Supreme Warrior

File:SupremeWarriorScreenshot.jpeg game. The player is fighting a full motion opponent using the hands at the bottom of the screen.|alt=A person's hands in front of another person, fighting.]]

Supreme Warrior is a full-motion video (FMV) beat 'em up game.{{Cite magazine |last=Dean |date=May 1995 |title=Supreme Warrior |magazine=Sega Power |issue=66 |pages=48–49}} Gameplay consists of fighting the villain Fang Tu's minions, and eventually Fang Tu himself. From a first-person perspective, players can punch, kick, and execute special moves. A pair of hands is visible on screen that the player controls, and icons prompt the player to attack with timing. Defeating various opponents will give the player special moves. There are three difficulty levels.{{Cite magazine |last=Francis |date=Summer 1995 |title=Zappers: Supreme Warrior |magazine={{Interlanguage link|MEGA Force (magazine)|lt=MEGA Force|fr||WD=}} |language=French |issue=41 |page=93}}

Supreme Warrior{{'s}} plot is about a warrior, Wei Jian Tsen, who acquires a mask that can be split in halves representing good and evil. When the two halves are combined, the wearer gains untold power. Wei Jian Tsen's second wife, Mei Tu, becomes influenced by the Black Flower Cult, a murderous group that uses sorcery. In response, Wei had her executed, causing their only son, Fang Tu, to leave their clan. Wei divides the mask and entrusts half to a Shaolin monk, Master Kai, while keeping the other half himself. Fang Tu kills his father and takes his half. Kai requests that the player transport the other half to a secret sanctuary.{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/Supreme_Warrior_Ying_Heung_1994_Digital_Pictures_US_32X/page/n1/mode/2up |title=Supreme Warrior manual - Sega CD 32X version |publisher=Digital Pictures |year=1995 |pages=1–21 |via=Internet Archive}} The player is assisted by an ally, Wu Ching. She is portrayed by Vivian Wu,{{Cite magazine|date=March 1995|title=Supreme Warrior|magazine=VideoGames|publisher=L.F.P., Inc.|page=72}} and the rest of the cast includes Roger Yuan as Fang Tu and Richard Norton, Chuck Jeffreys, and Ron Yuan as elemental warlords.

Supreme Warrior was developed by Digital Pictures, a company focused on FMV games and interactive films.{{cite magazine |date=October 1995 |title=Is This the End of FMV as We Know It? |magazine=Next Generation |publisher=Imagine Media |issue=10 |pages=6–7}} When asked about the inspiration for the game, Tom Zito, president of Digital Pictures, said that in asking players to tell them what kind of game to make, they received numerous requests to make a game that recreates a kung fu movie. The video footage for Supreme Warrior was filmed on Shaw Brothers Studio sets in Hong Kong. Many of the actors, and director Guy Norris, had extensive martial arts backgrounds. The actors playing the enemies each choreographed their own fight routines. The fight sequences were mostly recorded using a head-mounted minicam worn by a stunt coordinator, while the sequences where the player character is hit were recorded with a padded hand-held camera which the actors would actually punch and kick.{{cite magazine|date=November 1994|title=Supreme Warrior Prepares to Fight|magazine=GamePro|publisher=IDG|issue=74|pages=60–62}} Supreme Warrior includes both English and Cantonese audio, the latter more common in kung fu films, but the scenes were only filmed in English, meaning the Cantonese audio is out of sync with the actors' lips.

The 3DO and Sega CD versions of Supreme Warrior were released in November 1994 in North America,{{Cite magazine |date=October 1994 |title=TimeLine |magazine=Game Players |volume=7 |issue=10 |pages=8–10}} with the European release following in February 1995 and an Australian release in April.{{Cite magazine |date=February 1995 |title=Preview: Supreme Warrior |magazine=Sega Pro |issue=41 |page=30}}{{Cite magazine |date=April-May 1995 |title=New Releases |magazine=New Releases Catalog |publisher=Sega Ozisoft |page=25}} The game was released for the 32X and Macintosh in North American in January 1995 and for Windows in April.{{cite magazine |date=January 1995 |title=Digital Pictures |magazine=Next Generation |issue=1 |page=50}} Europe received the 32X version in July 1995.{{cite magazine |date=August 1995 |title=Reviews: Supreme Warriors |magazine={{Interlanguage link|SEGA Magazin|lt=SEGA Magazin|de||WD=}} |language=German |issue=21 |page=18}} The 32X version requires both a Sega CD and 32X add-ons for its attached Sega Genesis.

