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Welcome everyone to The Octagon, your one stop shop for fighting games of today and yesterday.

As a young snot nosed punk there were very few things as awesome as a day at the mall.  Buy some comic books, have a piece of pizza, bum around looking at RPG books and novelty crap until being forced back into the car to go home.  And of course the arcade, a sleeve of quarters and, my good friends the JAMMA cabinets.  One of the most memorable titles of that young era for me was Time Killers, a game that stepped up the violence before all the cool kids were doing it.

Title Screen covered in blood is a sure fire sign of quality.

At first glance it seems like a pretty standard 2D fighter.  A random assortment of cartoon characters greet you on the title screen, and if you notice they all appear to be from different eras in history (even the future).  So here I am, quarters in the machine, looking for a character that will protect my investment.  What's that I see?  Chainsaw guy!  Samurai Showdown was a while off in the future, so weapon based fighting was an exciting innovation in and of itself, but this guy had the mother of all melee weapons.  Rancid was his name, and he would be my inaugural fighter.  My excitement would be short lived thanks to a shockingly steep learning curve.  I would lose my head, literally, it the second or third round and meet the familiar Continue? Screen.  For the next few years Time Killers would get quite a bit of my money, mostly for versus matches.  I would reach the Grim Reaper end boss only once and get my ass handed to me quite heavily.  My buddies and I at the arcade had a ton of great battles due the simple and logical interface, as well as the somewhat comedic violence the game offered.

As crazy as it sounds Time Killers out does Mortal Kombat on several levels.  Controls are more elaborate than a Street Fighter clone, with each limb and the head connected to a corresponding button.  Double button presses resulted in a different, stronger attack.  Special moves are street fighter style for the most part while combos are difficult and short.  Here's where things get interesting.  While you have a main health bar like any other fighter, each arm has it's own durability too, and as the battle progresses they can be lopped off.  In fact you can lose both of them and be stuck without any of the moves associated to those buttons.  This was a crazy innovation at the time, and one of the more exciting aspects of the game as you could target opponent's arms to hinder their game plan.  As I found out quickly there is also a decapitation attack that any of the characters can perform at any time, and should you fail to block it you're done for.  Even at full health you've got to watch out for that nasty decapitation.  During battle the characters take visible damage and have wounds open on their bodies.

Time Killers has a solid little roster, but while the game has some nice complexities the characters are not all that different from one another.  The biggest differences are ascetic; picking a character in a fighting game is equal parts style and substance for the average player and Time Killers has a good selection in that sense.  Giant insect?  Check.  Viking?  Check.  Cave Man?  Check.

The cast of characters.

There is no doubt in my mind that Time Killers was a game before it's time and worth a spot in history.  It's unfortunate that Strata didn't get much support for the title.  You see, while Time Killers is ultra violent and hilarious, it never reached the same level of media stardom (or publicity) that Mortal Kombat did.  This could be for any number of reasons but I personally credited MK's more realistic graphics and motion capture.  Whatever the reason MK would become internationally known and Time Killers would remain a niche title for the fighting enthusiast.  Super violent fighters would seemingly rush the scene, trying to capitalize, but some publishers would shy away from them on home consoles.  Time Killers would receive an awful port on Sega Genesis that I cannot honestly suggest anyone play.  Check out the local flea market, or if you're lucky enough to have a large arcade in your area see if you can find Time Killers to check it out.  Strata went on to make Bloodstorm, something of my own personal fighting game holy grail. But that's a story for another installment of the Octagon.

Futuristic Space Woman - 0, Giant Praying Mantis - 1

Octagon Score* 5 Pelvis Shattering Groin Kicks out of 10

(*Octagon Score is primarily based on personal preference and relevant to the hardcore fighting game enthusiast and historian.  Your mileage may vary. )