Martial Champion-PC Engine Review

A PC Engine port of an obscure Konami arcade fighter, this 1993 release is widely regarded as a fair weak port of the arcade original. Let's take a look and find out if there is any reason to play this game.

Released in the wake of Street Fighter II, it seems like every game company responded to the success of SFII with their own fighter. Konami was fairly late to the game, but responded with Martial Champion for the arcades.

The picture above shows the arcade original. the arcade game ran on Konami's famous "Mystic Warriors" arcade hardware. Huge sprites were characteristic of many arcade games at the time, and the arcade Martial Champion was no exception. Sadly, the PC Engine version really suffers on the graphical front.

The picture above shows the PCE port. Characters are massively downsized for this version, and the graphics are sub-par compared to other Super CD releases on the PC Engine. It is hard to believe that Konami released "Rondo of Blood" the same year, as that game is a graphical powerhouse and a great example of what the PCE could achieve even in the twilight of its life.

Like the majority of other 1990s fighting games, Martial Champion assembles a group of "stereotypes" for each country represented. For example, there is a Saudi Arabian "Arabian Knight" with a Prince of Persia type sword and ceremonial garb. There is a Japanese Kabuki fighter (very similar to Kyoshiro from Samurai Spirits/Shodown). The other 9 characters feel just as uninspired, and Martial Champion fails to stand out from the crowd in terms of characters.

The gameplay in Martial Champion is fairly bland. Some fighters have swords and weapons, and many do not. This does allow for some diversity in terms of gameplay, like a mix of Street Fighter and Samurai Shodown (before it was released I might add). The lack of animation for the sprites make the special moves look pretty bad. The fighting system feels clunky and unfinished, and the game is hardly a joy to play. Each character only has a very limited set of moves, but remember this game was made a time when 2-3 moves per character were standard.

Martial Champion allows for a few different modes of play. Tournament mode involves the player fighting his/her way up to the final boss by defeating other computer-controlled characters. If you are lucky enough to have a multi-tap, "vs battle" allows the player to face off against another human-controlled player. The only interesting mode is "group match". You can select different characters to take control of, rather than just picking on character.

One advantage of the game is the stellar music. "Redbook" audio sounds great, and its a shame that such great tracks accompany such mediocre gameplay.

Martial Champion is a game only for 1990s fighting game enthusiasts (I am one of them, I'll play them so you don't have to). Bland gameplay and characters make for an experience that is forgettable.  You would be much better off using MAME to emulate the much-better arcade original than tracking down this one. At 50-70$, the game is also very expensive. Perhaps this is due to the rabid Konami fan-base buying every Konami game ever made. In any case, skip this one.

+Great sounding Redbook audio tracks
+Group match mode is unique

-Poor graphics and sprites
-Bland characters and gameplay
-Expensive to import a copy

Rating-6/10

Castlevania/Dracula X-Rondo of Blood-Review

Few games are as legendary as this one. Released just before Halloween in 1993, Rondo of Blood is considered by many to be second only to 1997's "Symphony of the Night" in terms of critical acclaim. However, far fewer have played this gem as it has only officially been released on the PC Engine Super CD, in addition to the Wii Virtual Console. This review will cover the original Japanese 1993 PC Engine CD release.

A long "anime" introduction sets up the story. Once again, a Belmont(Richter) must face off against the evil Dracula. The introduction looks and sounds great. A few more of these cut-scences appear throughout the game and add a lot to the story. However, they are in Japanese. The Wii version does translate the text into English.

On to the gameplay. The game plays and looks like a dream. For a PC Engine game, the sprites are highly detailed and some of the bosses/monsters have huge sprites. The backgrounds are great-looking, and in the first stage you visit the familiar first town from Castlevania II. Deep purples and dark colours fill the sprite palettes, and the game have a wonder ambience of macabre to it.

Like Castlevania 3, Rondo of Blood has branching paths. In this alternate path, you can take control of "Maria". More nimble and agile, Maria plays quite different from Richter, who is more lumbering. Familiar weapons such as the Holy Water and Cross make their return. Many have complained that about Richter's inability to whip multi-directionally, like in Super Castlevania IV. While this is a minor issue, besides CIV, none of the earlier games allowed for this feature either.

Despite the two distinct paths and the ability to play as Maria, Rondo will certainly feel short compared to more modern Vania games. Each play through should take a couple of hours (depending on how many times you die). While this may seem short, each moment is an enjoyable one. Remember, this is before "Metroid-vania" entered our lexicons. Rondo of Blood is a masterpiece, and it deserves to be played by anyone with even a casual interest in the series.

+One of the greatest looking games of its time.
+Plays wonderfully with classic Castlevania gameplay
+Multiple paths and characters


-Somewhat short
-Very expensive to buy a real copy (200+)
-Cutscenes are in Japanese

Rating: 9.5/10