Primal Rage

From Sega Retro

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PrimalRage Title.png

Primal Rage
System(s): Sega Mega Drive, Sega 32X, Sega Game Gear, Sega Saturn
Publisher:
Sega Mega Drive
Sega Game Gear
Sega 32X
Time Warner Interactive,
Sega Saturn
Time Warner Interactive (US/EU), Game Bank (JP)
Developer:
Sound driver: Probe/Andy Brock
Peripherals supported:
Sega Game Gear
Gear-to-Gear Cable
Release Date RRP Code

Primal Rage (プライマルレイジ) is a 1994 arcade fighting game by Atari Games. Probe and Time Warner Interactive were licensed to port the game to a variety of home consoles, including to the Sega Mega Drive, Sega 32X, Sega Game Gear, and Sega Saturn.

Storyline

A Meteor strikes the Earth and causes the continents to shift into the shape of a dinosaur skull breathing fire in an event known as the "Great Cataclysm". Sleeping giants of long ago are awakened from their slumber by these events and become gods for humanity to worship. With old Earth in ruins, humanity now sides with one of six gods and one goddess. From the ruins of old Earth comes the birth of New Urth. (that is indeed the correct spelling for this word in game: Urth.) Now, five dinosaur gods and two great ape gods fight to rule the New Urth. Conquering the others' lands in the total conquest for world domination.

Mega Drive Port

Limitations and Changes

The Mega Drive port isn't one of the better ports of the game. While most of the combos from Arcade version 2.3 were carried over, the port is more based upon the older Arcade versions 1.9 or 1.7. This means each character has only two fatalities since the 2.3 fatalities aren't there. Attacks exclusive to version 2.3 were also not included. Also, Talon's Shredder Fatality does what it did in the older versions of the Arcade game. Rather than leaving the opponent standing all mangled and cut up like in Arcade version 2.3, blood just flies everywhere like in the older Arcade versions 1.7 or 1.9. The sprites were scaled to fit the limitations of the Mega Drive hardware, which is often met by harsh criticism. The Color Palletes are also limited as well. Combos work much like that of the 2.3 version but there are some differences. Diablo's Fireball fatality is different than his Arcade rendition. Instead of firing a gigantic but pixelated fireball at his opponent like in the arcade, Diablo fires three small fireballs at the opponent and they spin around the opponent frying them.

Exclusive Features and Easter Eggs

Although the Mega Drive port had it's problems, it had some exclusive features and an exclusive Easter Egg. The main exclusive feature was to be able to customize the six button controller in options to allow two of the buttons to use one of the character's special attacks. There are three special attacks for each character available on the options to choose from but the player can only play with two at a time on the six button controller. The Easter Egg exclusive to the Mega Drive version involved going to the cheat menu and selecting the option "Okay Right?", then selecting Diablo to play as. Diablo's worshipers would be replaced by a devil with a picture of one of the developer's heads on it. The devil will bounce up and down at the end of the battle regardless if Diablo wins or not.

Controversy

The Mega Drive version was also controversial. There were reports of the game being removed from the shelves of some stores after a mother caught her 11 year old son playing Primal Rage and executing Chaos' Golden Shower Fatality (which is where Chaos urinates on the opponent with urine so acidic that it melts away the opponent's flesh leaving only the bones.) The mother was so disgusted by this that she not only returned the game but launched a "grass roots" campaign that caused the game to be removed from some stores at various locations, regardless of what system it was on. Even the SNES version which had this fatality censored on it was also removed from store shelves.

Sega Game Gear Port

Limitations and Changes

The game had to be severely watered down in order to be successfully ported. Only some of the moves and combos are present. Each character has only one fatality and Vertigo was excluded from this port. Most of the changes for this port are identical to those of the Game Boy Version of Primal Rage. However, unlike the Game Boy version of Primal Rage which had Golden Shower replaced with a new acidic puking fatality for Chaos, the Game Gear version still had Golden Shower in it. In addition to that, the Game Gear version was in color (albeit less colorful than some of the other versions though.).

