Star Gladiator - Episode 1: Final Crusade

About Star Gladiator - Episode 1: Final Crusade

Star Gladiator (1996) is Capcom's first in-house polygonal fighting game, a 3D weapons fighter of Plasma-powered duellists in the year 2348, which reportedly began life as a Star Wars game.

Star Gladiator - Episode 1: Final Crusade in Depth

Instead of Capcom's usual six buttons, it uses four: two weapon attacks, a kick and a guard. Fighters duel on a hovering arena, and being knocked off loses the round. Two Plasma Reverses can be used at any time: a Plasma Reflect deflects an incoming move and stuns the attacker, while a Plasma Revenge counters with a fast strike. A Plasma Strike, usable once per round, does huge damage if it lands. The Plasma Combo System lets certain strings of attacks combo even through a block, and finishing a five-hit string with the right button triggers a damaging Plasma Final, a system dropped in the sequel. Arcade mode runs ten fights, ending with the sub-boss Gore and the final boss Bilstein, and beating Bilstein quickly enough leads to the true final boss, Super Bilstein.

In 2348, Nobel Prize-winning physicist Edward Bilstein discovers "Plasma Power", the energy of the human mind, but is exiled for experimenting on human bodies. Escaping in a cyborg body, he leads a rebel "Fourth Empire", and the Earth Federation turns to fighters able to wield Plasma Power. They include the bounty hunter Hayato Kanzaki with his Plasma Sword, the gymnast June with a Plasma Ring, the yo-yo-wielding alien street performer Saturn, the ape-like lumberjack Gamof and June's father Rimgal, turned into a velociraptor by Bilstein.

Making Star Gladiator - Episode 1: Final Crusade

Capcom released Star Gladiator in arcades in July 1996, and Game Machine listed it as Japan's sixteenth most successful arcade game in its 1 September 1996 issue. Next Generation called it "a quirky, stylish game that is more subtle than obvious, with innovative gameplay and likeable character design", praising its three-dimensional movement and simple controls, and GamePro deemed it a satisfying first step into 3D for Capcom.

A PlayStation port, built on the same ZN-1 hardware, followed in October 1996 and averaged 82% on GameRankings. Critics praised its characters, variety of techniques and 3D backgrounds, though many found the single-player mode too easy; GamePro said its "visual appeal and outstanding control will put other 3D games on their backs", while IGN felt it was not as deep as Tekken 2. Its success led to a sequel, Plasma Sword: Nightmare of Bilstein, in 1998.