Eternal Champions

1993 · Fighting · Genesis

About Eternal Champions

Eternal Champions (1993) is Sega's own answer to Street Fighter II and Mortal Kombat on the Genesis, a story-driven fighter of nine souls plucked from history moments before their deaths, with stage-specific "Overkill" finishers.

Eternal Champions in Depth

Like Street Fighter II, it uses three punch and three kick buttons; players with the three-button Genesis pad press Start to switch between punches and kicks, and it also supports the Sega Activator motion ring. Each character's special moves, performed by pressing buttons together or charging, can reflect projectiles, scramble the opponent's controls or apply status effects, and they drain an "inner strength" meter that slowly recharges and can be depleted by taunts. Knocking a defeated opponent onto the right spot of a stage triggers an Overkill, in which part of the background kills them. Modes include an arcade ladder, practice, a Battle Room with extra hazards, and a training mode of mini-games.

The Eternal Champion foresees that mankind will fade because of the unjust deaths of key people throughout history, but has power to restore only one, so holds a tournament among them. The nine fighters include Larcen Tyler, a 1920s Chicago cat burglar killed in a hospital bombing; Jetta Maxx, a Russian aristocrat murdered on a tightrope in 1899; the ninja Shadow Yamato, thrown from a skyscraper in 1993; the cyber-kickboxer R.A.X. Coswell from 2345; and Xavier Pendragon, executed in the Salem witch trials. Winning reveals how the champion escaped death and changed their era.

Making Eternal Champions

Sega made the game after the success of Street Fighter II and Mortal Kombat, trying to stand apart with a stronger story, its own mechanics and elaborate finishing moves. It was released in North America in December 1993, with Europe and Japan following in early 1994. Reviews were mixed, averaging 62.5% on GameRankings: Mean Machines Sega gave it 97% and called it "at least as good" as Street Fighter II, while two of EGM's four reviewers found it a major disappointment with mediocre graphics and dull characters. It was the UK's best-selling Mega Drive game in February 1994 and sold over 1.6 million copies. The Sega CD's Eternal Champions: Challenge from the Dark Side followed in 1995, along with spin-offs Chicago Syndicate and X-Perts. Sega and Skydance announced a film adaptation in 2024.

Eternal Champions Trivia

Comic artist Ernie Chan drew much of the character design and art, credited only under "special thanks".
A player using the Sega Activator took 50% less damage and dealt 50% more than one using a pad.
It was promoted with a Sega Eternal Champions Cherry Slurpee at 7-Eleven.
IGN ranked its Overkills the best gore effects in video game history in 2006.
A Saturn sequel was cancelled because Sega of Japan felt Eternal Champions was holding back Virtua Fighter in the US.