Fighters Megamix is a 1996 fighting game developed by AM2 for the Sega Saturn and Game.com. 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. 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 for the Saturn), Fighters Megamix utilized the concept originally used by The King of Fighters, whereby characters and styles from different games were mixed together. Not only the open ended rings from VF are present (but now, with no ring-out), but also the closed cages from Fighting Vipers. VF characters have new moves taken from VF3, but the most impressive feature was the dodge move, which allowed characters 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. Unlike most of AM2's games of the era, Fighters Megamix did not have an arcade release. In 1998 a Game.com port was released by Tiger Electronics.
Also in series
Reviews View More
Loads of fun, silly characters, great music, and controls that are pretty easy to get used to! Picky 4 Life.
The roster isn't even as broad, being less a celebration of Sega's many franchises and instead more focused on AM2 specifically. Even Sonic is represented by Bean and Bark, two characters from the AM2 developed Sonic the Fighters. I've been pretty vocal about not liking AM2's Saturn era fighting games, I believe I called them "shit from ass" and said something to the effect of "Yu Sazuki is spending three hours in the contraption," but I gotta admit... They have something here with Megamix. It is not bad, I might even go so far as to call it good.
The general feel and responsiveness of Megamix might not be on par with Dead or Alive (for me, at least), but it is a noted improvement over the developer's past games and conveys some sense that they've just learned how to put one of these together better. Characters move smoothly, strafing around opponents feels a lot better, and impacts are satisfying - especially when the game's physics freak out and cause your opponent to hit a wall at a weird angle and bounce off into space, which happened more than once. I also think designing each character around the more idiosyncratic qualities of the games they hail from was a smart move and adds a surprising amount of depth.
There's also multiple single player "routes," which send the player through seven fights against a themed set of combatants, like girls, dirty fighters, and "muscle" (see: himbos.) Completing each route unlocks a new character in Megamix's already sizeable roster and provides more of a reason to stick with the game. Having to log 84 hours to unlock the AM2 palm tree is completely unreasonable though. I've opted for leaving the console running, but it's taken on a reddish glow and appears to be pulsing while emanating a horribly loud hum... I don't think you're supposed to leave a Japanese Sega Saturn on that long!
I'm glad AM2 finally figured out this whole 3D figh[USER HAS DIED IN SEGA SATURN INDUCED EXPLOSION]