32X Port

Enhancements Over the Mega Drive Version

The Sega 32X version is identical to the Mega Drive version aside from better sprite scaling, a more vibrant color pallete, higher quality sound effects with some extra sound channels for a few of the music tracks, and the odd removal of the "Okay Right?" cheat in the cheat menu.

Sega Saturn Port

Exclusive Features and Issues

The Sega Saturn port is actually nearly the same as the PlayStation port except that it has some exclusive features. The Saturn version featured not only the opening cutscene seen in the PlayStation version but also extra introductory cutscenes for each character. The Character endings are also replaced with FMV's However, it does not display combo names like the PlayStation version does. It also suffers from long loading times. However, most of the problems relating to music and loading present in the PlayStation version were fixed in the Saturn version and the disc features Redbook audio. Animations actually work properly and move much faster than the Playstation port. However, like the Playstation version, Blizzard's death and win sounds are switched. Some of the sound effects are also missing. The AI is also much closer to the arcade version 2.3. During the final battle, the opponent's skeletons don't stay on the ground after dying for some reason.

Prototype Dump

drx of hidden-palace.org recently obtained an alpha build of the Sega Saturn port of Primal Rage.

Physical Scans

Mega Drive Version

Sega Retro Average 
Publication Score Source
76
62
68
81
73
Sega Mega Drive
 72
Based on
5 reviews
Sega Retro Average 
Publication Version Score
1700 igr dlya Sega (RU)
70
[1]
Consoles + (FR)
76
[2]
Cool Gamer (RU)
70
[3]
Digitiser (UK)
83
[4]
Electronic Games (1992-1995) (US) NTSC-U
75
[5]
Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 1 (RU)
70
[6]
Game Players (US) NTSC-U
62
[7]
GamePro (US) NTSC-U
75
[8]
GamePro (DE)
47
[9]
Game Informer (US) NTSC-U
78
[10]
Joypad (FR)
81
[11]
MAN!AC (DE) PAL
68
[12]
Mega Force (FR) PAL
75
[13]
Mega Fun (DE) PAL
74
[14]
Mean Machines Sega (UK) PAL
90
[15]
Next Generation (US)
25
[16]
Player One (FR)
73
[17]
Players (BR)
69
[18]
Power Up! (UK)
88
[19]
Secret Service (PL)
80
[20]
Sega Magazin (DE) PAL
78
[21]
Sega Magazine (UK) PAL
84
[22]
Sega Power (UK) PAL
91
[23]
Sega Pro (UK) PAL
79
[24]
Sega Mega Drive Review (RU)
74
[25]
Sega Megazone (AU)
89
[26]
Super Juegos (ES)
73
[27]
Todo Sega (ES)
90
[28]
Top Consoles (FR)
65
[29]
Tricks 16 bit (RU)
86
[30]
Videogame Advisor (US) NTSC-U
75
[31]
Video Games (DE) PAL
68
[32]
VideoGames (US) NTSC-U
70
[33]
Sega Mega Drive
 74
Based on
33 reviews

Primal Rage

Mega Drive, US
PrimalRage MD US Box Back.JPGPrimalRage MD US Box Front.JPG
Cover
Primalrage md us cart.jpg
Cart
Mega Drive, EU
PrimalRage MD EU Box.jpg
Cover
Mega Drive, AU
PrimalRage MD AU Box.jpg
Cover

32X Version

Sega Retro Average 
Publication Score Source
83
68
Sega 32X
 76
Based on
2 reviews
Sega Retro Average 
Publication Version Score
GameFan (US) NTSC-U
83
[34]
GamePro (US) NTSC-U
80
[35]
Mean Machines Sega (UK) PAL
80
[36]
Sega Power (UK) PAL
79
[37]
Sega Pro (UK) PAL
72
[38]
VideoGames (US) NTSC-U
70
[39]
Sega 32X
 77
Based on
6 reviews

Primal Rage

32X, US
PrimalRage 32X US Box Back.jpgNospine.pngPrimalRage 32X US Box Front.jpg
Cover
PrimalRage 32X US Cart.jpg
Cart

