Body Blows Galactic
Encyclopedia
Body Blows Galactic is a versus fighting game
and the sequel
to Body Blows
released in by Team 17 for Amiga
computers. Opponents and background graphics were later merged into Ultimate Body Blows
.
system is the same as in the first Body Blows game. The game features, two player modes and an eight-player tournament mode.
There are twelve different playable fighters from six worlds, and no bosses:
Earth: Represented by Junior, a fast British boxer, and Danny, a gangland rebel (the Earth fighters are named after the Team17 game designer Daniel "Danny" J. Burke and programmer Junior McMillian). The arena is on the top of a rocket-propelled platform.
Eclipse: Does not rotate but still revolve around its sun, therefore on one side of the planet it is very hot and the other side is freezing. Inferno is a pure existence of fire, while Warra is the fighting king in white amour of the ice world.
Feminon: An Earth-type planet ruled by women, where men are only accepted as lesser beings. Represented by Azona, a blonde warrior who fights on her hover board, and Kai-Ti, a Psylocke
-like brunette with the ability to focus her mind to shoot energy orbs. Fights are taking place in a water pit with waterfalls in the background.
Miasma: After a moon-sized comet hit the planet, the inhabitants of Miasma survived as an individual energy mass (which is illustrated as blue energy orbs). Puppet chooses an appearances with yellow cones bound together with blue energy orbs and a Venetian mask
as face. The ghost-like Phantom wears a brown robe and is able to disappear and appear on different places in the fight area.
Gellorn-5: Consisting mainly of rainforest, dinosaur
s are the dominant race of this planet. Dragon is a massive green creature using his brute strength to win the competition, while Dino is a Velociraptor
-like creature with a small green rider on his back.
Titanica: Is the most technologic advanced planet of all the others. Lazer wears a visor and is able to shoot laser triangles; Tekno, a full metal robot which is able to shoot rockets to his opponents.
Amiga 1200
which has several changes like more colorful backdrops and improved SFX and music. Allister Brimble
composed the music (the title and end tracks, plus one for each planet).
and Elfmania
.
Review quotes and ratings:
Other ratings included 91% in Amiga Force
14 (Jan 1994), 90% in Amiga Dream #2 (Dec 1993), 86% in ACAR Vol 11 No 3 (Mar 1994), and 83% in Amiga Joker (Dec 1993).
In March 2008, the website Defunct Games took a review solely of the cover of Body Blows Galactic and mocked: "Seriously guys, what happened to the background?"
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...
and the sequel
Sequel
A sequel is a narrative, documental, or other work of literature, film, theatre, or music that continues the story of or expands upon issues presented in some previous work...
to Body Blows
Body Blows
Body Blows is an Amiga Versus fighting game game. It was released in 1993 by Team 17. The game is compatible with all Amiga systems, including the CDTV system with joystick support. It was followed by Body Blows Galactic and Ultimate Body Blows. A version for DOS was also released...
released in by Team 17 for Amiga
Amiga
The Amiga is a family of personal computers that was sold by Commodore in the 1980s and 1990s. The first model was launched in 1985 as a high-end home computer and became popular for its graphical, audio and multi-tasking abilities...
computers. Opponents and background graphics were later merged into Ultimate Body Blows
Ultimate Body Blows
Ultimate Body Blows is a 1994 Amiga CD32 and DOS fighting game. It is largely an amalgamation of Body Blows and Body Blows Galactic released in 1993 by Team 17, featuring characters and locales from both games but using the HUD and menu interface of the first game...
.
Gameplay
The gameplayGameplay
Gameplay is the specific way in which players interact with a game, and in particular with video games. Gameplay is the pattern defined through the game rules, connection between player and the game, challenges and overcoming them, plot and player's connection with it...
system is the same as in the first Body Blows game. The game features, two player modes and an eight-player tournament mode.
Story
After winning the global martial arts tournament, Danny and Junior decide to take the universe further and challenge the meanest and toughest in an interplanetary competition to become the ultimate galactic warrior.Worlds and contenders
Earth: Represented by Junior, a fast British boxer, and Danny, a gangland rebel (the Earth fighters are named after the Team17 game designer Daniel "Danny" J. Burke and programmer Junior McMillian). The arena is on the top of a rocket-propelled platform.
Eclipse: Does not rotate but still revolve around its sun, therefore on one side of the planet it is very hot and the other side is freezing. Inferno is a pure existence of fire, while Warra is the fighting king in white amour of the ice world.
Feminon: An Earth-type planet ruled by women, where men are only accepted as lesser beings. Represented by Azona, a blonde warrior who fights on her hover board, and Kai-Ti, a Psylocke
Psylocke
Psylocke is a fictional character depicted in comic books published by Marvel Comics, most notably those comics featuring the superhero team the X-Men. The character has also appeared in licensed adaptations. Created by writer Chris Claremont and artist Herb Trimpe, she first appeared in the UK...
-like brunette with the ability to focus her mind to shoot energy orbs. Fights are taking place in a water pit with waterfalls in the background.
Miasma: After a moon-sized comet hit the planet, the inhabitants of Miasma survived as an individual energy mass (which is illustrated as blue energy orbs). Puppet chooses an appearances with yellow cones bound together with blue energy orbs and a Venetian mask
Venetian mask
Venetian masks are a centuries-old tradition of Venice, Italy. The masks are typically worn during the Carnevale , but have been used on many other occasions in the past, usually as a device for hiding the wearer's identity and social status.The mask would permit the wearer to act more freely in...
as face. The ghost-like Phantom wears a brown robe and is able to disappear and appear on different places in the fight area.
