Fighters Megamix
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| Developer(s) | Sega-AM2 |
| Publisher(s) | Sega |
| Release date(s) | 1997 |
| Genre(s) | Versus fighting game |
| Mode(s) | 1 to 2 players |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: Teen (T) ELSPA: 15+ |
| Platform(s) | Sega Saturn |
| Media | 1 CD-ROM |
Fighters Megamix is a 1997 fighting game developed by AM2 and published by Sega exclusively for the Sega Saturn. It combines several characters from various Sega games, from the complete cast of Virtua Fighter 2 and Fighting Vipers to Janet from Virtua Cop 2 and the Hornet car from Daytona USA, while allowing to play the bosses of both games without codes. It was one of the most critically acclaimed games of the 32-bit era.
Highly advertised, it followed Virtua Fighter 2 as a high-profile 3D fighting game for the Sega Saturn. Intended as an introduction to Virtua Fighter 3 (which was never released on the Saturn), Fighters Megamix introduced the concept originally used by King of Fighters, mixing characters and styles from different games - not only the open ended rings from VF are present (but now, with no ring-out), but also the close cages from Fighting Vipers. VF characters have new moves taken from VF3, but the most impressive feature was the dodge move, which allowed the character to sidestep, avoiding a dangerous blow and opening at the same time room for a counter. Sega capitalized on this, calling Fighters Megamix the first "real 3D" fighting game in the market.
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[edit] Gameplay
As well as having standard Survival, Two Player and Team Battle modes, Fighters Megamix uses an unusual style of 1 player play, instead of standard Arcade Mode, the 1 player mode is split into nine subsections:
Novice Trial (beginners) Virtua Fighter (all characters from Virtua Fighter) Fighting Vipers (all characters from Fighting Vipers) Girls (all default female character) Muscle (strong characters) Smart Guys (tactical fighters) Dirty Fighters (sneaky fighters) Bosses (hidden characters played last) and Bonus (the rest of the bonus characters not fought in 'Bosses')
Each section consists of six fights against currently available characters then a final battle against a hidden character. Once you have completed the first four (the 'default' sections) the next three become unlocked, once you had completed those, the next (Bosses), and then when that is completed, the final (Bonus)
The player has the option of switching play type between Fighting Vipers and Fighters Megamix, which simply causes both the player's characters and the CPU characters to fight with the style of fighting from that game (the default is Fighting Vipers).
Your defalt characters are Jacky Bryant, Sarah Bryant, Akira Yuki, Shun Di, Jeffry McWild, Kage-Maru, Wolf Hawkfield, Pai Chan, Lau Chan, Dural and Lion Rafale the complete cast of Virtua Fighter 2 plus Grace, Sanman, Honey, Tokio, Picky, Bahn, Mahler, Jane, Raxel and B.M. the complete cast of Fighting Vipers and and Kuma-Chan, a bear mascot in a hat that has no points of articulation
[edit] Unlockable characters
There are more than ten hidden characters in the game all based on other Sega games, including some planned, but unreleased for the console, like Sonic the Fighters. They are unlocked by completing all of the 1p mode sections except for Novice Trial, which unlocks a separate costume for Honey (or Candy) that can be accessed by pressing the 'X' button to select her. Each character either plays as a Fighting Vipers character (with armor that can be smashed off) or a Virtua Fighter character (without armour):
Bark the Polar Bear - one of AM2's creations for Sonic The Fighters Bark is a cream bear with large tufts of hair sticking out from the front and back of his 'beanie' hat, he wears a Scarf and Mittens. He plays like a Virtua Fighter character and is unlocked by defeating the 'Muscle' section.
Bean the Dynamite - the other of AM2's creations for Sonic The Fighters Bean is a green duck who wears a neck-a-chief and Sonic The Hedgehog's famous shoes, without the socks, he is based on an old Sega arcade game Dynamite Dux hence his name 'The Dynamite', in Megamix his trademark bomb attacks from Sonic the Fighters are missing. He plays like a Virtua Fighter character and is unlocked by defeating the 'Muscle' section (though he is not fought until the Bonus section)
Deku - A comical Mexican green bean in a hat, when his hat is smashed off, a bird is under it, perched on his head, he plays like a Fighting Vipers character and is unlocked by defeating the 'Dirty Fighters' section.
Janet - Janet is from Virtua Cop 2 and has a fondness for countering. Her moves are those of the character Aoi Umenokouji (from Virtua Fighter 3) and can be unlocked by defeating the 'Girls' section
Kids Akira - Akira Yuki in his Chibi form from Virtua Fighter Kids, he is unlocked by defeating the Virtua Fighter section
Kids Sarah - Sarah Bryant in her Chibi form from Virtua Fighter Kids she is unlocked by defeating the Virtua Fighter section (though she is not fought until the Bonus section)
Hornet - Hornet is a car (number 41) from Daytona USA, the car humorously stands on back wheels and boxes with its front, it plays like a Fighting Vipers character and can have its shell knocked off, revealing body, engine and other parts below. Its voice is sounds of an engine and many other sound effects from Daytona USA, such as screeching tires. Both of Hornet's costumes are a reference to its automatic (Red and Blue) or manual (Red and Gold) transmissons.
Rent-A-Hero - from two Japan only games, Rent-A-Hero for the Sega Mega Drive and Rent-A-Hero No. 1 for the Sega Dreamcast. Rent-A-Hero plays like a Fighting Vipers character, but he also has an additional handicap, battery life, measured by battery shaped red symbols above his health metere, if they all disappear, Rent-A-Hero shuts down. He is unlocked by defeating the 'Smart Guys' section.
Siba - Siba is from a prototype of Virtua Fighter but was cut from the cast by the time of game's actual realase, despite this he fights like a Fighting Vipers character, Siba is an Arab in a white and purple outfit equipped with a sword that charges with green energy, he is unlocked by defeating the 'Bosses' section
URA Bahn - an improved version of Bahn from Fighting Vipers he is unlocked by defeating the 'Fighting Vipers' section
AM2 Palm Tree - the developer's emblem is available as a playable character by clocking up 84 hours of game time, then selecting the Kumachan character with the Z button.
Mr Meat (Niku) - this odd character becomes available after the game has been booted up 30 times. Mr Meat is selectable by placing the cursor on Kumachan and pressing X and opting to play "course I".
[edit] Notes
- Unlike most other games by AM2 Fighters Megamix had no arcade release.
- The rendered images seen in the game credits after completing a section of the 1 Player Mode are unlocked and can be viewed in a gallery in 'Extra Options'
- Bark and Bean appear in the game roughly the same size as the human characters, when Sonic characters are usually depicted as much shorter than Humans, just over half their size
- Rent-A-Hero's stage music was changed in the North American and European release. In the Japanese version his stage music was similar to that of a Japanese sentai show theme song while the North American and European versions have an instrumental version of the song.
