A Closer Look At 5 Retro Consoles

NewRetroWave — Thu, 22 Aug 2019 18:11:01 +0000

Modern day gaming is simply breath taking. Firstly, today, the term gaming now encompasses everything from Chess and Tetris to online games at mFortune casino and poker tournaments. Furthermore, from both a visual and gameplay standpoint, nobody could have predicted just how quickly gaming, be it on console, PC, or even mobile, would evolve. And the great news is, it’s continuing to improve further. However, while fresh and new is good, retro gaming has become very popular of late, with gamers looking to enjoy a dose of nostalgia, and there are several epic retro consoles you can buy.

Super NES Classic

The Super NES Classic edition takes gamers back to the 1990’s, when console gaming was very much in its heyday, and it does it all in a much smaller version of the original. The Super NES Classic will allow gamers to enjoy a huge dose of 16-bit nostalgia, with the console sporting rewind, my game play demo and frame features. Players will be able to enjoy classic titles such as Super Mario World, The Legend of Zelda: A Link To The Past and Donkey Kong Country.

PlayStation Classic

You could say that the original PlayStation changed the gaming world forever, so who wouldn’t want to head back and relive the good old days? The PlayStation Classic is everything the 1994 original was, but 45% smaller, and players can of course link the console to their TV via a HDMI cable. Epic titles such as TEKKEN 3 and Final Fantasy VII feature as two of the titles available to play.

Sega Mega Drive Classic

Sega were very much key players in the gaming industry back in the day, with their consoles always well received by players. One of the finest creations was of course the Sega Mega Drive, so the Sega Mega Drive Classic has fast become one of the most sought-after retro pieces. Players can enjoy iconic game series’ such as Sonic and Mortal Kombat, all on the one console. Stereo sound and multiplayer are both available, to take this retro gaming experience to the next level.

Atari ‘Retro’ Handheld

The Atari provided the first gaming experience for many people, so a retro version of the console which sports the immortalised wood effect and TV output has been very well received by gamers around the world. Based on the Atari 2600, players will be able to get stuck into 50 built-in games and can either enjoy them on the console’s 2.4” screen, or their TV. This is a console which provides a true retro experience.

Sega Genesis Mini

We said Sega were kings of games consoles back on the day, and therefore it should come as no surprise to see them with another entry on our list. This time it’s the Sega Genesis Mini, which is a miniature version of the very successful and hugely popular Sega Genesis. Out in September of this year, gamers are already eagerly anticipating its release, with the console featuring 40 iconic games, which come preloaded. Ecco The Dolphin, Sonic the Hedgehog and Castlevania Bloodlines all come included, with players able to link the console up to their TV via HDMI.

Eternal Champions (Sega, 1993)

bryan.eddy@newretrowave.com — Tue, 16 Feb 2016 22:00:43 +0000

The early and mid 1990s saw a lot of fighting games. In fact, let me rephrase that: the early and mid 1990s saw an overwhelming, almighty heap of fighting games. A majority of these games were direct-to-console releases, and most of them were clumsy clones of the era’s two big titles: Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter II. Roughly a third of them were good enough to be playable, and very few of them stood out. Eternal Champions was one that drew attention for being very fun, if not a bit weird.

Eternal Champions was released by Sega in 1993, and was exclusive to their console, the Genesis/Mega Drive. I owned a Genesis for many years before I had any prolonged exposure to the SNES, so I ended up playing a lot of the console’s exclusive titles. I also had a taste for fighting games, namely the SFII and MK ports, so I had my six-button controller already. And believe me, this game was a pain in the ass without one. If you used the regular 3 button controller, you had to use Start to switch between punches and kicks. The game was originally developed to work with the ill fated Activator, a sort of floor pad you’d stand on and move your body to execute different moves. I have never played with an Activator, and I’ve only ever seen one of them in person (in the collection of someone with way too much money). By all accounts, it was highly inaccurate, and it also cost quite a bit for something so dicey. Thankfully, Eternal Champions played just fine with a handheld controller… if you had the six-button deal.

Now you’re playing with pow… oh, sorry, that’s another company’s tag line.

While the game’s plot is barely more complex than usual for fighting titles, it’s a bit more creative than usual. Gifted fighters from different eras – past, present, and future – have been brought back to life for a tournament in a sort of time vacuum by an entity known as the Eternal Champion. Each fighter died just before achieving a goal or making a choice that would have altered the course of human destiny. The prize: a chance to go back and try again. Each character is from a different time and place (some fictional), and is a master of a different style of fighting. Characters range from cyborg kickboxers and Atlantean Capoeria fighters to ninja assassins and Depression-era gangsters who inexplicably know mantis kung-fu. There is even a wizard character, Xavier, who melds hapkido cane-fighting with powerful magic. One of my personal favorites is Midknight, a genetic vampire from the Vietnam War era who uses Bruce Lee’s style, Jeet Kune Do.

Top Row: Jetta, the Russian acrobat; Larcen, the kung fu Chicago gangster; RAX the cyborg muay-thai champ; Midknight, the vampire who mastered JKD during the Vietnam Era; Slash, a caveman who practiced a style known only as Pain; Trident, the Atlantean who coupled his hand-fork with Capoeria; Blade, the Kenpo-using bounty hunter from the future. Bottom: Shadow, the ninja assassin from the 1990s; Xavier, the 17th Century warlock who also got around enough to learn some hapkido. Quite a roster. A lot of diversity.

some sprite rips from spriters-resource.com

The fighters face off in a variety of different staged locales, each reminiscent of a character’s native time/place. Each fighter has a unique array of normal punches and kicks, and a handful of special moves. These moves usually involve pressing two buttons at once or “charging” backward or down like Guile’s specials in SFII. A power meter, resembling a yin/yang symbol, depleted when specials were used and was meant to keep players from spamming their special moves. During casual play, this could be turned off, allowing infinite use of these moves by either player. Here’s the thing: whether it was intentional or not, the CPU fighters during the regular single player mode could keep using specials even after their meters had depleted. The game had fatalities of a sort, as well; if you defeated your foe so that they landed in just the right spot, depending on the stage you were in, they’d die a special death. Observe the video below:

The game also had a plethora of customizable options for 2 player combat. There was even a setting that allowed you to enter a customized “danger room” sort of area to fight in, with a hand-chosen set of built-in hazards to avoid while simultaneously pummeling your opponent.

Eternal Champions received mixed reviews, obviously being more popular among Genesis purists than among generalist gamers. Its graphics were very good, and all the characters are depicted in great detail. As with most Sega Genesis titles, the soundtrack is incredible, with a lot of emotion and a rich instrumentation that adds plenty of character to the game.

A sequel for the Sega CD was made shortly afterward, with a couple extra characters and slightly better graphics. A third entry was planned for the Saturn console, but it was canceled so as not to compete too heavily with Sega’s more commercially successful Virtua Fighter, which was also planned for release on the Saturn. Two spin-offs were released as well; Chicago Syndicate for the Game Gear (starring the kung fu gangster character Larcen) and X-Perts for the Genesis (starring the ninja assassin Shadow).

The Champ Himself.

I give Eternal Champions an 8/10. It’s an excellent entry into its genre, incredibly colorful, and it came during an otherwise cluttered time in 90s gaming history. It’s easy to overlook, but if you’re able, I encourage you to give it a spin.

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A Closer Look At 5 Retro Consoles

Eternal Champions (Sega, 1993)