Series - Eternal Champions

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Language:	English
Publisher:	Penguin (Puffin imprint) -- United Kingdom
Categories:	Complexity Level : Advanced (Full Game System) Format : Paperback Game System : Character Advancement Game System : Combat Game System : Inventory Management Game System : Randomization Method : Dice Game System : Scores Game System : Skill Selection Genre : Science Fiction Licensed Property : Video Game Tie-In Target Age Group : Older Children Target Age Group : Teenagers Writing Style : Present Tense Writing Style : Second Person

This pair of gamebooks is based on a Sega fighting video game. As one would expect, the books feature a combat-oriented game system. Character attributes are Speed, Endurance, Power, Recovery, Defense and Equilibrium; the reader is given points to assign to these at the start of play, and their values can change over time. There are also Life Points to keep track of and a variety of Special Moves which can be learned during play and executed by using Inner Strength points. Every character has a specialized Fighting Style (Savate, Kung Fu, Karate, Aikido, Jujitsu, Kickboxing or Ninjutsu), and it is possible to collect inventory items during play. Characters from the first book may be carried over to the second, which inexplicably shares the title of the second Fighting Fantasy adventure.

Gamebooks

1. The Cyber Warriors
2. Citadel of Chaos

User Comments

To those familiar with the Sega Genesis game on which the Eternal Champions gamebook duology was based - such as myself - these two oft-forgotten titles may seem like a strange pair of interactive adventures that are tough to anticipate. And in truth, these are rightfully tough to predict because the game itself doesn't lend itself seamlessly to this format - beneath the insufficiently balanced attributes system and the novelty factor, these two stories are unimpressive and gimmicky. Never was I convinced by the underwhelming (and rather cold) set-up, nor did the writing improve the average mediocrity of the writing. There are exhaustively long battle sequences which suffer from an unattuned character creation system, uneven difficulty levels and a lack of overall innovation across all of these pretty similar encounters. What was the most disappointing, however, was how minimally I felt in control of the story; there is very little to attach readers to this world of danger, and there are also far too many dark undertones from the very beginning for audiences to get a sense of how the adventure accounts for anything. Unfortunately, I cannot recommend this series; these pointless excursions certainly aren't anything to champion.

--Shadeheart