Deadly Moves

From Sega Retro

n/a

DeadlyMoves MDTitleScreen.png

Power Athlete/Deadly Moves
System(s): Sega Mega Drive
Publisher: Kaneko (US/JP), Samsung (KR)
Developer:
Genre: Action

















Number of players: 1-2
Official in-game languages:
  • English
  • Release Date RRP Code
    Sega Mega Drive
    JP
    ¥8,5008,500 T-33033
    Sega Mega Drive
    US
    T-33046
    Sega Mega Drive
    KR
    GM8072JT

    Power Athlete (パワーアスリート) is a 1992 fighting game for the Sega Mega Drive and Super Nintendo Entertainment System developed by System Vision and published by Kaneko. In the US, the Mega Drive version was renamed Deadly Moves, with the Super Famicom/SNES version becoming Power Moves. Both the Japanese and US versions uses English text.

    Story

    The protagonist Joe aims to become the world’s strongest fighter by challenging Ranker, the game’s final boss.

    Gameplay

    • A Punch
    • B Kick
    • C Jump
    • (close)Right, A + B Throw

    Up and Down moves the character to a higher or lower plane, similar to side-scrolling beat-'em-up games like Streets of Rage. Ranker can be unlocked using cheat codes.

    Power Athlete was released before numerous fighting game "standards" were set by Street Fighter II, and thus there are no Street Fighter II-style combos to perform.

    In RPG fashion, enemies can be challenged multiple times to level your character up (and exploit the score system). Special moves don’t cause any block damage unless your character is highly leveled up.

    There are two long bonus stages that can be used to collect extra points. Progress is recorded through a password system.

    The final boss can be easily defeated by fully leveling up your character and throwing projectiles from the other side of the screen. Ranker will block all of them, slowly succumbing to the block damage taken.

    Playable characters

    Joe (ジョー)
    It's an American fighter that looks like Ryu from Street Fighter. He's the only playable character from the single-player mode.
    Move list
    Name Command Description
    Kikou-ken Left, Right, A + B
    Super Nova Right, A + B
    DM MD Warren Portrait.png
    Warren (ウォーレン)
    A Hawaiian grappler. Warren's technique names are patterned on surfing terms - "Big Wednesday", etc.
    Move list
    Name Command Description
    Big Wednesday Left, Right, A + B
    Rolling Drop Kick A + B + C
    Vagnad (バグナド・ロフノスキー)
    A huge Russian wrestler with onyx skin. The game manual for this version refers to Vagnad as a survivor of The Holocaust.
    Move list
    Name Command Description
    Double Arm Right, A + B
    Double-power Bomb (close) Right, A + B
    Buoh (舞王)
    A kabuki-style fighter who can teleport and attack with his hair.
    Move list
    Name Command Description
    Dancing Smoke Down, A + B
    Rolling Hair Attack Right, A + B
    Gaoluon (百竜(ガオロン))
    An acrobatic Chinese martial artist, wielding a pair of Deer Horn Knives
    Move list
    Name Command Description
    Twin Flying Dragon Right, A + B
    Moonsault Kick Down, A + B
    Reayon (麗栄(リーヨン))
    The only female fighter of the game.
    Move list
    Name Command Description
    Dancing Crash Left, Right, A + B
    Shooting-down Kick Down, A + B
    Baraki (バラキ・キメラ)
    A tribal Kenyan warrior with a beastial appearance.
    Move list
    Name Command Description
    Diving Roller Left, Right, A + B
    Fire Storm Right, A + B
    Nick (ニック)
    An arrogant, lightning-quick Spanish matador. His fighting style uses a combination of break dancing moves and knife throwing
    Move list
    Name Command Description
    Killer Nails Left, Right, A + B
    Dancing Storm Right, A + B

    Versions

    The Mega Drive and Super NES versions of Power Athlete are virtually the same game, save for a few minor graphical differences. For example, Joe uses blue "bracelets" in the Mega Drive version, while on Nintendo's console they are red. Shadows are also semi-transparent on the Super NES, as opposed to the solid black seen on the Mega Drive. There are other minor palette changes, witnessed in areas such as the upgrade screen.

    Beating an opponent in the Mega Drive version also leads to a longer victory sequence, in which rather than calculating a score and fading straight to black, the background fades and then the score is calculated.

    Localised names

    Also known as
    Language Localised Name English Translation
    English (US) Deadly Moves Deadly Moves
    Japanese パワーアスリート Power Athlete

    Production credits

    • Producer: Akihiko Uto
    • Director: Takahiro Shima
    • Programmer: Hisato Shirochika, Hideki Suzuki
    • Charactor Design: Kuzira.MK2
    • Designer: Kuzira.MK2, T.K, Shikanosuke, Dogrou, Aki.Misuzu, Betty.Black, Dember Sato
    • Voice: Kuzira.MK2, Misako.S
    • Sound: Hideki Suzuki
    • Special Thanks: Kato Dappe, Rika Shima, Takayuki Shoji, Koji Naya, Inter State Co., Ltd., System Vision
    Source:
    In-game credits


    Magazine articles

    Main article: Deadly Moves/Magazine articles.

