{"id":26600,"date":"2024-09-03T12:57:27","date_gmt":"2024-09-03T11:57:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/geimers.com\/?p=26600"},"modified":"2025-07-22T22:27:37","modified_gmt":"2025-07-22T21:27:37","slug":"worst-sega-mega-drive-genesis-games-american-gladiators","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/geimers.com\/en\/worst-sega-mega-drive-genesis-games-american-gladiators\/","title":{"rendered":"Worst SEGA Mega Drive \/ Genesis Games: American Gladiators"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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\n\t\t\tTable of Content<\/span>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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American Gladiators<\/b> was an American television program that aired from 1989 to 1996, in which a group of amateur athletes faced off in a tournament against the program’s gladiators in a series of physical challenges to define who became the champion. The show was quite successful with the audience which allowed for video game adaptations to be released, the first developed by Incredible Technologies, Inc.<\/strong> for NES<\/strong> in 1991 and a second version developed by Imagitec Design Inc.<\/strong> which was released for Amiga<\/strong>, DOS<\/strong>, Genesis<\/strong> and Super<\/strong> Nintendo<\/strong>, both versions were distributed by Game Tek Inc.<\/strong> The Sega Genesis<\/strong> version was released in 1992 exclusively in the United States<\/strong> and as is often the case with playable video game adaptations of film and television licenses the result is very mediocre offering a poor, short and boring game that fails to stand out in anything. While the program it is based on is not exactly brilliant, this title does not even manage to replicate the fun of the challenges; it is more of a combination of mini-games than a fully-fledged video game.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Mechanics<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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The game allows us to choose between two modes, \u201cHead to Head\u201d in which we face another player or Tournament where 8 contestants participate being able to select who will be controlled by the players and who by the computer. Each participant can select if they want to play as a man or a woman which does not modify anything except the sprites of one of the events, in the rest it is still impossible to distinguish one from another, in addition to the gender it allows us to enter a name for each participant. In both modes we will have to complete the 6 events included in the game, the difference is that in tournament mode the competitor with the least points is eliminated and the winner advances to the next round.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Game Events<\/h3>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Regardless of the game mode selected, we must complete 6 events to determine a winner. These are based on the challenges we could see in the television program. Each of them has its own rules and controls, which can be quite confusing when we try to play for the first time. This, added to the fact that the controls do not have a good response, gives us a continuous feeling that the game is very arbitrary. In this regard, it is highly recommended to read the manual before starting to find out how each event works, as well as its respective controls, which usually vary between the different challenges.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Assault\n<\/h4>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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In this event we must avoid being hit by the projectiles that the American gladiator, always controlled by AI, shoots at us from the other end of the playing area. If he manages to hit us, we are automatically eliminated. To win, we must reach the exit located at the other end and shoot the 5 weapons placed on the defensive barricades before the clock reaches zero. We will earn a point for each weapon fired and we must shoot them all before crossing the exit or else we will be disqualified. If we succeed, we will earn 5 points. We can also earn additional points if we manage to hit the target located above the gladiator with our weapons. If we hit the central part of the target we get 10 points and if we hit the edges we get 5. In theory we can add up to 50 additional points in the best case scenario, but I wouldn’t get my hopes up since hitting the target is one of the most difficult things. In my personal experience I didn’t manage to hit it even once in all the games I played. This challenge seems very difficult to conquer at first, but with a little practice it is quite easy (at least getting the 5 basic points). The main difficulty lies in the chaos of its controls.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Assault Event Controls<\/h5>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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When the event starts, the camera is positioned from a bird’s eye view and we see everything from above. We move with the directional buttons to the defensive barricade and once behind it we must press B<\/strong>. It is essential to be facing forward when pressing the button and to position ourselves in the middle of the barricade or otherwise the action will not be performed. The precision must be millimetric since if we are one pixel to the side it will be of no use to us. If we have done it well, the camera changes to third person behind the player, now we must move from left to right in order to position ourselves in front of the weapon. One detail to keep in mind is that while we are in the weapon area we can receive shots, so it is highly advisable to first move to one side, tempting our rival and after dodging the projectile, take control of the weapon by pressing the C<\/strong> button. Once we have the weapon in our hands we cannot move and the directional buttons take control of the direction of the weapon which is displayed as a small crosshair in the upper right corner of the screen, to shoot we must press B<\/strong>. As soon as we shoot we must press the C<\/strong> button to put the weapon back in place and then simply move to one side to leave our cover and run to the next one and repeat the process on all the barricades to finally escape through the corridor in the upper right corner of the playing field.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Joust<\/h4>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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In this event the player occupies the left platform while the AI-controlled gladiator occupies the right. The objective is to knock down our opponent and prevent him from knocking us down. To do this, both contenders have a stick that they can use to attack or defend themselves. If we knock down our opponent we get 10 points, if we last 60 seconds without falling we get 5 points, and if we are knocked down we get zero. This is the only event in the entire game in which the male and female characters have different sprites, although the differences are minimal. As always, the controls of the event are anything but intuitive and it is quite difficult to understand how to play without checking the instruction manual first.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Joust Event Controls<\/h5>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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To attack we must hold down the B button and indicate a direction. Each of the 8 available directions executes a different attack, although at first they all seem to do the same damage. To defend ourselves we must use the directional keys without pressing any button, the diagonal keys execute the different blocks, with left and right we take a step in the indicated direction and we can crouch and jump by pressing down or up respectively.<\/span><\/p>

