The fighting genre was one of the most popular of the early 1990's, so it should come as no surprise that Sega developed their own take. Eternal Champions showed a lot of promise, and still holds some rabid fans to this day, but ultimately, its' flawed gameplay made it to be left by the wayside of its' big brothers such as Mortal Kombat.

Eternal Champions does throw some interesting characters at the player to use. Everything from a caveman to a '30's private eye are in the mix, which sets this game apart from the usual ninja variants fighting games have available. Graphically, this is one of the better Genesis games from this period, with large sprites and very detailed backgrounds. There's even fatalities thrown into the mix.

However, the way Eternal Champions plays will deter many players. It's a bit slow (even on the "overdrive" mode) compared to other fighting games of the time, and the special moves require such precise movement that they become almost useless.

If you've grown tired of Street Fighter II, you might want to give this a try, but most other people will be better off waiting for the (hopefully) eventual release of the superior Sega CD sequel.