Body Blows

In 1991, the first Street Fighter II arcade machines came out. In 1992, the game hit the consoles and home computer systems. While the DOS port has been considered a serious contender of the worst port ever, the Amiga version in general faired better with reviewers. But some still thought it was slow and hard to play and just liven off the fame of its amusement hall cousin. But be that as it may, you can well imagine a murmur going through the offices of the Amiga developers and Amiga magazines all over the world:

Do we really need this? Do we need a mediocre coin-op port thrown at our feet. Can't we do it ourselves? Can't we do better? And Team17 went on to prove that they could.

Team17, of course, were not new to this. Their first game (well, the first one released under this label), Full Contact, had already been a fighter. Meanwhile, they had become one of the top Amiga developers with titles like Alien Breed and Project X. They developed Body Blows as they developed all their games, close to the hardware of the Amiga and making the best of it. Body Blows will run on any Amiga ever made.

Of course, if you are looking for something original, look somewhere else. Body Blows never hides the fact that it is, after all, a Street Fighter II clone. But reviewers loved it, its success warranted an AGA re-release, the CD32-only Ultimate Body Blows and the sequel (of sorts) Body Blows Galactic (both in 1994), and it still has its fans, not only on its native platform, but also on the PC.

The Characters

NIK

He reckons he's tough, our Nik. You can tell, because he goes around in a baseball cap and ripped jeans. As it happens, he's tough. Being the leader of a local gang, he gets plenty of practice when it comes to punch-ups, and packs a hefty uppercut. Such is his hatred for his elder brother Dan, that he can channel his rage into a bolt of pure electricity.

DAN

Big brother of Nik, Dan has a remarkably similar fighting style. He's also a bit of a gangster, and has prefected the family specialty of lightning bolt emission. He seems a bit of a sad character actually, tagging along in his little brother's footsteps, but when it comes to the crunch, he's as tough as the next man.

JUNIOR

Billed as a solid British boxing bulldog, Junior has learned his trade through the years of sparring with the best in the world. Now he's thrown Queensberry rules to the wind and wouldn't think twice about giving you a good kicking, above or below the belt. Junior's trump card is a blindingly fast flurry of jabs from his iron fist.

LO RAY

And you thought monks were soft? Lo Ray gave up his strict Buddhist life at the Shaolin Temple, lured by the big bucks of prize fighting. His discipline has served him well enough, enabling him to withstand extreme pain, leap around with the agility of a cat, and perform a deadly kind of flying cartwheel move that never fails to flatten his opponents (well, almost never anyway, but that doesn't sound good, does it?).

COSSAK

Much as he tries to deny it, Cossak used to be part of the USSR national dancing team, and has a whole cabinet full of trophies and medals proudly displayed back at his mother's home in Moscow. Infuriated that his dancing secrets were revealed, he set about building himself the perfect body. A true man of steel, Cossak is almost unbreakable. The price he pays for this unbelievable strength is a severe lack of speed. This doesn't usually bother him though—a few clouts from his gargantuan forearms and his opponents are out for the count.

DUG

At last, someone with a sense of humour! Dug is like those old wrestlers you used to get on World of Sport on Sunday mornings (before American wrestling took over). Most of the time he just flails his arms around like a six month-old baby, but his flying body splash is one to look out for. Dug's special move? He's got such a gut on him that he can jump up in the air and cause a mini-earthquake as he lands, sending devastating shockwaves through any opponent.

MARIA

Equal opportunities have given Maria the chance of a bit of a fisticuff with the boys. Lithe in her skin-tight outfit, she uses her stunning looks to distract her opponents form the job in hand. Unfortunately, Maria is rather outclassed in the power stakes, but her speed goes some way to balancing things out. If all fails, she can call upon her 'spin around very fast and bump into you' special move.

NINJA

Just so you don't forget his name, Ninja insists on yelling it out every time he gets a little distressed. At best, he's a tricky one to handle, using his powers of invisibility to evade your attacks, deftly stabbing you with feet, fists and a glinting blade. At worst, he's a spinning ball of razor-sharp steel and flying limbs. Definitely a cut above your average Ninja.

MIKE

Something big in the city, or so he'd like to think. Mike isn't afraid to roll up his sleeves and mix it with the best of them. They call him the Grey Man, but underneath that drab man from Accounts exterior, Mike is actually a bit of a nutter. Like the Raybans concealing concealing his emotions, his orthodox fighting style conceals his ability to transform himself into a whirlwind.

YIT-U

Yit-U is certainly not a character to be messed with. What he lacks in family history, amusing anecdotes and general personality, he makes up for with a weird special move. One secpnd, he can be at an apparently safe distance on the other side of the screen, but within the blink of an eye, he can turn himself into a blur of proton particles, and rematerialise right in front of you, piling a nosebreaking punch right in your face. Who needs personality anyway?

MAX

The overall champ, Max is just a general all-round hardman. If you get this far, you deserve to give him a right pasting. Whether you will or not is another matter entirely. I won't spoil it for you by spilling the beans, but he's got a pretty dirty trick up his sleeves—all is not what it seems!

Reviews

• Body Blows is strong where it needs to be, Emmanuel Henne assures us:

  The playability is great, and this is mainly because the controls are very sophisticated and the enemies are not too hard or too stupid (Rise of the robots, anyone?). Every move can be controlled with a single-button joystick, be it one of the spectacular special moves (Power Punch, Arrow Hand) or the standard moves for attack (kick, punch) or defence (high/low block). Everything is easily accessible and cleverly thought out so that you don't have to relearn the moves with every new character.

• So it's better than the legendary Street Fighter 2? the reviewer on CU Amiga asked, and answered:

  In a word, yes, but of course it doesn't have the coin-op in your bedroom appeal of the latter. If you've fallen for the charms of SF2 to such a degree that you can now be found prancing around the house in a pair of red underpants, pretending to be Zangief, then I'd say you need to see a doctor. Okay, I don't want a show of hands, but if that sounds like you, then it's time you took off your Street Fighter blinkers (and put your trousers back on), and introduced yourself to the super speedy world of Body Blows.

• Body Blows would win hands down, Flashback thought, in a contest with Street Fighter:

  You have the choice of 10 characters, each of whom have their own special strengths and a bit of a story behind them. When you first enter the game, if you sit there for a minute or two it'll go through all the players and you can learn a little bit about them and try and decide who you'll use based on that. Once inside the game, you have the option of a 1 Player game, 2 Player game, Arcade game, or competing in a Tournament which works on a knock out basis. If you win, you're in; If you lose, you're out—may the best fighter win!