This event in its television format is a combination of strength, skill and balance, its video game counterpart on the other hand does not have any of this. In real life the various blows to different areas of the body destabilize the opponents and sometimes a few movements achieve victory. While in the Genesis game this is reduced to emptying the rival’s energy bar, there is no real way to make the rival lose balance and fall, the only way to achieve this is by completely draining their energy. Which mostly comes down to holding down B and mashing the directional keys to execute attacks as quickly as possible, without any kind of strategy, in fact the defensive movements are a waste of time, the best strategy is to simply hit before your rival.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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The Wall<\/h4>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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The objective is to climb the wall before the 40 seconds run out. Here we compete simultaneously against the other player, but each one on their own side of the screen, which means we cannot interact between players. Both competitors start at the same time and a few seconds later the gladiators controlled by the computer go out to try to knock them down. The first to reach the top gets 10 points, the second 5. If time runs out or they are hit by the gladiator, they do not add anything.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Controls for the The Wall event<\/h5>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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To advance, we must use the grips placed on the wall. We choose a position with the directional buttons and then press B to advance in that position, as long as we have something to hold on to, otherwise we will stay in place. The gameplay is very similar to the classic arcade game Crazy Climber<\/strong>, but it also allows us to advance diagonally and without projectiles to dodge.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Atlasphere<\/h4>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Here we find ourselves inside metal spheres and our objective is to roll to one of the 4 capsules on the map. If we manage to roll through the center of the capsule we add a point. To continue adding points we must go to another capsule since it is impossible to add points twice in a row in the same one. The gray spheres are controlled by the gladiators and they will be dedicated to preventing any of the players from scoring points. This event is the first in which we share the playing area with the other player, which allows us to obstruct their progress. The event ends after 60 seconds and players add points based on the number of capsules crossed during this time.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Atlasphere Event Controls<\/h5>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Unlike the rest of the challenges, here the controls are very simple and intuitive, although that does not prevent their mechanics from being quite improvable. We move with the directional buttons and we gain momentum as we advance. This inertia is essential to be able to climb the platforms and cross them to add points. Obviously, if we hit other spheres, we lose speed, which makes it impossible for us to cross the capsules. This means that, in addition to focusing on scoring points, we must also be careful to avoid enemy attacks. There are times when we arrive with just enough force and we are blocked in the hole in the platform with no way out, since we do not generate enough inertia to cross the platform. Since we do not have any option for these cases, our only alternative is to wait for one of our rivals to hit us with enough force to make us roll out. If we have a good advantage over the rival player, a good strategy is usually to limit ourselves to preventing our opponent from scoring points and thus maintain our advantage.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Powerball<\/h4>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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This is the second challenge in which we play simultaneously with our opponent on the same playing field. In this event we must place the largest number of balls inside one of the five containers. If we manage to leave the ball in one of the outer containers we win a point and if we do it in the central container two, the computer controls several gladiators who will try to prevent the competitors from scoring. We must collect the balls from two containers located at the top and bottom of the playing field and we must alternate between one and the other. The challenge ends after 45 seconds.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Powerball Event Controls<\/h5>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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We move with the directional buttons and use the B button to collect the balls and also to deposit them in the containers. In both cases it is essential to be pointing directly ahead or it will not work. The precision must be millimetric and on more than one occasion it becomes a very frustrating experience since a single pixel difference causes us to not grab the ball or to fail when trying to score. In fact, when picking up the balls, it is preferable to aim diagonally, however, to shoot them, it is better to aim in a straight line, otherwise you usually fail almost every time, which makes no sense or logic. Finally, if we have the ball in our control, it is assumed that with the B button we can knock down our rivals, although this rarely works, since they are usually the ones who manage to knock us down with the slightest contact.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Eliminator<\/h4>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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The last event, the manual defines it as a series of eight challenges but due to the generic nature of them there are practically no differences between one and the other, so we can define it as a single event itself, with slight or almost no alterations. Again we compete simultaneously on a split screen which allows us to see the progress of our rival but without being able to hinder their progress in any way.<\/span><\/p>