Game Gear Version

Sega Retro Average 
Publication Score Source
76
86
Sega Game Gear
 81
Based on
2 reviews
Sega Retro Average 
Publication Version Score
Digitiser (UK)
79
[40]
Game Players (US) NTSC-U
76
[41]
GamePro (US) NTSC-U
80
[42]
GamePro (DE)
47
[9]
GamePro (UK)
92
[43]
Joypad (FR)
86
[11]
Mega Fun (DE) PAL
63
[14]
Mean Machines Sega (UK) PAL
83
[44]
Sega Magazin (DE) PAL
62
[45]
Sega Magazine (UK) PAL
88
[46]
Sega Pro (UK) PAL
82
[47]
Todo Sega (ES)
86
[48]
VideoGames (US)
70
[49]
Sega Game Gear
 76
Based on
13 reviews

Primal Rage

Game Gear, US
PrimalRage GG US cover.jpg
Cover
PrimalRage US GG Cart.jpg
Cart
Game Gear, EU
PrimalRage GG EU Box Front.jpg
Cover

Saturn Version

Sega Retro Average 
Publication Score Source
66
Sega Saturn
 66
Based on
1 review
Sega Retro Average 
Publication Version Score
Famitsu (JP) NTSC-J
48
[50]
Fun Generation (DE)
50
[51]
GameFan (US) NTSC-U
66
[52]
GamePro (US) NTSC-U
75
[53]
Hobby Consolas (ES)
86
[54]
Mega Fun (DE) PAL
71
[55]
Mean Machines Sega (UK) PAL
79
[56]
Saturn Fan (JP) NTSC-J
53
[57]
Saturn Fan (JP) NTSC-J
43
[58]
Secret Service (PL)
65
[59]
Sega Saturn Magazine (UK) PAL
60
[60]
Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) NTSC-J
50
[61]
Total Saturn (UK) PAL
57
[62]
VideoGames (US) NTSC-U
60
[63]
Sega Saturn
 62
Based on
14 reviews

