Fighting
Masters by Treco is yet another mano-a-mano fighting game for the Sega
Genesis which follows right on the heels of Slaughtersport and Beast
Wrestler. The premise of this cart is that the gamer plays as one of
12 life forms, humanoid or alien, fighting for the survival of its race as
the red sun in this solar system is ready to go nova.
All combatants have their own signature move. For example, Mastodon, a mutant elephant, charges at opponents while gouging them with his tusks, hurling them into the air. Goldrock, a being of pure gold and rock (surprise) rolls over his opponents. After defeating an opponent the screen starbursts into a bright yellow and you move onto your next challenger. This continues until you are deemed by the "Primaries" to be the most worthy race to survive the oncoming cataclysm.
The cart has two modes. The first is a one player tournament in which you fight for the survival of your race. The second mode is a two player grudge match where you and another gamer go head-to-head as the creature of your choice in a 2 out of 3 falls, winner take all battle.
Sounds pretty interesting, right? Well, that's the problem - this cart sounds more interesting than it actually is. Fighting Masters is plagued by two things: the first being the awkward controls. It seems like most of the game you are playing blind because the game moves so quickly you have no time to really set up a series of moves. You don't even use the "A" button. Instead, a B/direction and C/direction combinations are used. Second, the game is very repetitive. It seems that this galactic power struggle takes place in just three areas: a city, an arena, and a lush tropical forest.
Fighting Masters will keep your interest for awhile but I think most gamers will get bored with it pretty quickly. This seems to be a new trend with Genesis carts and quite frankly it worries me. Even though it is better than Slaughtersport and Beast Wrestler, I can only think of one word to describe it - average.