This challenge is basically an obstacle course which we must complete in less than 75 seconds, it begins with a flat start followed by a slope of approximately 45\u00ba, then we must cross a hand bridge and then we advance dodging 3 sandbags so as not to fall. Then we must climb a wall to descend from the top using a zip line. Once on the ground we must run and jump over 4 fences, which will give us an extra point for each successful jump although it is advisable to go over them to gain time. In the final stretch a gladiator may appear who will try to block our way, we continue running until we overcome it and reach the goal.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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In this event, you don’t use the directional buttons, just the buttons. You have to alternate between A and C to move forward and the B button will help you drop off the zipline, although it’s best to wait for your character to let go by himself to avoid falling too far back. With B you can also jump over the hurdles, although due to the delay in the response, it’s quite difficult to jump correctly, and you also lose inertia, which makes it take longer to recover your speed. If you crash into the obstacles, it will slow you down a bit, but it will still take you less time than trying to avoid them. Contrary to all logic, it’s better to take all the hurdles ahead of you. So, you can win the event just by mashing two buttons, as if it were a 100-meter race in Track & Field<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Dynamics<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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The dynamics of this game are very simple, in head to head mode we compete against a rival in the 6 events and the winner is the one who gets the most points. In tournament mode, however, 8 or 16 teams can participate, with 8 participants of each gender and each one in their own bracket which always starts from the quarter-finals. Each round pits the participants in the 6 events against each other and the competitors with the lowest score are eliminated. The interesting thing about tournament mode is that each of the competitors can be a human player, which allows multiplayer for up to 16 people, although the matches are always one on one. Human participants can also be combined with those controlled by the computer, obviously. At the end of the tournament, the winner receives a congratulatory message on a simple poster, nothing more, no small cinematic, no image or a \u201cthe end\u201d nothing, the game boots again from the beginning showing the SEGA logo as if we had restarted the console.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Aesthetics<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Graphics<\/h3>

The graphics are very simple, the first player always wears blue, the second red and the AI-controlled gladiators grey. The stages are extremely generic with the audience sprites repeated like in Hanna Barbera cartoons and completely static without a single animation. The competitor sprites are extremely basic, only in the Joust event are they presented with a good size offering a good amount of detail although with quite poor animations. The only striking detail regarding the visual presentation are the advertising posters that can be seen in some events promoting not only the developers and distributors but also third-party brands such as GamePro and Adidas, I don’t want to imagine how much they have had to pay to appear in this sad excuse for a game. Probably the only aspect that the game manages to faithfully represent are the transitions of the posters prior to the events that are identical to those used in the television program. Curiously, only the menus and the final event are played in full screen, the rest of the events have a noticeable black bar at the bottom to fill the screen, this may be due to the graphics of the Amiga version being reused but there is no way to confirm this.<\/span><\/p>

Audio<\/h3>

The soundtrack of the title is even poorer if possible, the sound effects are few and very simple and the music is summed up in a single song of just over a minute long that is repeated in an eternal loop. Absolutely nothing to highlight in this aspect and the melody itself offers nothing interesting.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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