arcade.us/files/pitfighter.jpg" alt="Pit Fighter screenshot from vgmuseum.com" width="336" height="240" />Pit Fighter was a precursor to the Mortal Kombat series and it came out in 1990. It was a brutal fight to the death, a chaotic celebration of violence featuring a choice of three characters portrayed by real actors, a host of enemies and the prospect of three way battles.

It was the first game to utilise blue screen technology in order to use real digitized actors in the game. They obviously captured multiple shots of the actors pulling specific poses and then slapped them together to give the rough impression of animation. This technique was later used to much greater effect in Mortal Kombat.

After a brilliant montage opening you could choose your character. Each of the three characters was super cheesy looking and you could choose from Buzz, the ex pro-wrestler, Ty the kick boxing champion and Kato the third-degree black belt. You had to face off against a series of enemies who all looked a bit like psycho killers or S&M enthusiasts. There was the Executioner, Angel, Mad Miles, Chainman Eddie and finally the Masked Warrior.

The game-play was pretty simple. You had buttons for jump, punch and kick and all three pulled off a super move. Although it was a typical 2D side on view the environments did have depth so you could walk back into them. Each one was littered with a series of boxes and barrels you could pick up and smash over your opponent’s head. There were also power ups which made you stronger and reduced the damage you would take from being hit for a short time. It was seriously violent and you could also use knives and sticks. Sometimes the crowd would get involved in the fight and try to stab or hit you. You could knock them out and steal their weapons if you were quick enough to react.

The cool thing about Pit Fighter in the arcade was the ability to play with three players. If you tried to play through together you’d have to fight more opponents and in the Grudge match bonus rounds you would have to turn on each other. Each fight earned you a prize purse and your cash basically served as your score. At the end of the game you’d have to turn on each other to decide who got to face the dreaded Masked Warrior. He was massive and equipped with throwing stars.

It was a seriously strange game and the no holds barred violence would have gained it an adult rating nowadays. The fact that occasionally a woman in a boob tube would jump out of the crowd and try to stab you just made the whole thing more fun. In terms of visual effects you went green when you were powered up and there were simple blood splats when you landed good blows. The sound effects and music were enough to make you want to stab yourself in the ears.

The game was developed by Atari and released as a stand up cabinet with three sets of controls each featuring an eight way joystick and three buttons. It came out in 1990 and there were various bad ports to home systems. It was quickly forgotten as Street Fighter II came along soon after and then Mortal Kombat but for a brief time there it was the most popular fighting game in the arcade.