Sega hit the jackpot with their recent Sonic the Hedgehog movies, but the venerable old video game company has loads of games and characters ready-made for the big screen. And that makes it frustrating to report that one of their worst games, 1993’s bland fighting game Eternal Champions, is getting a movie from Skydance and screenwriter Derek Connolly.
THR reports that a movie based on the Sega Genesis video game Eternal Champions is in the works. Connolly, who wrote Kong: Skull Island, Jurassic World, and the little-seen but awesome Safety Not Guaranteed, is on the screenplay.
Released in 1993, Eternal Champions was meant to be Sega’s answer to the popularity of fighting games at the time, particularly Street Fighter II and Mortal Kombat. Suffice it to say, it was not a big hit and has been forgotten by nearly everyone except fighting game community geeks like me.
Sega’s hope with Eternal Champions was to emphasize story, but what they failed to realize is that gamers care about story only if the game is actually good. Which this wasn’t. Here’s how THR describes the concept:
In order to change the dire fate of Earth, a being known as the Eternal Champion marshals the souls of key humans from across history, people who were destined for greatness but died before fulfilling their promise. The individuals are thrown into a contest of champions, with the winner regaining their life and becoming the hero Earth needs in order to restore balance, while the others return to moments before their death.
I still have nightmares of the clunky controls. You had to buy a six-button controller because the standard Genesis one only had three buttons and trust me it was incredibly unplayable with three buttons. Or you could be one of the “lucky” few who had a Sega Activator, which was a flat device that you stood in and it translated your punches and kicks to the screen. That technology is imperfect NOW so you can imagine how bad it was in 1993.
Characters were all plucked from different points in time, which is a good idea on paper. Again, it doesn’t matter if the game sucks. The 9-character roster consisted of:
Blade – Jonathan Blade is a Syrian bounty hunter from 2030 A.D. He was hired by the government to help track down a terrorist that had stolen a lethal virus. Blade was about to apprehend the terrorist when special forces agents opened fire on both of them, accidentally causing the terrorist to drop the vial and release the virus.
Jetta – Jetta Maxx is a member of Russian aristocracy from 1899 A.D. She was working undercover as a circus acrobat at the time of her death. A boxer revolutionary tampered with her tightrope equipment ahead of a major show in China. She fell to her death in front of the live crowd. When her true identity was revealed, it heightened tensions between both nations.
Larcen – Larcen Tyler is a former cat-burglar from 1920s Chicago. He used to do jobs for a local crime boss. He was hired to plant evidence in the hospital room of a rival mafia leader. It was only when he got to the location that he discovered that his real target was the Chief of Police, and the “evidence” was actually a bomb. Larcen was killed in the explosion that destroyed most of the hospital.
Midknight – Midknight is a vampire-like mutant hiding in Vietnam. In his former life, he was the noted British biochemist Mitchell Middleton Knight. He was hired by U.S. forces to spike water supplies during the Vietnam War in 1967. He became exposed to the chemical, and was mutated like every other victim. He was killed by a vampire hunter hired by the government before he could create a cure.
R.A.X. – R.A.X. Coswell is an American cyber-kickboxer from 2345 A.D. His trainer programmed a virus into his R.A.X. exoskeleton software to ensure he lost an important match. Coswell died during the match as a result.
Shadow – Shadow Yamato is a ninja assassin from modern-day (1993 A.D) Japan. She was thrown off the top of her employer’s skyscraper before she could publicly expose the murderous actions of her syndicate.
Slash – Slash is a prehistoric hunter from 50,000 B.C. He was sentenced to death by the elders of his tribe who feared that Slash would use his high intelligence to usurp them.
Trident – An artificial being created by the Atlanteans from 110 B.C. He was killed by a rival before he could compete in the final match of a gladiator tournament. As a consequence, the Roman Empire banished his race to the sea where they were eventually wiped out.
Xavier – Xavier Pendragon was an alchemy student from 1692 A.D. He was executed under a false charge of witchcraft during the Salem Witch Trials.
It’s entirely possible Eternal Champions could be a better movie than it was a game. Shouldn’t be too hard. There are so many great fighting games that could be movies, such as Tekken, SoulCalibur, Guilty Gear, and Rival Schools (I’ll never stop wishing). Why this one???