Saturday Night Slam Masters
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| Saturday Night Slam Masters | |
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| Developer(s) | Capcom |
| Publisher(s) | Capcom |
| Designer(s) | Tetsuo Hara (illustrations) |
| Platform(s) | Arcade |
| Release date | July 13, 1993 (Saturday Night Slam Masters) December 1993(Muscle Bomber Duo) September 2, 1994(Ring of Destruction) |
| Genre(s) | Wrestling |
| Mode(s) | Up to 4 players, cooperative (2v2) |
| Input methods | Joystick, 3 buttons |
| Cabinet | Upright |
| Arcade system | CPS-1 + QSound |
| Display | Raster resolution 384×224 (Horizontal) |
Saturday Night Slam Masters, released as Muscle Bomber: The Body Explosion in Japan and Asia, is a 1993 pro wrestling arcade game released for the CPS hardware by Capcom. The game features character designs by manga artist Tetsuo Hara.
The game was followed by an upgraded version titled Muscle Bomber Duo in 1993, and a sequel called Ring of Destruction: Slam Masters II in 1994.
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[edit] Overview
[edit] Slam Masters
The original Slam Masters plays like a traditional wrestling game, only the game used a view similar to that commonly used in the fighting game genre. The game uses a three button configuration (grab, attack, and jump).
Each character has two special attacks: a non-grappling technique and a finisher. When an opponent's life meter is depleted, he must either be pinned for a three-count or forced to submit. Defeating all of the other wrestlers results in winning the championship belt, which must then be defended against the entire roster.
There are two game modes: Single Match, where the player fights in a series one-on-one matches against the CPU; and Team Battle Royale, where the player and another partner (controlled by another player or by the CPU) competes in a series of two-on-two matches. The game can be played by up to four players.
The original Slam Masters is the only game in the series released for home platforms: it has been ported to the SNES, Sega Genesis and FM Towns Marty. The SNES version retains the Team Battle Royale mode (which can be played with the multitap for up to four players), while the Genesis version replaces it with an exclusive Death Match mode.
[edit] Muscle Bomber Duo
Muscle Bomber Duo is a minor upgrade of the original Slam Masters focusing solely on the Team Battle aspect of the game. The same character can now be chosen by more than one player and each wrestler now has two additional special moves: a dual side attack and a vacuum move. Duo is the only game in the series to retain the Muscle Bomber title in its overseas versions outside Japan and Asia.
[edit] Ring of Destruction
Ring of Destruction: Slam Masters II, released in Japan as Super Muscle Bomber, is a sequel to Slam Masters released exclusively for the arcades as a CPS-II game. The game's format was changed to play like a traditional one-on-one 2D fighting game (similar to Street Fighter II), with the action restricted to one plane. The game's configuration was changed to a five-button setup (two punch buttons, two kick buttons and a grappling button). The objective of each match is to deplete the opponent's life bar in two out of three rounds. It is no longer necessary to pin an opponent to defeat him, although all the other moves have been retained.
[edit] Characters
The original Slam Masters (and Muscle Bomber Duo) features a playable roster of ten wrestlers. Only eight of the wrestlers were selectable in the Single Match mode. The remaining two: Jumbo and Scorpion, were non-playable boss characters in Single Match and selectable only Team Battle Royale. In the English localization, Capcom changed the names of all the characters and modified much of the backstory. The English names are used in this article, followed by the original Japanese names (when they differ) in parentheses.
The playable roster is extended to 14 characters in Ring of Destruction, with the addition of four new characters. Their names were kept unchanged in the English version.
[edit] Featured in all games
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- Biff Slamkovich (Aleksey Zalazof)
- In the Japanese version, Zalazof is a Russian wrestler who trained under Haggar. No such character connection is established in the English version, although Biff makes references to a "Comrade Zangief" in his losing quote.
- Gunloc (Lucky Colt)
- In the Japanese version, Colt is another apprentice of Haggar and Zalazof's rival, explaining the similar fighting styles. The English version implies that Gunloc is a relative of Guile (from Street Fighter II), a character relation that was mentioned again in the Street Fighter: The Movie arcade game.
- The Great Oni (Mysterious Budo)
- Titanic Tim (Titan the Great)
- El Stingray (El Stinger)
- Mike "Macho" Haggar
- Originally one of the main characters from Final Fight. The Japanese version establishes that Haggar's appearance in this game takes place before being elected Mayor in Final Fight. However, the English version refers to Haggar as the "former Mayor of Metro City". His daughter, Jessica (the kidnapped girl from Final Fight), sometimes climbs to the ring to celebrate with him whenever he wins a fight.
- Alexander the Grater (Sheep the Royal)
- King Rasta Mon ("Missing IQ" Gomes)
- Jumbo Flapjack (Kimala the Bouncer)
- The Scorpion (Astro)
[edit] Featured in Ring of Destruction
- Victor Ortega
- He appears in the opening intro of the original Slam Masters, but does not appear as a wrestler until the sequel.
- The Wraith
- Rip Saber
- Black Widow
