BloodStorm
Encyclopedia
BloodStorm is a fighting game
released in 1994 in arcade form by Strata and developed by Incredible Technologies
. It is considered by some as a quasi-'sequel' to Time Killers
. The game had a rather dark storyline as there were few ambiguously good characters as the other ranged from being sociopathically insane or deceptive folk.
BloodStorm was dubbed as a possible “MK
-killer” in an attempt to surpass rival Midway
's success with Mortal Kombat, though it did not prevail. It was the last game Strata produced before the company went out of business.
BloodStorm is also a weapons-based fighter, though it differs from Time Killers in that the characters use weapons called "Gauntlets" that also allow them to use particular powers and attacks with them. Other than being able to bash off an opponent’s arms, a technique called a ‘Sunder’ is also in the game. If executed when an opponent is stunned, it will destroy their lower body. The character will not be able to jump or use kicks, but can still move back and forth a little with the leg buttons.
Even after a successful Sunder attack, the fight can still go on, given the character’s life bar is not totally drained yet. However, if both limbs are lost afterwards (given they weren't already torn off prior to the Sunder attack) then s/he is completely helpless. Characters are restored back to normal form after a round is over much like Time Killers
as well.
A notable feature in the game is that when an opponent is defeated, the player gains a ‘passable power’ much like in a style akin to the Mega Man series
. These powers or weapons can be used at any time to give the player a further advantage. Also, players can save their progress in a game with a password
feature by pressing buttons during the player select screen. However, since the data was saved only until the machine was turned off, it was less than beneficial unless used to pick the game back up where it ended.
Freon - Leader of the Ice people in the Northern Province. While he is a noble man, Freon loathes Hellhound and the Fire people, and wants to destroy them. In the end however, he proves to be less than noble as he begins a reign of terror along with a life of decadence and decay.
Tempest - The daughter of the High Emperor who was murdered before the events leading up to the BloodStorm contest. She has the ability to use the winds for her attacks and feels she is the rightful heir to the throne. According to her ending, she is the mastermind behind her father's death.
Razor - A suave and handsome man who was once in love with Tempest, and at the time the feeling was mutual. But her advisers framed him and had him imprisoned and given to Talon, who performed cybernetic experiments on him just before he escaped.
Tremor – The strongest and wisest of a race of people known as Earthians. He has become aware of the destruction going on between the races, and has tried to negotiate with various provinces to get it to stop, but has been unsuccessful. He sees the BloodStorm contest as a chance to destroy the sickness and disease and bring a much needed cure to the planet.
Mirage – The leader of a cannibalistic amazon race who live in a harsh desert in the province of Obsel, having overtaken the male population in many ways. Her plans are to lead her people out of their world and take over the whole planet through the BloodStorm tournament. Her gauntlets can fire deadly grenade bombs at her foes.
Talon – A cybernetic warrior whose steel heart makes him a cold and cruel ruler of Cyberia. He also tortured and performed experiments on Razor, who managed to survive. Originally aiming to find a cure for the disease destroying cell tissue, he eventually grew to see those of flesh and bone as inferior, and aims to convert all into cyborgs.
Fallout – A mysterious warrior who emerged from a radioactive part of the planet known as “The Death Zone”, who wanted to fight in the tournament, his reasons unknown for the most part.
Craniac - Head-swap of Talon with only a brain instead of a head, who appears randomly on the catwalk at the Black Armada, he can be fought by jumping to him.
Golem - Agent with green skin & similar look to Tremor who can be found in his secret lair after knocking a stalactite down in a stage & jumping down after it.
Blood - Vengeful being made out of blood who spawns after Golem is defeated.
Shadow - Agent sent by Nekron who fights while using a cloaking device, his form as a man wearing a dark outfit is only seen when he takes damage.
Dimentia - A mysterious bald female agent hiding in a portal accessible in the Obsel Desert, a head-swap of Tempest.
Wraith - Agent similar in appearance to Fallout sent by Nekron to corner the player at the Lava Pit.
Chainsaw - Nekron's demonic pet he sends to toy with the player before fighting them himself. No fatality moves can be performed on Chainsaw.