Gellorn-5: Consisting mainly of rainforest, dinosaur
Dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...
s are the dominant race of this planet. Dragon is a massive green creature using his brute strength to win the competition, while Dino is a Velociraptor
Velociraptor
Velociraptor is a genus of dromaeosaurid theropod dinosaur that existed approximately 75 to 71 million years ago during the later part of the Cretaceous Period. Two species are currently recognized, although others have been assigned in the past. The type species is V. mongoliensis; fossils...
-like creature with a small green rider on his back.
Titanica: Is the most technologic advanced planet of all the others. Lazer wears a visor and is able to shoot laser triangles; Tekno, a full metal robot which is able to shoot rockets to his opponents.
Development
A team of six people developed the game for about nine months. A slightly enhanced version was available for the AGAAdvanced Graphics Architecture
Advanced Graphics Architecture is the third generation Amiga graphic chip set, first used in the Amiga 4000 in 1992. AGA was codenamed the Pandora chipset by Commodore International internally....
Amiga 1200
Amiga 1200
The Amiga 1200, or A1200 , was Commodore International's third-generation Amiga computer, aimed at the home market...
which has several changes like more colorful backdrops and improved SFX and music. Allister Brimble
Allister Brimble
Allister Mark Brimble is a video game music composer. Allister has written music and sound effects for the videogame industry since the mid 1980s for a vast array of games, such as Driver, Project-X, Superfrog, Alien Breed, Assassin, Colonization, Descent II, Dizzy series ,Slightly Magic...
composed the music (the title and end tracks, plus one for each planet).
Reception
Body Blows Galactic received favorable reviews except from CU Amiga which critiqued unbalanced characters: while Warra, Lazer and Dino are ineffective, the very fast Kai-Ti seems invincible. In a special comparison in the Amiga Action Issue 53 (January 1994), Body Blows Galactic won or shared the title in the category "Atmosphere" and "Two Player Game" against Mortal KombatMortal Kombat (video game)
Mortal Kombat is a 1992 fighting-game developed and published by Midway for arcades. In 1993, home versions were released by Acclaim Entertainment. Released in the Fall of 1994, the Microsoft Windows 3.1x version was released by Activision Interactive. It is the first title in the Mortal Kombat...
and Elfmania
Elfmania
Elfmania is a 2D beat 'em up game developed by Terramarque and released by Renegade Software in 1994 for the Amiga .-Gameplay:The gameplay is a standard fighting game, but Elfmania does not have special moves triggered by various button combinations, as is typical in most other games of this type....
.
Review quotes and ratings:
- "Quite honestly, Body Blows Galactic is the best beat'em up ever to be inserted into the drive of an Amiga." - 93% - Amiga ComputingAmiga ComputingAmiga Computing was a monthly computer magazine of a serious nature, published by Europress and IDG in both the UK and USA. A total of 117 issues came out. The games section was called Gamer, although later Amiga Action was incorporated into the magazine and became the games section.- External...
#69 (Jan 1994). - "Galactic is better than the original, but it suffers from dodgy joystick controls and is trembling in the long shadow cast by the upcoming Elfmania." - 88% - Amiga FormatAmiga FormatAmiga Format was a British computer magazine for Amiga computers, published by Future Publishing. The magazine lasted 136 issues from 1989 to 2000. The magazine was formed when, in the wake of selling ACE to EMAP, Future split the dual-format title ST/Amiga Format into two separate publications...
#54 (Xmas 1993). - "You just have to ask yourself if you really, really want another combat game, and if the answer is yes then Body Blows Galactic is most certainly for you." - 87% - The OneThe One (magazine)The One was a video game magazine in the United Kingdom which covered 16-bit home gaming during the late 1980s and early 1990s. It was first published by EMAP in October 1988 and initially covered computer games aimed at the Atari ST, Commodore Amiga, and IBM PC markets.Like many similar magazines,...
Amiga #63 (Dec 1993). - "If you're beat'em up freak, this is well worth chechking out." - 84% - Amiga Action #53 (Jan 1994).
- "Beat'eam ups need to be fast and responsive, otherwise you realise how shallow they are. This is neither." - 72% - Amiga PowerAmiga PowerAmiga Power was a monthly magazine about Amiga computer games. It was published in the United Kingdom by Future Publishing, and ran for 65 issues, from May 1991 to September 1996....
#33 (Jan 1994). - "A sad follow up to a brilliant game. What a disappointment." - 57% - CU Amiga (Jan 1994).
Other ratings included 91% in Amiga Force
Amiga Force
Amiga Force was a video games magazine launched towards the end of 1992 by Europress Impact. It lasted for 16 issues before going down with its publishers. The first issue of Amiga Force went on sale around September 1992. The magazine would switch to monthly release soon after. Amiga Force showed...
14 (Jan 1994), 90% in Amiga Dream #2 (Dec 1993), 86% in ACAR Vol 11 No 3 (Mar 1994), and 83% in Amiga Joker (Dec 1993).
In March 2008, the website Defunct Games took a review solely of the cover of Body Blows Galactic and mocked: "Seriously guys, what happened to the background?"