Some of us older gamers spent hundreds- if not thousands- of hours of our youth in the local arcade. Whether it was a dedicated arcade, or something tagged onto a bowling alley or mini-golf course, we spent more quarters than we care to count on old-school video game cabinets. A wide plethora of pinball tables, rail-shooters, racing simulators and “luck-based” games were at everyone’s disposal. While everyone has their favorite arcade game, some of the most popular cabinets were those of fighting games.
Mortal Kombat was originally released as an arcade game in 1992. The graphic fighter from Midway Games used realistic digitized sprites for characters, and was known for it’s impressive (and controversial) level of violence. After seeing large amounts of blood and body horror, several other franchises were born, hoping to capitalize on the Mortal Kombat craze. Some of the more notable clones of Mortal Kombat include Bio F.R.E.A.K.S, Eternal Champions, Way of the Warrior and Kasumi Ninja. While many of these games eventually faded off into the shadows, one MK clone stood out from the rest, and became an overnight sensation- Primal Rage.
Released in 1994, Primal Rage was Atari’s answer to Mortal Kombat. Rather than use human characters, Primal Rage featured a cast of feral Gods, known as the Virtuous Beasts and the Destructive Beasts. The creature-based fighter included seven playable characters, warring against each other for rule of “Urth”. Much like its inspiration, Primal Rage included gratuitous amounts of blood and violence, along with gory end-match finishing moves. The title was later ported to the Sega Genesis, Saturn, Game Gear, SNES and PC. In 1995, Atari began development for Primal Rage II, however the game was shortly thereafter cancelled. While no other games were developed, Primal Rage lived on through comic books, a novel, and a line of action figures.
Earlier this week, a working, authentic cabinet for the unfinished Primal Rage 2 surfaced in an arcade based in Illinois. Through fan and customer donations, the super-rare cabinet was purchased by Galloping Ghost Arcade in Brookfield, IL. Only two cabinets are rumored to exist; both of which feature a playable prototype build for Primal Rage 2. While footage of the in-development fighter surfaced on the internet a few years ago, this will be the first time that the lost fighting game is available to the public.