{{Video game reviews

| EGM = 5/10 (3DO)
5.375/10 (32X)

| NGen = {{rating|2|5}} (3DO)

| MG = 41% (CD){{Cite magazine|date=April 1995|title=Spiele-Tests: Supreme Warrior|magazine={{Interlanguage link|M! Games|lt=MAN!AC|de||WD=}}|language=de|page=71}}

| rev1 = VideoGames

| rev1Score = 5/10 (3DO, CD)

| rev2 = {{Interlanguage link|Player One (magazine)|lt=Player One|fr||WD=}}

| rev2Score = 58% (CD){{Cite magazine |date=April 1995 |title=Supreme Warrior |magazine={{Interlanguage link|Player One (magazine)|lt=Player One|fr||WD=}} |language=fr |issue=52 |page=117}}
70% (32X){{Cite magazine|date=July 1995|title=Supreme Warrior|magazine={{Interlanguage link|Player One (magazine)|lt=Player One|fr||WD=}}|language=fr|issue=55|page=115}}

| rev3 = Mega Play

| rev3Score = 76/100 (32X){{cite magazine|title=Supreme Warrior|date=June 1995|magazine=Mega Play|page=49}}

| rev4 = Sega News

| rev4Score = 91% (32X){{Cite magazine|date=November 1996|title=Supreme Warrior|magazine=Sega News|language=cs|publisher=DDC Agency|page=28}}

| rev5 = Sega Power

| rev5Score = 77% (CD)

| rev6 = {{Interlanguage link|MEGA Force (magazine)|lt=MEGA Force|fr||WD=}}

| rev6Score = 73% (32X)

| rev7 = {{Interlanguage link|SEGA Magazin|lt=SEGA Magazin|de||WD=}}

| rev7Score = 52% (32X)

| GamePro = 16/20 (CD)
16.5/20 (32X)

}}

Supreme Warrior's 3DO version received mixed reviews. The four reviewers of Electronic Gaming Monthly praised the exceptionally good video quality of the 3DO version and the innovation of having a fighting game from a first person perspective. However, they found that the gameplay did not work, and in particular that opponent attacks are excessively difficult to block.{{cite magazine |title=Review Crew: Supreme Warrior |magazine=Electronic Gaming Monthly |issue=67|publisher=Ziff Davis |date=February 1995 |page=34}} A reviewer for Next Generation was more positive to the gameplay. He went on to say that the game, while a step in the right direction for the developer, suffers from a steep learning curve and a disconnect between the gameplay and the onscreen video.{{cite magazine|title=Supreme Warrior |magazine=Next Generation |issue=3|publisher=Imagine Media|date=March 1995|page=90}} GamePro{{'}}s Slo Mo echoed the praise of the production values of the game's full-motion video, but was more positive about the controls and gameplay. Though he warned that the controls are complicated, he noted that they are responsive as well, and commented that taking the time to master the gameplay is rewarding.{{cite magazine |title=ProReview: Supreme Warrior|magazine=GamePro|issue=77|publisher=IDG|date=February 1995|page=94}}

The Sega CD version received mixed reviews. Three reviewers for VideoGames praised the game's graphics though noting that the Sega CD version's video was grainy. The reviewers panned the game's playability and overuse of full-motion video, claiming the game "plays like a wet brick". In contrast to his 3DO version review, Slo Mo was slightly less approving of the Sega CD version for its video quality and its controls in the absence of a six-button controller.{{cite magazine |title=ProReview: Supreme Warrior|magazine=GamePro|issue=79 |publisher=IDG|date=April 1995|page=49}} Dean of Sega Power was more positive about the game and called the video some of the best seen in a full-motion video game, but was critical of the game's high difficulty.

Reviews for the 32X version were improved over the Sega CD. Electronic Gaming Monthly{{'}}s review team considered the 32X version's video positive and its gameplay negative, just as they had done with the 3DO.{{cite magazine |title=Review Crew: Supreme Warrior|magazine=Electronic Gaming Monthly|issue=71|publisher=Ziff Davis|date=June 1995|page=38}} The same sentiments were shared by Francis of {{Interlanguage link|MEGA Force (magazine)|lt=MEGA Force|fr||WD=}} , who also praised the video but stated that finding opportunities to attack is a problem. Slo Mo's review of the 32X version in GamePro praised it as having better graphics than the Sega CD version, and otherwise repeated his previous comments in other versions on the difficult but rewarding gameplay.{{cite magazine|date=June 1995|title=ProReview: Supreme Warrior|magazine=GamePro|publisher=IDG|issue=81|page=64}}

{{reflist}}

• {{MobyGames|/supreme-warrior}}

{{Digital Pictures}}

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Category:1994 video games

Category:32X games

Category:3DO games

Category:Cancelled Sega Saturn games

Category:Classic Mac OS games

Category:Digital Pictures games

Category:Full motion video based games

Category:Sega CD games

Category:Single-player video games

Category:Video games developed in the United States

Category:Video games set in Imperial China

Category:Windows games