Pit-Fighter Arcade / SNES / Genesis / Gameboy / Sega Master System / Commodore 64 / Atari LYNX / Amiga / Amstrad CPC / Atari ST / GameCube / PlayStation 2 / XBOX / PC (1990)
With this section I'd like to attempt to break down WHY the game is so bad. The goal of this game is the same as many other much better games. You move your guy in front of other guys and tap a attack button. Pit-Fighter might lack certain gameplay elements that these other games have, but that doesn't seem to explain why this game is so bad. So why is this game infinitely worse than many of the other physically and structurally similar games?
As opposed to other better executed games, in Pit-Fighter every individual element is horribly executed. The hit detection is horrible, the control response is horrible, and the way the game simply feels is horrible. There are plenty of games that fail on every level and are really nothing more than boring. Pit-Fighter is another beast entirely, though. Pit-Fighter exceeds boring or bad and reaches that level where a game, despite giving people something to do, is infinitely worse than doing nothing at all.
It's so bad because its total lack of enjoyability is so heavily outweighed by the effort that its flaws force players to put into playing the game. Its difficulty level is very high as it is, and the poor hit detection and controls just make players have to work that much harder to get anything to happen. Even when you do pull off moves or make progress through the game, it's all so poorly designed that there's so sense of achievement whatsoever. So playing Pit-Fighter is as rewarding as staring at a blank screen. Except no blank screen could be this ugly. Its high level of challenge and technical problems also mean that your absolute attention is required for even the actions that should, as a rule, be effortless to execute in a fighting game. This all combines to make Pit-Fighter little more than a chore to play, and among the few examples of a game that's actually more boring to play than to watch it in action.
Most people quickly realize how bad this game is and don't bother to play past the first level. As bad as the designs are for the playable characters and the first boss, it gets worse. I played this game to completion, so I'll try do discuss what most people never had the tolerance to see.
Thematically, Pit-Fighter is really not based on other fighting games, or even on other video games. At least not as much as it is based on bad 1980's B-level martial arts action movies. Those movies where the title is always a variation on "Kick Boxer" or "Bloodsport." The plot in those movies always was something like this: a street fighter needs to get revenge on his brother's killer, and the only way to do so is to enter a secret tournament where guys fight in the middle of a circle of cars with their headlights on and women with teased hair sit on the hoods with fists pumping and yell "YEAH". Where every male character wears pants and no shirt, or a tank and sweats. Pit-Fighter is that kind of movie only in video game form. Change "get revenge on his brother's killer" to "win cash" and that is pretty much it. It even has has the generic "pit arena" in the early levels, and then the circle of cars in later levels. The screaming spectators are here as well.
The character designs are pretty crazy, but the gameplay will be impossible to get past for there to be any camp appeal.
Characters
There are three buttons, used for kicking, jumping, and punching. If you press all three at the same time, you'll execute a special attack. There are a few interesting ideas here that were taken from beat-em-ups. There are occasionally weapons on the ground (like motorcycles!) that the player can attack with. There are even spectators that sometimes will attack the player. Characters can walk into the crowd, but will get shoved back out by crowd members. There are also "Grudge Matches". During these, the goal is to knock down your opponent(s) three times though loosing these doesn't end the game. Certain enemies have to be fought twice during the course of the game, and Chainman Eddie is fought along with a clone of himself in the level before the final boss. These differences from standard fighters do nothing to save the gameplay, though.
The game's real innovation is bringing three player co-operative play to the fighter genre (though the game plays more like a beat-em-up than anything else). Three players can team up to defeat the game's humorously badly designed boss characters. That's right, up to three people can be bored out of their minds at the same time. This option does nothing to make the game any better.
Believe it or not, the ports are all much worse in every respect, though the Atari ST and Amiga versions are the most accurate. Nintendo Power even once said that the SNES port of Pit-Fighter was the worst game ever released for a Nintendo console. Years later it was released as part of the compilation Midway Arcade Treasures 2 for Gamecube, Playstation 2, and XBOX. In 2006 it was rereleased for the PC as part of the compilation "Midway Arcade Treasures Deluxe Edition". These were straight ports of the arcade release, although the PS2 version has the timing all screwed up. A port for Atari 7800 (!) was made, but never released. There was even a Genesis sequel planned that was never released.
Pit Fighter
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Screenshot Comparisons
Arcade
Amiga
Atari ST
SNES
Genesis
Lynx
Commodore 64
Sega Master System
Gameboy
Most fans of fighters seem to believe that "in the beginning there was Street Fighter II". Hopefully this write up will show you that that statement isn't true. Familiarizing myself with this forgotten part of the genre's history has given me proper perspective on how to judge post SFII games. These games show that not only is SFII not the be-all-end-all innovator that it is often perceived to be, but that most of the genre's defining innovations happened before SFII was ever made. Most people still judge the genre with a belief to the contrary, dismissing this fighter or that fighter as SFII cash-ins. In reality, SFII and most other fighters with similar design are based on ideas and innovations that preceded their era. In fact, the genre has become less innovative since SFII. At least there are still a few fighters - again, Super Smash Bros. Melee, along with the recent Gamecube Naruto titles, that are doing things a bit differently and making this dying genre more accessible.
Thanks to Andrew Scarpacci for editing and formatting this article.
Karate Champ Vs
Otoko Jyuku
Otoko Jyuku
Otoko Jyuku
Pit-Fighter is probably the most well known fighter in America to have been released prior to Street Fighter II. The game is remembered for having possibly the worst gameplay in a fighter. This fact is not a joke. If you haven't played this game, I promise it is as bad as everybody says it is.
Buzz
A former professional wrestler, Buzz is the power character. I am curious if the actor who posed for the motion capturing for this character realized what he was doing when he showed up without a shirt on.
Ty
A kickboxer (If you didn't see that coming you haven't been paying attention), Ty is the agile character. Lacks a freaking shirt.
Kato
A "3rd degree black belt" (In what, and why 3rd?), Kato is the speedy character. Like the other two characters, he contributes to making Pit-Fighter the only video game with less shirts than Yie Ar Kung-Fu. Like the other two actors, I will assume he leaves this game off his resume.
The Executioner
Wears a executioner's mask (I bet this was the actor's idea), but not a shirt.
Southside Jim
Wears a tank and sweats. At least he's fully clothed!
Angel
With teased hair and clad in worryingly sparse leather clothing that looks like she should have a whip and be in a music video circa 1984. As embarrassing as this game is, this character is the worst thing about it.
C.C. Rider
Named after that classic rock band, or that guy from Poison? Who cares. He is a generic biker character. Wears a leather vest, but not a shirt.
Chainman Eddie
If the facial hair wasn't stupid enough, his clothing defies belief. Hot pants, two chains across his chest, and nothing else.
Heavy Metal
Chainman Eddie can't be out stupided in his design, but they came damn close with this piece of shit. His design looks EXACTLY like the character designs from Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome. Oh, and he lacks a shirt.
Mad Miles
Looks like an out of shape commando/guy-getting-arrested-on-COPS, he wears a tank and camouflage pants. To my amazement, after he first knocked my chosen shirtless character down, I found that he SPITS on downed opponents!
Masked Warrior
The final boss. Fought in a round titled "Championship Match", where, like in Highlander, "there can be only one". Wears knee high boots with metallic knee pads, two leather straps that cross his chest, a mask like Jason from Friday the 13th, and no shirt! What the hell was going on with these dumbass designers!?
Damn! That's a ton of games! We've certainly seen and learned quite a bit about the history of the genre, what games are of interest, and what games to avoid.
