Eternal Champions, UNDERRATED?

[Olls]

It wasnt cut out for that style of game which is why I dont bother with fighters from the 16 bit gen and previous gen. Fighters came into their own on consoles in the 32 bit era and anything previous to that just doesnt hold up.

I keep hearing about this game, called Street Fighter II...

[OverDrone]

I keep hearing about this game, called Street Fighter II...

Yes, which is all well and good, but doesn't hold the weight that it did back in the day as those games have been superseded by newer, better iterations within the franchise

I was an arcade player BITD and I remember selling all my MD stuff to fund an AES just to play Fatal Fury 2 and Art of Fighting (forgive me), but it wasn't long before I realised that a) I could never afford to support it beyond a few games, and b) during my sabbatical Streets of Rage 2 and Landstalker launched and I needed to get my MD back. Fast forward to today, and I've got NTSCJ versions of both machines.

SF2 was the only fighter worth bothering with seriously on the Genesis, along with Samurai Shodown, which was a surprisingly good port.

Good thing the Genesis destroys the Neo in every other genre though right?

[Olls]

Good points, nothing to add.
I was aiming at the last part of his comment though, about pre-32-bit fighters not holding up. If there is one fighting game that has held up better than any other (especially more so than the hordes of terrible 3D fighters in the 32-bit era), it is Street Fighter II. In fact, wasn't there an HD release on xbox 360 a few years back?

[OverDrone]

Yes, and it was balls.

And I'd just like to add Yu Yu Hakusho is also worth playing, although it's not an arcade port. Haven't checked it out yet, but Dragon Ball Z looks OK too.

[DarkDragon]

Good points, nothing to add.
I was aiming at the last part of his comment though, about pre-32-bit fighters not holding up. If there is one fighting game that has held up better than any other (especially more so than the hordes of terrible 3D fighters in the 32-bit era), it is Street Fighter II. In fact, wasn't there an HD release on xbox 360 a few years back?

Its all about preference and yes I would rather play some of those 3D 32 bit fighters than watered down SNES and Genesis ports of SF II.

[j_factor]

I'd rather play SF II on Saturn or Playstation or Dreamcast.

The SNES and Genesis ports were good for their time, but they're only good as a curiosity today.

[Olls]

Its all about preference and yes I would rather play some of those 3D 32 bit fighters than watered down SNES and Genesis ports of SF II.

Preference maybe, but fact is that Street Fighter II is the most popular and influential fighting game of all time. No matter the iteration.
Sure, the Mega Drive version hasn't held up, but it's still pretty much the same game on any console.

[sheath]

Preference maybe, but fact is that Street Fighter II is the most popular and influential fighting game of all time. No matter the iteration.
Sure, the Mega Drive version hasn't held up, but it's still pretty much the same game on any console.

Gameplay wise the Genesis game has held up better than the SNES, or any subsequent Nintendo handheld or console ports I'd say. Controllers do matter.

[Bones Justice]

Although my all-time favorite fighters are on Saturn, I still like and play Genesis fighters, mainly because I can take them with me. They can't be that bad, either, because everybody queues up to play. Street Fighter 2 and Mortal Kombat II seem to be the favorites but others like Eternal Champions and Weaponlord get plenty of play, too.

I do prefer Eternal Champions CD but rarely get to play it in versus mode.

[Christuserloeser]

The SNES and Genesis ports were good for their time, but they're only good as a curiosity today.

Still playing SSF2 MD. Pretty solid port.

[Obviously]

Yes, and it was balls.

And I'd just like to add Yu Yu Hakusho is also worth playing, although it's not an arcade port. Haven't checked it out yet, but Dragon Ball Z looks OK too.

Yu Yu Hakusho is indeed great, the Bleach games on the Nintendo DS that play similarly are worth trying too. That's coming from someone who doesn't like either series the games are based on.

The MD Dragon Ball Z is pretty "meh" in all honesty. It's been a long time since I've played it but I remember drab graphics, terrible sound effects and passable gameplay.

[True Grave]

Sorry fellas but, as a long time fan of 2D fighters since way back in the day when SFII debuted in the arcades....i NEVER liked Eternal Champions.

The weird music, graphical style was dark and gritty looking in a bad way(Read: Dirty), characters themselves were oddball and generic looking, and not memorable in the least, game play felt kinda crappy, presentation was lacking, etc.

Its just not my cup o'tea.

[NeoVamp]

characters themselves were oddball and generic looking, and not memorable in the least

Compared to?

When a Cyborg/Vampire/Warlock/Cave Man/Sexy Ninja/etc are considered generic I'd like to know what you do find amazing.

[True Grave]

Compared to?

When a Cyborg/Vampire/Warlock/Cave Man/Sexy Ninja/etc are considered generic I'd like to know what you do find amazing.

While those aren't bad concepts, their execution was quite lackluster. All the characters are pretty ugly and generic looking. Which goes double with the overall "dirty" art style of the title. Don't get me wrong i could see what they were aiming for such as, that comic book vibe, but it was just too rough around the edges. Like an early rough draft in an essay or something.

On top of that the overall graphical quality just looked dirty and mediocre. As if developers got a little too ambitious, but then found they didn't have anywhere near enough space on the cart for their original vision, and had to chop things down a lot(not that i would have cared otherwise, as i hate the game's style).

Then the music, it just makes my ears feel dirty. I feel weird because i admit the intro music is catchy(even then it falls flat at certain parts), but at the same time i hated it which is fitting with the overall strangeness of this title. The music, like the rest of the game, just feels too "rough", dirty and not memorable. Kinda depressing in some areas too, does not exactly prime me for 2D fighting action(like what plays on the character bio screen....seriously....WTF?).

Then the gameplay, omg....feels so choppy and really lacks that "engaging" feel of better 2D fighters of the time.

Overall, sorry if you have a soft spot of the game, but i cannot share that sentiment for this outlandish game. It felt like Sega got the idea to break into the 2D fighter market, some developers pitched ideas and they went with the first semi-decent one they heard. When in my opinion, it should have been left on the cutting room floor. I don't know the backstory behind it, but i highly doubt any memorable Sega names/developers were behind this one either.


Edit: Also i got the feeling this game's overall style was trying too hard to offer something different and "mature" from the established gems of the era. No sir. While you don't want to make a rip-off, it still might be a good idea to take a few cues from those currently successful. Chances are their formula worked for a reason.