Primal Rage

Saturn, US
PrimalRage Saturn US Box Back.jpgPrimalRage Saturn US Box Front.jpg
Cover
Saturn, EU
PrimalRage Saturn EU Box.jpg
Cover
PrimalRage Saturn EU Disc.jpg
Disc
Saturn, JP
PrimalRage Saturn JP Box Back.jpgNospine-small.pngPrimalRage Saturn JP Box Front.JPG
Cover
  1. ↑ 1700 igr dlya Sega, "" (RU; 2001-xx-xx), page 179
  2. ↑ Consoles +, "Novembre 1995" (FR; 1995-1x-xx), page 158
  3. ↑ Cool Gamer, "9" (RU; 2002-10-13), page 162
  4. ↑ Digitiser (UK) (1995-08-29)
  5. ↑ Electronic Games (1992-1995), "June 1995" (US; 1995-0x-xx), page 86
  6. ↑ Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 1, "" (RU; 1999-xx-xx), page 348
  7. ↑ Game Players, "Vol. 8 No. 9 September 1995" (US; 1995-0x-xx), page 46
  8. ↑ GamePro, "September 1995" (US; 1995-xx-xx), page 50
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 GamePro, "November 1995" (DE; 1995-10-04), page 54
  10. ↑ Game Informer, "August 1995" (US; 1995-0x-xx), page 30
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Joypad, "Octobre 1995" (FR; 1995-xx-xx), page 76
  12. ↑ MAN!AC, "10/95" (DE; 1995-09-13), page 76
  13. ↑ Mega Force, "Octobre 1995" (FR; 1995-xx-xx), page 92
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Mega Fun, "09/95" (DE; 1995-08-23), page 38
  15. ↑ Mean Machines Sega, "October 1995" (UK; 1995-08-25), page 78
  16. ↑ Next Generation, "October 1995" (US; 1995-09-19), page 125
  17. ↑ Player One, "Octobre 1995" (FR; 1995-xx-xx), page 126
  18. ↑ Players, "Dez 95" (BR; 1995-1x-xx), page 20
  19. ↑ Power Up!, "Saturday, September 09, 1995" (UK; 1995-09-09), page 1
  20. ↑ Secret Service, "Październik 1996" (PL; 1996-10-01), page 72
  21. ↑ Sega Magazin, "September 1995" (DE; 1995-08-16), page 30
  22. ↑ Sega Magazine, "October 1995" (UK; 1995-09-12), page 90
  23. ↑ Sega Power, "September 1995" (UK; 1995-07-20), page 42
  24. ↑ Sega Pro, "October 1995" (UK; 1995-09-07), page 50
  25. ↑ Sega Mega Drive Review, "2" (RU; 1996-01-03), page 97
  26. ↑ Sega Megazone, "August 1995" (AU; 1995-0x-xx), page 32
  27. ↑ Super Juegos, "Octubre 1995" (ES; 1995-xx-xx), page 116
  28. ↑ Todo Sega, "Septiembre 1995" (ES; 1995-0x-xx), page 32
  29. ↑ Top Consoles, "Octobre 1995" (FR; 1995-xx-xx), page 76
  30. ↑ Tricks 16 bit, "Tricks Sega Gold 800 igr" (RU; 1998-03-20), page 139
  31. ↑ Videogame Advisor, "Volume 1, Number 3: July 1995" (US; 1995-0x-xx), page 28
  32. ↑ Video Games, "9/95" (DE; 1995-08-30), page 110
  33. ↑ VideoGames, "September 1995" (US; 1995-08-22), page 78
  34. ↑ GameFan, "Volume 3, Issue 11: November 1995" (US; 1995-xx-xx), page 22
  35. ↑ GamePro, "February 1996" (US; 199x-xx-xx), page 68
  36. ↑ Mean Machines Sega, "March 1996" (UK; 1996-01-28), page 86
  37. ↑ Sega Power, "May 1996" (UK; 1996-03-14), page 54
  38. ↑ Sega Pro, "May 1996" (UK; 1996-03-21), page 24
  39. ↑ VideoGames, "December 1995" (US; 1995-11-21), page 92
  40. ↑ Digitiser (UK) (1995-09-05)
  41. ↑ Game Players, "Vol. 8 No. 10 October 1995" (US; 1995-xx-xx), page 81
  42. ↑ GamePro, "August 1995" (US; 1995-xx-xx), page 91
  43. ↑ GamePro, "November 1995" (UK; 1995-09-xx), page 37
  44. ↑ Mean Machines Sega, "October 1995" (UK; 1995-08-25), page 84
  45. ↑ Sega Magazin, "September 1995" (DE; 1995-08-16), page 86
  46. ↑ Sega Magazine, "October 1995" (UK; 1995-09-12), page 96
  47. ↑ Sega Pro, "November 1995" (UK; 1995-10-05), page 66
  48. ↑ Todo Sega, "Noviembre 1995" (ES; 1995-1x-xx), page 58
  49. ↑ VideoGames, "August 1995" (US; 1995-0x-xx), page 89
  50. ↑ Famitsu, "1998-04-03" (JP; 1998-03-20), page 1
  51. ↑ Fun Generation, "08/96" (DE; 1996-07-10), page 85
  52. ↑ GameFan, "Volume 4, Issue 6: June 1996" (US; 1996-xx-xx), page 18
  53. ↑ GamePro, "July 1996" (US; 1996-xx-xx), page 74
  54. ↑ Hobby Consolas, "Diciembre 1996" (ES; 199x-xx-xx), page 120
  55. ↑ Mega Fun, "08/96" (DE; 1996-07-17), page 72
  56. ↑ Mean Machines Sega, "September 1996" (UK; 1996-08-05), page 84
  57. ↑ Saturn Fan, "1998 No. 6" (JP; 1998-03-13), page 152
  58. ↑ Saturn Fan, "1998 No. 10" (JP; 1998-05-15), page 116
  59. ↑ Secret Service, "Październik 1996" (PL; 1996-10-01), page 21
  60. ↑ Sega Saturn Magazine, "August 1996" (UK; 1996-07-20), page 76
  61. ↑ Sega Saturn Magazine, "1998-10 (1998-04-03)" (JP; 1998-03-20), page 195
  62. ↑ Total Saturn, "Volume One Issue Four" (UK; 1996-12-29), page 43
  63. ↑ VideoGames, "June 1996" (US; 1996-05-21), page 61
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