Saturday Night Slam Masters

Saturday Night Slam masters
Promotional flyer for Saturday Night Slam Masters featuring an illustration by Tetsuo Hara
Developer(s)	Capcom
Publisher(s)	Capcom
Designer(s)	Tetsuo Hara (illustrations)
Platform(s)	Arcade, Sega Mega Drive, Super Nintendo Entertainment System
Release date(s)	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)
Cabinet	Upright
Arcade system	CPS-1 + QSound
Display	Raster resolution 384×224 (Horizontal)

Saturday Night Slam Masters, known in Japan as Muscle Bomber - The Body Explosion (マッスルボマー ザ・ボディー・エクスプロージョン^?), is a 1993 pro wrestling arcade game released for the CP System by Capcom. The game features character designs by manga artist Tetsuo Hara, famous for Fist of the North Star.

The game was followed by an updated version titled Muscle Bomber Duo in 1993, and a sequel called Ring of Destruction: Slam Masters II in 1994.

Gameplay

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.

Characters

The game features a playable roster of ten wrestlers. Only eight of the wrestlers are selectable in the Single Match mode. The remaining two: Jumbo and Scorpion, are non-playable boss characters in Single Match and selectable only in 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.

Character selection in Saturday Night Slam Masters. From left to right in the character selection row: Jumbo Flapjack, Biff Slamkovich, Gunloc, The Great Oni, Titanic Tim, El Stingray, Mike "Macho" Haggar, Alexander the Grater, King Rasta Mon and The Scorpion.

Biff Slamkovich (アレクセイ・ザラゾフ^?, Aleksey Zalazof)

The main protagonist of the series. In the Japanese version of the game, Zalazof is a Russian wrestler who trained under Haggar alongside his rival, Gunloc. No such character connection is established in the English version, although Biff makes a reference to "Comrade Zangief" in his losing quote. Alex From Street Fighter III bears a strong resemblance to Biff.

Gunloc (ラッキー・コルト^?, Lucky Colt)

In the Japanese version of the game, 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 where it is revealed that Gunloc is Guile's brother.

The Great Oni (ミステリアス・ブドー^?, Mysterious Budo)

A Japanese wrestler who dresses with a kabuki-like theme. He is apparently a rival of El Stingray.

Titanic Tim (タイタン・ザ・グレート^?, Titan the Great)

A huge English wrestler who uses both his size and strength to intimidate his opponents. His backstory explains that he was once a tag team partner to Birdie of the Street Fighter series.

El Stingray (エル・スティンガー^?, El Stinger)

A Mexican luchador who amazes the crowds with his high-flying speed and techniques. He's based upon the Mexican wrestler Lizmark, who is very popular in Japan.

Mike "Macho" Haggar (マイク・”マチョ”・ハガー^?)

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 as the new Mayor in Final Fight. However, the English version refers to Haggar as the "former Mayor of Metro City". His daughter, Jessica (also from Final Fight), sometimes climbs to the ring to celebrate with him when he wins a match.

Alexander the Grater (シープ・ザ・ロイヤル^?, Sheep the Royal)

An Australian wrestler who has a merciless attitude in the ring. He resembles real-life wrestler Big Van Vader.

King Rasta Mon ("ミッシングIQ" ゴメス^?, "Missing IQ" Gomes)

A wild jungle-like man who acts like a beast in combat. He is always accompanied by his pet monkey, Freak, who happens to be his "manager".

Jumbo Flapjack (キマラ・ザ・バウンサー^?, Kimala the Bouncer)

A sadistic wrestler who enjoys making his opponents bleed in his time. He is the right-hand man of the Scorpion.

The Scorpion (アストロ^?, The Astro)

The game's final boss and antagonist of the series. The appearance of this character was inspired by the legendary "luchador" Tinieblas, one of the first Mexican wrestlers to tour Japan in 1974.^[1]

Ports

The original Slam Masters was ported to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, 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. The Genesis version is also the only version of the game that allows the player to select The Scorpion and Jumbo for the Single Battle mode. In contrast to the arcade version, which only used Tetsuo Hara's artwork for promotional illustrations, the console versions of Slam Masters for the SNES and Genesis uses Hara's actual artwork in the game.

Sequels

Muscle Bomber Duo

Muscle Bomber Duo - Ultimate Team Battle, released in Japan as Muscle Bomber Duo - Heat Up Warriors, is an updated version of the original Slam Masters which eliminates the Single Match mode from the original game, focusing solely on the two-on-two Team Battle mode. 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 for its international releases.

Although the players can choose and pick their team as they please, there are five "official" combinations that the game will recognize and give a name to. The official tag teams are as follows:

• Hyper Cannons (Biff and Gunloc)
• Exotic Warriors (Rasta and Oni)
• Deadly Brothers (Titan and Stingray)
• Knuckle Busters (Haggar and Grater)
• Silent Assassins (Scorpion and Jumbo)

Ring of Destruction

Ring of Destruction - Slam Masters II, released in Japan as Super Muscle Bomber - The International Blowout, is a sequel to Slam Masters released exclusively for the arcades as a CPS-2 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 for the player to pin their opponent to win a match, although all the other moves have been retained.

All ten characters from the original Slam Masters returned, along with four new selectable characters:

• Victor Ortega (ヴィクター・オルテガ^?) - A legendary champion wrestler who vanished from the ring for years and has come out of retirement. Ortega was the wrestler who appeared in the original game's opening intro. His special move is the backdrop.
• The Wraith (ザ・レイス^?) - A supernatural-themed wrestler from New Delhi, India. His special move is the guillotine drop.
• Rip Saber (リップ・セイバー^?) - A military-themed wrestler from Calgary, Canada who attacks with dangerous weapons.
• Black Widow (ブラック・ウィドー^?) - A fully costumed wrestler from Hanover, Germany with a spider-motif. Widow's ending reveals that she's actually a female wrestler in disguise. Her special move is the Frankensteiner.

In Other Media

In the Street Fighter animated series episode "New Kind of Evil", Mike Haggar appears in a fight against Blanka, and the human forms of the three guys who become monsters resemble that of Gunloc, The Great Oni, and Jumbo Flapjack.

External links

• Saturday Night Slam Masters at the Killer List of Videogames
• Saturday Night Slam Masters at MobyGames
• Saturday Night Slam Masters at 1UP.com

References

1. ^ Tinieblas (1970)