Nekron - The big bad guy himself, Nekron stands as high as the screen & is the final challenge in BloodStorm.
and Mortal Kombat in particular, like one that mocks the "Goro Code" rumor of MK II
), "big head" characters featuring the game's programmers (which was derived from NBA Jam
), special screens that allow you to fight the hidden secret agents, "taxi" codes (which throw the players into another background), morph codes (which let you change your character), gauntlet codes (changes a character's gauntlet to someone else's), and even vulgar "trash talk" codes. There were also a few backgrounds that were somewhat interactive, and such backgrounds are keys to finding the hidden opponents within the game.
Fighting game
Fighting game is a video game genre where the player controls an on-screen character and engages in close combat with an opponent. These characters tend to be of equal power and fight matches consisting of several rounds, which take place in an arena. Players must master techniques such as...
released in 1994 in arcade form by Strata and developed by Incredible Technologies
Incredible Technologies
Incredible Technologies , based in Arlington Heights, Illinois is a US-based designer and manufacturer of coin-operated video games. Some of their games include Silver Strike Bowling, Power Putt, Target Toss Pro: Bags/Lawn Darts, and Golden Tee Golf...
. It is considered by some as a quasi-'sequel' to Time Killers
Time Killers
Time Killers is a weapon-based fighting arcade game developed by Incredible Technologies and published by Strata. Along with Allumer's Blandia, Time Killers is one of the earliest weapon-based fighting games modeled after its competitor Capcom's arcade hit Street Fighter II, but later became...
. The game had a rather dark storyline as there were few ambiguously good characters as the other ranged from being sociopathically insane or deceptive folk.
BloodStorm was dubbed as a possible “MK
Mortal Kombat (series)
Mortal Kombat, commonly abbreviated MK, is a science fantasy series of fighting games created by Ed Boon and John Tobias. The first four renditions and their updates were developed by Midway Games and initially released on arcade machines. The arcade titles were later picked up by Acclaim...
-killer” in an attempt to surpass rival Midway
Midway Games
Midway Games, Inc. is an American company that was formerly a major video game publisher. Following a bankruptcy filing in 2009, it is no longer active and is in the process of liquidating all of its assets. Midway's titles included Mortal Kombat, Ms.Pac-Man, Spy Hunter, Tron, Rampage, the...
's success with Mortal Kombat, though it did not prevail. It was the last game Strata produced before the company went out of business.
Gameplay
As with its predecessor Time Killers, BloodStorm features many of the aspects carried down from it, such as the removal of an opponent’s arms and an ‘instant kill’ attack, as well as a Special Death Move. The button layout is virtually the same. They are labeled as "back leg", "front leg", "back arm" and "front arm" respectively. A button in the center is used to make the character block. As one would suspect, if a particular limb is lost in combat, its corresponding button is rendered useless.BloodStorm is also a weapons-based fighter, though it differs from Time Killers in that the characters use weapons called "Gauntlets" that also allow them to use particular powers and attacks with them. Other than being able to bash off an opponent’s arms, a technique called a ‘Sunder’ is also in the game. If executed when an opponent is stunned, it will destroy their lower body. The character will not be able to jump or use kicks, but can still move back and forth a little with the leg buttons.
Even after a successful Sunder attack, the fight can still go on, given the character’s life bar is not totally drained yet. However, if both limbs are lost afterwards (given they weren't already torn off prior to the Sunder attack) then s/he is completely helpless. Characters are restored back to normal form after a round is over much like Time Killers
Time Killers
Time Killers is a weapon-based fighting arcade game developed by Incredible Technologies and published by Strata. Along with Allumer's Blandia, Time Killers is one of the earliest weapon-based fighting games modeled after its competitor Capcom's arcade hit Street Fighter II, but later became...
as well.
A notable feature in the game is that when an opponent is defeated, the player gains a ‘passable power’ much like in a style akin to the Mega Man series
Mega Man (series)
Mega Man is a video game franchise from Capcom, starring the eponymous character Mega Man, or one of his many counterparts. The series is well-known and comprises well over fifty releases, easily making it Capcom's most prolific franchise. As of December 31, 2010, the series has sold approximately...
. These powers or weapons can be used at any time to give the player a further advantage. Also, players can save their progress in a game with a password
Password
A password is a secret word or string of characters that is used for authentication, to prove identity or gain access to a resource . The password should be kept secret from those not allowed access....
feature by pressing buttons during the player select screen. However, since the data was saved only until the machine was turned off, it was less than beneficial unless used to pick the game back up where it ended.
