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The Early Days
Mid 1989 | | Activision announces Red Belt, the first one-on-one fighting game for the Genesis
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Late 1989 | | Activision changes Red Belt to Tongue of the Fatman, plans
imminent release
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Early 1990 | | EA releases Budokan, the first one-on-one fighting game (weapons) for the Genesis
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Late 1990 | | Activision releases Fatman in Japan, shops title around for US release
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March 1991 | | Street Fighter II is released in Japanese arcades
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November 1991 | | SNK releases the first SFII clone, Fatal Fury
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Summer/Fall 1992 | | Midway releases Mortal Kombat |
Arcade game companies in the mid- to late-1980s were making three major sorts of titles: beat-em-ups, shooters, and simulations. Sega Enterprises was a dominant force in simulations, with racers such as Hang On, Out Run, and Turbo Out Run to its credit, as well as the combination simulation shooters Space Harrier, After Burner, Galaxy Force II, and G-LOC.
"Somewhere in the course of development, though, Red Belt for the Genesis was nixed in favor of Tongue of the Fatman, a less authentic but more intriguing one-on-one game published by Activision for PCs..."
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Sega's walk-and-shoot games Shinobi, E-SWAT, and Shadow Dancer were also successful, and its beat-em-ups Altered Beast and Golden Axe were similarly well received in arcades. When Sega's Mega Drive and Genesis were released in Japan and North America, respectively, it was from this pool of games and promised sequels that the company drew most of its early excitement and praise.
Shortly after the Genesis was released, Sega began to benefit from the growth of the Japanese games industry by signing up a number of relatively unknown developers to support its new effort against Nintendo and electronics giant NEC, which was by now also a player in the Japanese and American markets. Most of the attention was focused on games by Technosoft (maker of Thunder Force II), Asmik (developer of Air Diver), NCS/Dreamworks (publishers of Assault Suits Leynos/Target Earth) and of course Sega itself. Few people noticed that Activision, the industry's legendary first-ever third-party company and previously the only Sega of America third-party supporter, had signed on to produce a game called Red Belt for the Genesis.
Tongue of the Fatman
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Designed after Street Fighter I but before Street Fighter II, Red Belt was supposed to be a one-on-one fighting game with a number of characters in a martial arts tournament. Activision had been developing 16-bit IBM-compatible personal computer software prior to working on the Genesis, and Red Belt seemed a natural for both formats. Somewhere in the course of development, though, Red Belt for the Genesis was nixed in favor of Tongue of the Fatman, a less authentic but more intriguing one-on-one game published by Activision for PCs - TOTF starred a ponytailed main character alternately named Rex and M.C. Fire, in addition to 14 other computer-controlled alien fighters (half palette-swapped doubles of the original seven), and main boss character Mondu the Fat.
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