    Promotional material

    Logo-pdf.svg
    Print advert in Beep! MegaDrive (JP) #1992-08: "August 1992" (1992-07-08)
    Logo-pdf.svg
    Logo-pdf.svg
    Print advert in Beep! MegaDrive (JP) #1992-12: "December 1992" (1992-11-07)
    Logo-pdf.svg
    Logo-pdf.svg
    Print advert in Game Informer (US) #8: "January/February 1993" (199x-xx-xx)
    Logo-pdf.svg

    Physical scans

    Sega Retro Average 
    Publication Score Source
    50 №1992-12, p28[1]
    50 №, p85[2]
    55 №206
    35 №4, p81
    40 №1993-01, p84
    81 №16
    80 №35, p186
    54 №7, p56
    79 №16, p56/57
    77 №6, p40-42[3]
    54 №41, p34/35
    71 №17, p60
    71 №18, p64
    71 №8, p28
    57 №15, p72/73[4]
    Sega Mega Drive
    62
    Based on
    15 reviews
    Sega Retro Average 
    Publication Version Score
    1700 igr dlya Sega (RU)
    50
    [5]
    1700 igr dlya Sega (RU)
    70
    [6]
    Beep! MegaDrive (JP) NTSC-J
    50
    [7]
    Electronic Games (1992-1995) (US) NTSC-U
    84
    [8]
    Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 1 (RU)
    60
    [9]
    Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 1 (RU)
    60
    [10]
    Famitsu (JP) NTSC-J
    55
    [11]
    Game Power (IT)
    80
    [12]
    GamesMaster (UK) NTSC
    35
    [13]
    Hippon Super (JP) NTSC-J
    40
    [14]
    Joypad (FR) NTSC-J
    81
    [15]
    Joystick (FR) NTSC-J
    80
    [16]
    Mega Drive Fan (JP) NTSC-J
    58
    [17]
    Mega (UK) NTSC-J
    54
    [18]
    Mega (UK)
    54
    [19]
    MegaTech (UK) NTSC-U
    79
    [20]
    Mean Machines Sega (UK) NTSC-U
    77
    [3]
    Play Time (DE)
    62
    [21]
    Sega Power (UK) NTSC-J
    54
    [22]
    Sega Pro (UK) NTSC-U
    71
    [23]
    Sega Pro (UK)
    71
    [24]
    Sega Zone (UK) NTSC-U
    71
    [25]
    Sega Force (UK) NTSC
    57
    [4]
    Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) NTSC-J
    50
    [26]
    Tricks 16 bit (RU)
    63
    [27]
    Sega Mega Drive
    63
    Based on
    25 reviews

    Deadly Moves

    Mega Drive, US
    DeadlyMoves MD US Box.jpg
    Cover
    DeadlyMoves MD US Cart.jpg
    Cart
    Mega Drive, JP
    DeadlyMoves MD JP Box.jpg
    Cover
    PowerAthlete MD JP CartTop.jpg
    DeadlyMoves MD JP Cart.jpg
    Cart
    Mega Drive, KR
    <div style="margin:auto; max-width:Expression error: Unexpected < operator.px"> 320x120px320x120pxPowerAthlete MD KR Box.jpg
    Cover
    PowerAthlete MD KR carttop.jpg
    PowerAthlete MD KR cartback.jpgPowerAthlete MD KR cart.jpg
    Cart

    Technical information

    ROM dump status

    System Hash Size Build Date Source Comments
    Sega Mega Drive
    CRC32 35cbd237
    MD5 208652cf1e1f77405cf3e854f009d2b8
    SHA-1 8733d179292d4dc5c3513459539d96484b6d018f
    1MB 1992 Cartridge (US)
    Sega Mega Drive
    CRC32 b41b77cf
    MD5 2391922125eed997b77a015135454ebb
    SHA-1 d371e339c5d85b69c34007dc514c1adb524dac2a
    1MB 1992 Cartridge (JP/KR)

    References

    1. File:BeepMD_JP_1992-12.pdf, page 30
    2. File:SSM_JP_19950901_1995-09.pdf, page 87
    3. 3.0 3.1 File:MeanMachinesSega06UK.pdf, page 40 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:MeanMachinesSega06UK.pdf_p40" defined multiple times with different content
    4. 4.0 4.1 File:SegaForce UK 15.pdf, page 72 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:SegaForce UK 15.pdf_p72" defined multiple times with different content
    5. 1700 igr dlya Sega, "" (RU; 2001-xx-xx), page 22
    6. 1700 igr dlya Sega, "" (RU; 2001-xx-xx), page 56
    7. Beep! MegaDrive, "December 1992" (JP; 1992-11-07), page 30
    8. Electronic Games (1992-1995), "March 1993" (US; 1993-02-09), page 64
    9. Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 1, "" (RU; 1999-xx-xx), page 291
    10. Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 1, "" (RU; 1999-xx-xx), page 305
    11. Famitsu, "1992-11-27" (JP; 1992-11-13), page 43
    12. Game Power, "Febbraio 1993" (IT; 1993-0x-xx), page 45
    13. GamesMaster, "April 1993" (UK; 1993-03-18), page 81
    14. Hippon Super, "January 1993" (JP; 1992-12-04), page 84
    15. Joypad, "Janvier 1993" (FR; 199x-xx-xx), page 82
    16. Joystick, "Février 1993" (FR; 1993-0x-xx), page 186
    17. Mega Drive Fan, "March 1993" (JP; 1993-02-xx), page 59
    18. Mega, "April 1993" (UK; 1993-03-18), page 56
    19. Mega, "July 1993" (UK; 1993-06-17), page 35
    20. MegaTech, "April 1993" (UK; 1993-03-20), page 56
    21. Play Time, "5/93" (DE; 1993-04-07), page 106
    22. Sega Power, "April 1993" (UK; 1993-03-04), page 34
    23. Sega Pro, "March 1993" (UK; 1993-02-11), page 60
    24. Sega Pro, "April 1993" (UK; 1993-03-11), page 64
    25. Sega Zone, "June 1993" (UK; 1993-05-xx), page 28
    26. Sega Saturn Magazine, "September 1995" (JP; 1995-08-08), page 87
    27. Tricks 16 bit, "Tricks Sega Gold 800 igr" (RU; 1998-03-20), page 48