Main characters
Hellhound - The fiercest fighter and general of the Fire people of the Southern Province. He takes pleasure in making war with their mortal enemies, the Ice people, Freon in particular.Freon - Leader of the Ice people in the Northern Province. While he is a noble man, Freon loathes Hellhound and the Fire people, and wants to destroy them. In the end however, he proves to be less than noble as he begins a reign of terror along with a life of decadence and decay.
Tempest - The daughter of the High Emperor who was murdered before the events leading up to the BloodStorm contest. She has the ability to use the winds for her attacks and feels she is the rightful heir to the throne. According to her ending, she is the mastermind behind her father's death.
Razor - A suave and handsome man who was once in love with Tempest, and at the time the feeling was mutual. But her advisers framed him and had him imprisoned and given to Talon, who performed cybernetic experiments on him just before he escaped.
Tremor – The strongest and wisest of a race of people known as Earthians. He has become aware of the destruction going on between the races, and has tried to negotiate with various provinces to get it to stop, but has been unsuccessful. He sees the BloodStorm contest as a chance to destroy the sickness and disease and bring a much needed cure to the planet.
Mirage – The leader of a cannibalistic amazon race who live in a harsh desert in the province of Obsel, having overtaken the male population in many ways. Her plans are to lead her people out of their world and take over the whole planet through the BloodStorm tournament. Her gauntlets can fire deadly grenade bombs at her foes.
Talon – A cybernetic warrior whose steel heart makes him a cold and cruel ruler of Cyberia. He also tortured and performed experiments on Razor, who managed to survive. Originally aiming to find a cure for the disease destroying cell tissue, he eventually grew to see those of flesh and bone as inferior, and aims to convert all into cyborgs.
Fallout – A mysterious warrior who emerged from a radioactive part of the planet known as “The Death Zone”, who wanted to fight in the tournament, his reasons unknown for the most part.
Nekron Agents
Ratchet - A sinister robotic opponent who is first sent to stop the player.Craniac - Head-swap of Talon with only a brain instead of a head, who appears randomly on the catwalk at the Black Armada, he can be fought by jumping to him.
Golem - Agent with green skin & similar look to Tremor who can be found in his secret lair after knocking a stalactite down in a stage & jumping down after it.
Blood - Vengeful being made out of blood who spawns after Golem is defeated.
Shadow - Agent sent by Nekron who fights while using a cloaking device, his form as a man wearing a dark outfit is only seen when he takes damage.
Dimentia - A mysterious bald female agent hiding in a portal accessible in the Obsel Desert, a head-swap of Tempest.
Wraith - Agent similar in appearance to Fallout sent by Nekron to corner the player at the Lava Pit.
Main bosses
Sin - She is Nekron's top agent, who traps the player in the Chamber of Pain.Chainsaw - Nekron's demonic pet he sends to toy with the player before fighting them himself. No fatality moves can be performed on Chainsaw.
Nekron - The big bad guy himself, Nekron stands as high as the screen & is the final challenge in BloodStorm.
Secrets
BloodStorm is also notorious for having a surprisingly large amount of hidden secrets for an arcade game. Among these secrets are a large amount of taunt codes (a few of which parody MidwayMidway Games
Midway Games, Inc. is an American company that was formerly a major video game publisher. Following a bankruptcy filing in 2009, it is no longer active and is in the process of liquidating all of its assets. Midway's titles included Mortal Kombat, Ms.Pac-Man, Spy Hunter, Tron, Rampage, the...
and Mortal Kombat in particular, like one that mocks the "Goro Code" rumor of MK II
Mortal Kombat II
Mortal Kombat II is a competitive fighting game originally produced by Midway Games for the arcades in . It is the second game in the Mortal Kombat series. Like its predecessor, various home versions were produced...
), "big head" characters featuring the game's programmers (which was derived from NBA Jam
NBA Jam
NBA Jam is a basketball arcade game developed by Midway in 1993. It is the first entry in the NBA Jam series, and was written entirely in assembly language. The main designer and programmer for this game was Mark Turmell...
), special screens that allow you to fight the hidden secret agents, "taxi" codes (which throw the players into another background), morph codes (which let you change your character), gauntlet codes (changes a character's gauntlet to someone else's), and even vulgar "trash talk" codes. There were also a few backgrounds that were somewhat interactive, and such backgrounds are keys to finding the hidden opponents within the game.