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Ultra Vortek
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Developer(s)	Beyond Games
Publisher(s)	Atari
Platform(s)	Atari Jaguar
Release date(s)	1995
Genre(s)	fighting

Ultra Vortek is the title of an ultra violent fighting game developed by Beyond Games and published by Atari for its Atari Jaguar home console system in 1995. The game's design followed the 90's fighting game trend and attempted to capitalize on the popularity of such games. Like many ultra violent titles, the game received a "Mature" (17+) rating from the Entertainment Software Ratings Board.

[edit] Storyline

The game is set in a dystopia where civilization has been reduced to a Mad Max inspired world of warlords. After the discovery of a mystical artifact, humanity declined and nations across the world fell apart.

During the world's decline, science and technology has advanced far enough for humans to develop creations of their own. The first one developed was the Robot, designed to replace human manual labor for cost effectiveness. Technology eventually progressed to a point where humans could allow robots their own ability to reason. However, after being enslaved for more than fifty years, the Robots eventually became self-aware. Once that happened, the Robots formed the Society of Machines, Androids, and Cyborgs, or the SMAC, which petitioned for equal rights in human society. As a result, conflict between humans and Robots developed.

The second creation humans developed was an obscure group of human clones known as Specially Qualified Unique Engineered Eugenic Biounits, or SQUEEBs. Designed by the Military Industrial Complex, ltd. with survival capabilities that surpassed humans, SQUEEBs would eventually replace soldiers, and were used heavily during a given war. Eventually, during a great conflict in the year 2112, some SQUEEBs escaped and formed a collective underground gang called the Powershifters. Unlike the other gangs, the Powershifters have no true leader. As a result, very few gangs offer any allegiance to them, as their opinions and views change.

As society crumbled, many humans joined gangs to rebel against the corrupt government and the rival gangs. The largest known gang in the underground is the MeatHackers. Unlike the other gangs, the MeatHackers have developed into two different factions. One using their Vortek derived powers and tools of combat, and the other using hand-held weapons as their tools. This has created friction between them, with the older members that favor their Vortek derived powers often regarding hand-held weapons as poor substitutes.

After a certain point, a mysterious creature, Satanic in appearance called the "Guardian," appears before humanity and announces that he will destroy the world, unless a warrior can defeat him in violent combat. The Guardian has alloted a specific amount of time for humanity to select seven of their best fighters and have them compete with one another. Once the fighter becomes victorious and defeats the other warriors, he/she will open the "Ultra Vortek" and combat the Guardian. Once he/she defeats the Guardian, he/she may then use his newly acquired power to determine the fate of the Earth.

[edit] Characters

[edit] The MeatHackers

Lucius (Current leader of the MeatHackers, and grandmaster of the Vortek power division)
Dreadloc (Second in command. Leader of the weapons division)

[edit] The PowerShifters

Volcana
Mercury
Grok (Only known SQUEEB of his kind).

[edit] The Society of Machines, Androids, and Cyborgs

Skullcrusher (Known as the "Minister of Discipline")
Buzzsaw

[edit] Hidden Characters

Carbon (Essentially, a black palette swap of Grok with one additional move, and a possible PowerShifter).
The Guardian (boss)
Shadows (shadow-colored palette swaps of any of the seven fighters. They are fought before facing The Guardian, thus being considered sub-bosses).

[edit] Reception

Much like Kasumi Ninja, Atari's first Jaguar-exclusive fighting game, Ultra Vortek was not received well by critics but was still exponentially better received than Kasumi Ninja. However, unlike Kasumi Ninja, Ultra Vortek spent well over a year in development. It missed its original February 1995 release date, seeing delay after delay after delay until late May 1995. There was never an explanation given for its myriad delays, but the end result did not seem to please gamers who were eagerly awaiting another fighting game to add to their very limited Jaguar library.

Considered a Mortal Kombat clone primarily because of its gruesome violence and use of digitized actors(an accusation also applied to Kasumi Ninja), UV was harshly compared to the established fighting game series. Despite the panning however, UV managed to establish a considerable fan base. UV had more fighters, more arenas, and more content than Kasumi Ninja, including 2 fatalities per character, multiple "pits" and other types of stage fatalities, and a broader storyline. It was the first fighting game on the Jaguar to feature voice modem capability (a staunchly underused feature in the Jaguar) and managed to build a considerable amount of hope for the Jaguar and the future of its fighting titles.

Ultimately, Ultra Vortek had much potential but fell short in many areas, specifically gameplay which was considered static and "sticky" with sluggish control response and a poor collision detection system. It received mediocre scores from most gaming publications such as Game Informer and GamePro, though it was praised as a valiant attempt to breathe life with an underused genre into an already dying console.

[edit] See also

List of fighting games

[edit] References

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