Format: Sega CD
Genre: 2d Fighter
Developer: Sega
Publisher: Sega

The massive character sprites from the first game are back, but cleaned up and even better animated than before. Some of the new character designs, like the the voodoo priestess "Raven" and the pharaoh "Ramses III" are extremely memorable. The backgrounds lose the dithered look of the original title, and many-- like the rocking, splashing galleon and Ancient Egyptian stages put the backgrounds from "Street Fighter II" to shame. The slew of new fatality-esque animations are even more brutal than those in the first game, and they are a joy to watch.

This Eternal Champions sequel makes the shift to Red Book music throughout. When listening to the songs in isolation, apart from the game, they are very impressive: the honking horns and traffic noises of "Shadow's" theme, or the almost "Star Control II"-like jungle theme are neat, as are the host of "Unreal Tournament" or "One Must Fall: 2097"-like techno songs. But for whatever reason during play, they just don't make much of an impression, and it's tough to feret out why. This sequel also still lacks sufficient voice samples: there is no excuse given the Sega CD's added RAM and disc storage.

This sequel takes a quantum leap over its predecessor in supporting a full-fledged combo system, cool "combo moves", special moves which don't eat up the yin-yang gauge, and combat which in general feels significantly more fluid, dynamic, and emergent. Excellent! Like the first game, there are tons of modes on offer, including maybe a dozen different tournament modes-- single or double elimination, survival, and so forth-- complimenting the usual arcade mode: this time with difficulty levels! But what's with two "final" bosses, with twenty forms between them?

This second Eternal Champions game-- call it "2", or "Eternal Champions CD", or whatever-- is such a monumental improvement that it's nearly impossible to go back to the first game: the vastly improved combat, fantastic new characters, and overall fun factor make this maybe the best "B-tier" 2d fighter ever. On the downside? The full-motion video sequences, including the absurdly long intro, are more annoying than nifty-- and it's easy to wax nostalgic for the twangy "GEMS" soundtrack of the original game. There are also something like a dozen unlockable characters, but beats this reviewer on how to get them!