Premise:  The Eternal Champion is striving to restore the balance between good and evil in our universe.  In order to do so, he must choose only one deceased warrior of great skill and talent whom he will revive and bestow with great powers to regain that balance.  Should the warrior prove successful, then a second chance at life will be given.  "Only one may live so that balance may again be achieved.  Let the contest begin!"  There is just one problem, though  The Dark Champion knows of the Eternal Champion's plan and has perverted the contest's honor, hiding away four of the fighters necessary to finish the tournament that will decide which warrior is worthy to be revived.  It is up to you to complete the Eternal Champion's goal and defeat the Dark Champion's desire once and for all.

Comments:  This is the bloodiest game we've ever seen!  Great animation, a very hip soundtrack, and awesome gameplay make this one a winner in every way! (Game Players)

Rating:  9

Variants:  This is an improved version of the Genesis original, adding more characters, more fatalities and a revamped graphics engine that made the game look better than almost any other Sega CD title.  It is the only title in the Sega CD library capable of generating 256 colors on-screen at the same time on the system's otherwise limited hardware.  A Saturn sequel was planned but never carried through.

Sidebars:  This was one of Sega CD's last major hits, and was one of the most popular fighting games of 1995.  Its popularity in America surpassed that of even the Capcom Street Fighter 2 series and Sega's own Virtua Fighter.  Sega of America was already planning on a Saturn sequel when the project was killed by Sega corporate at the instigation of Sega of Japan.  They told their Stateside counterparts in no uncertain terms that Eternal Champions was not as good as Virtua Fighter and would not be allowed to compete for the attention (and cash) of Sega gamers.  In retrospect, given the overall poor reception of Virtua Fighter Stateside and the subsequent abuse Sega of Japan gave the ports for the rest of the franchise, perhaps Sega of America was right all along.