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3.23.2 out of 5 stars
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Good graphics100% agree

Compelling gameplay60% agree

Good value80% agree

4 Reviews

by

Another Terrible Fighting Game That Should Be Knocked-Out!

Cosmic Carnage SEGA 32X Game Review
A prison ship in deep space is in trouble. The wretched convicts onboard are loose and have taken over the vessel. Disaster strikes and the ship must be abandoned, but only a single escape pod remains. Who will occupy this galactic life raft? A fighting tournament is hastily assembled to determine the sole survivor of the doomed ship. Well, it's certainly no sillier than the narratives that drive most fighting games, is it?
Cosmic Carnage is an original fighter for the SEGA 32X, designed to take advantage of the extra power provided to the Genesis by the add-on, although you will be hard-pressed to really spot any technological wow in the seven minutes you'll play before jettisoning it from your console. The game is slow and clunky; it's hard to imagine that SEGA also made games like Virtua Fighter and Eternal Champions after suffering a few hits from Cosmic Carnage.
The cast of alien convicts is perhaps the most interesting thing about the entire production. You have a colorful motley crew that includes a space samurai, an alien gorilla-bot, a mantis, and a half-woman/half-robo-snake that will likely remind you of Golobulus from G.I. Joe: The Movie (when he's out of his floating pod, naturally). Before each round, you can make slight adjustments to your fighter by adding armor, but the more you add, the slower your warrior. It's actually kind of cool to have customization in a fighter, but Cosmic Carnage's is so shallow it feels like an afterthought. The fighters are made up of individual pieces that move independently. This feature is supposed to make the fighters move naturally, but it looks strange to see just pieces of the body move while others remain still.
The fighters are large, colorful, and decently detailed. But SEGA does a weird thing with them. To prove the 32X can scale, pieces of the sprites will come toward the camera to fudge some sort of 3D effect. For example, the snake has a tail whip that flashes into the camera as it comes around to slap the other fighter. When the tail comes toward the screen, it gets big and blocky. The detail is washed out. When you beat on a rival enough to remove armor, it also flies toward the camera as it fall off-screen. The camera will often zoom into the action when fighters get close and grapple, too, and the same fuzzy/blocky effect kicks in again. It doesn't look good at all but the game uses it over and over. And when it does happen, the game often chugs
Cosmic Carnage's actual fighting engine is very weak. There are basic punch and kick attacks as well as special moves and grapples. But because of the fighters' independent pieces, the timing seems all off. Hitting the tail attack with the snake, as an example, seems to take a moment to actually register -- and then you have to factor in time for the animation. Naturally, a computer rival does not need to worry about this kind of stuff and can pretty much block and counter without hindrance. And so the game feels cheap. You can win some by mashing buttons or win others by loading up on armor and blocking excessively. Some matches it's just luck. Rarely does a victory ever feel like the result of skill.
Cosmic Carnage may be a 32X exclusive, but it does nothing to justify the add-on. The fighting is lame and the visuals purposefully turn ugly. Only the general concept is remotely intriguing and some of the fighter models look good (when viewed in the character select screen). The rest of the game is bad and should be avoided. Games like this are one of the reasons the 32X failed. And after playing Cosmic Carnage, it's easy to see why.Read full review...

Verified purchase:  Yes | Condition: pre-owned | Sold by: jeremyroncaglione

by

A decent fighting game... for the era.

The background story is somewhat compelling: fight to the last, because there's only one single-seat lifepod to get off the dying space ship. The graphics and sound are decent, but the gameplay is pretty much Just Another Fighting Game.Read full review...

Verified purchase:  Yes | Condition: pre-owned | Sold by: priderockgames

by

The first 32x fighter

Ok this game has some flaws but over all should be giving some credit for taking new steps in 3d fighters. Sound is good . But fighters. Move slow and some seem clunky at times. The good though very nice color and choices for each fighter overall i give it 6half stars out of 10.Read full review...

Verified purchase: No

by

Not that bad

The game isn't that bad my main problem was the controls were annoying at first but once I mastered them it was excellent.

Verified purchase: No

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