Cosmic Carnage

Cosmic Carnage
Cover art
Developer(s)	Givro
Publisher(s)	Sega
Composer(s)	Hikoshi Hashimoto
Platform(s)	Sega 32X
Release date(s)	JP 1994 NA 1995 EU 1995
Genre(s)	Fighting
Mode(s)	Single-player, Multiplayer
Rating(s)	ESRB: T (Teen)

Cosmic Carnage, known in Japan as Cyber Brawl (サイバーブロール^?), is a 1994 2-D fighting game released for the Sega 32X add-on for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis developed by Givro and published by Sega. It was one of the few original titles created for the add-on during its short life span.

Story

In an uncharted star system, a group of prisoners en route to a celestial space mine overpower the ship’s guards and take control of the ship, but during their breakout most of the ship’s controls are damaged.

After days of drifting, the criminals realise their only hope is to hijack another ship and use their distress signal to bring a military ship to their aid, a ship they then ram their own ship into. The impact however badly damages the both and destroys all but one of the escape pods, as well as killing all but four from each ship (eight in total) the few survivors fight for the final escape pod and a chance of survival.

Gameplay

The game was designed to use the Mega Drive’s six-button controller, along with Eternal Champions. Also like Eternal Champions, Cosmic Carnage is very difficult to compete against the CPU characters using the standard three button controller. With the six button controller you are given two buttons to kick, two buttons to punch and two to ‘provoke’ (taunt) with the ‘provoke’ attack differing depending on how fast you press the button.

Four of the characters use armor to assist them in battle, you may choose one of the two options (‘light’ or ‘heavy’) for each of the three armors (body armor, leg armor and arm armor) each providing the character with its own special move. For instance Zena-Lan can perform a whirlwind kick in light armor and an electric ground pound attack with the heavy armor. The armor can be torn off however, removing these attacks, a game play feature Sega would later use in the decade for their Fighting Vipers games.

A ‘Fatality’ can be achieved by using special moves to win a battle in the final round of each fight (special throws will not perform a fatality), something that Sega had already used in Eternal Champions and was created and popularized by Midway Games’ Mortal Kombat series. In Cosmic Carnage either the opponents head will explode, their arms will be cut off or they will be cut in half at the waist. Also included is a ‘zoom feature’ similar to the one used in SNK’s Art of Fighting and Samurai Showdown games that amongst other things, highlights faults with the game’s sprites.

Achieving a ‘good ending’ for a fighter is time based, so depending on how fast you kill your opponents, the more time there is left to escape to the life pod and to drift far enough away from the crashed ships, so the explosion won't hit you.

Characters

Soldiers

All soldiers use Light Armour and can be equipped with Heavy Armour before fights.

• Cylic – An anthropomorphic red ant that is very fast and agile and uses a number of projectile attacks. His Light Armour special attacks are Energy Smasher, Gravitation Crush and Energy Blast, his Heavy Armour special attacks Machine Gun Knuckle, Energy Thunder and Grenade Attack and Double Needle Kick and Neck Throw can be used in both armours. In the Japanese version, he is a brown-haired soldier name Jake (ジェイク^?).
• Zena-Lan–a female soldier who’s head is constantly on fire just like the Human Torch from the Fantastic Four or a Super Saiyan from Dragon Ball Z because of the flame-like hair, wears a military uniform and has electric attacks as well as good speed and agility. Her special attacks in Light Armour are Fury Punch, Bloody Spiral and Riding Crusher, in Heavy Armour they are Lightning Ring, Knee Blast and Blazing Charge and both armour styles, Flying Lariat. In the Japanese version, she is a blond-haired soldier name Ray (レイ^?). Her name is very likely meant to be a play on or derivate of the name of the homeworld of Marvel Comics character Silver Surfer, which is called Zenn-La.
• Naruto (鳴門^?) – Again, Naruto’s portrait is that of a simple shadow being such as DC Comic’s Shadow Thief or Obsidian yet his in-game sprites dress him in colourful armour with elbow blades and a sword, his forte is martial arts and aerial moves. In Light Armour Naruto has the special attacks Naruto Slice, Spinning Kick and Whirlwind Kick, in Heavy Armour Spinning Double Slice, Whirlwind Blast Kick and Double Hammer Blast and both Dash and Drop Throw regardless of which armour he wears. In Japan, he is a brown-haired boy.
• Tyr (known in Japan as Carl (カール^?)) – Tyr’s character portrait makes him look identical to Jack Kirby’s drawings of the Silver Surfer however his in-game sprites are of a man wearing samurai like armour bearing more of a resemblance to the Turrican design. Presumably his character portrait is how he looks nude. His special attacks in light armour are Atomic Hammer, Dash Hurdle and Breast Charger and in Heavy Armour Mega Buster Drop, Mega Cyclone Wrecker and Mega Cannon, plus he has three special attacks regardless of which armour is chosen; Super Press, Tornado and Super Whip.

Fugitives

None of the fugitives may use armour.

• Talmac (known in Japan as Bolt (ボルト^?)) – a tall, dark sinister figure with a skull-like face, spiked red hair and sharp claws. Apparently no one is sure if he wears a mask or not, because no one has gotten close enough to find out. He resembles Megabyte from ReBoot and his character portrait is similar to the Terminator in the film of the same name. His special attacks are Gale Wall, Gale Wave, Pile Dragon and Gale Arrow.
• Yug (known in Japan as Wishbone (ウィッシュボーン^?)) – A gorilla-like humanoid who slightly bears a resemblance to Apelinq from the Transformers Beast Machines comic books and toys, possibly a robot who relies almost entirely on his powerful arms for his attacks (punch attacks and throws) His special attacks are Spinning Double Strike, Blaze Hold and Strangle Hold.
• Naja (known in Japan as Stere (ステア^?)) – A female serpent-shaped siren, with a cobra’s head and a long tail, instead of legs, that she uses as a battering ram. Her design is derived from the typically evil Naga deity of Hinduism and Buddhism. These beings were often depicted as having humanoid torsos in sculptures and drawn art. Her very name "Naja" is an obvious play on the word "Naga" thus denoting the inspiration for her character. Her special attacks are Back Whip, Winder Rush and Tail Squeeze.

• Deamon (known in Japan as Finisher (フィニッシャー^?)) – a vicious alien who bears resemblance to the extraterrestrials of the Alien series of films with large talon-like claws and a scorpion-like stinger attached to the back of his head. His special attacks are Whirling Thrasher, Hammerhead Whip and Rolling Claw.

See also

• Eternal Champions

External links

• Cosmic Carnage at MobyGames
• Cosmic Carnage at GameFAQs