal Champion would be it's answer to Raiden aka God of Thunder. They sorta look a bit similar. Clearly, their actions were for the better good. They knew some bad things had to happen because of it. I should mention, some of the characters do have weapons. Can you believe this was one of the first MK rip off games in existence?
I felt Sega had something truly amazing here. The story alone is enough reason to check this game out. Yes I know most fighting games of that era had bio screens with a few story screens. There is an option to directly reading the stories for each character. Personally due to it's difficulty, I do prefer on emulators or PC version of Sega Genesis Classics.
At least there you can use the Chilled Edition hack to making the game much easier. Yes I know it breaks the challenge. But honestly, I wanted to beat this game for a long time. I originally beaten it with save states. Most later runs I done was with that hack. Eternal Champions is a great substitute if you can't find any of the Mortal Kombat games on the console.
The controls do take time getting use to even using a six button controller. This game truly stands out from most MK rip offs. Sure, there isn't a multiverse concept. But everything else within the label of an MK rip off is heavily presented here. This was Sega's way of showing it's respects to the Mortal Kombat team.
I can't judge the rest of this series since I don't own them neither have I got to play em. I do know two of them are terrible games. X-Perts is also on Sega Genesis. I will say some of my favorite Sega fight songs are from this game. In all honesty, Eternal Champions should get the right to possibly return. It clearly isn't finished, it would be very nice of Sega to properly end the franchise.
Eternal Champions is included within a few Sega compilations. Like my portable Genesis player has Eternal Champions. The same one also has by pure coincidence Mortal Kombat 1-3. I know pretty mind blowing right lol. Eternal Champions is an attempt at the concept the MK team started I can respect.
They didn't just make a shitty fighting game with a few similarities. Hell no, we actually got something decent. Something truly unique among all the rip off MK impostors out there. We got a game that truly deserves more respect than it actually gets. Eternal Champions is among the finest MK rip off games you will find, this comes with a high recommendation from yours truly.
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