History VideoGame / SaturdayNightSlamMasters

* CanadaEh: Jumbo "Flap" Jack, who is from Chicago in ''Muscle Bomber'', is characterized as a Canadian in ''Slam Master''. He's always talking about felling logs, and even says "eh?" in his quotes. This would result in the Canadian wrestler Rip Saber in ''Super Muscle Bomber'' being changed to Australian in ''Ring of Destruction'', although his stage is still set in Calgary in both versions of the game.

* ComicBookTime: The Japanese backstory sets the series before the events of ''Final Fight'' and based on Haggar's age difference between both games, the original ''Muscle Bomber'' is supposed to be set in 1983 (six years before ''Final Fight''). However, the games never actually make any attempt to make it look like they're set in TheEighties (particularly Aleksey Zalazof is established to be from the ''former'' Soviet Union and the game uses the current tricolor flag of Russia instead of the red and yellow Soviet one). [[http://flyers.arcade-museum.com/?page=flyer&db=videodb&id=1843&image=4 The Japanese flyer]] for ''Super Muscle Bomber'' actually establishes that the game is set in 1994.

An UpdatedRerelease titled ''Muscle Bomber Duo'' was released exclusively for the arcades, which focuses solely on the 2-on-2 Team Battle Royale mode, adding new moves to each wrestler and finally allowing [[MirrorMatch same character selection for all four players]], followed by console ports of the original game on the [[UsefulNotes/SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem Super Nintendo]] and [[UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis Genesis]]. Finally, a sequel was released, also exclusive to the arcades, under the name ''Ring of Destruction - Slam Masters II'' (''Super Muscle Bomber: The International Blowout'' in Japan), which ditched the wrestling mechanics for a pure 2D versus fighting game experience (in other words, it featured round-based matches and victory by K.O.), [[HandWave under the excuse]] of Scorpion changing the rules. Outside that, the game follows the same non-plot as before, now with Ortega coming out of retirement to hold the final bout for the championship. The ten original wrestlers are joined by four new ones:

* WelcomeToTheCaribbeanMon: In the localization, King Rasta Mon is seemingly (as the name hints) Jamaican, though his hometown is listed as Venice, CA. And the Dominican Republic is still Caribbean anyway so whatever

* {{Fanservice}}: Aside from all of the macho men (for the ladies and maybe some guys), there's also [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGK8ljGbfhA#t=15m57s Black Widow's reveal.]] [[MaleGaze It shouldn't come as a surprise that]] [[TheSmurfettePrinciple the only female of the cast]] [[InstantCostumeChange sheds her concealing disguise to reveal]] [[MsFanservice herself]] [[{{Stripperiffic}} wearing nothing more than a]] {{leotard|OfPower}} [[BareYourMidriff cut to resemble]] [[ChainmailBikini a training bra and thong]]. All this while delivering the same laugh used for her victory pose, only it's lilting and much closer to a NoblewomansLaugh without the vocal modulation.

%%** Ortega definitely qualifies as well. [[AsskickingEqualsAuthority He was the champion for so long for a reason, you know.]]

* StatuesqueStunner: Out of all the women in Capcom fighting games, Black Widow was the largest for a long time, dwarfing a majority of them at 6'6" (198cm), 209lbs (95kg). It wouldn't be until [[VideoGame/StreetFighter6 Marisa]] came along nearly ''thirty'' years later that she'd be dethroned, and only then by a small margin. [[note]]Marisa's height is given as 6'8"/203cm.[[/note]] And judging by Widow's ending, at least 60% of that height [[ShesGotLegs is in her legs]].

* '''Titanic Tim "The Battle Axe"''' (Titan the Great): An English wrestler who uses his large size to intimidate his opponent. He's acquaintances with [[VideoGame/StreetFighter Birdie]] and at times they formed a tag team nicknamed "500 Trillon Power."

* '''Jumbo "Flap" Jack''' (Kimala the Bouncer): A wrestler from Chicago and [[TheDragon the dragon]] to Scorpion. He enjoys seeing blood dripping from his victims. Before joining Scorpion he worked first as a bouncer and later as a wrestler's bodyguard, in both cases losing his job after getting a ''bit'' too violent.
* '''The Scorpion''' (The Astro): The mysterious leader of the BWA, whose past is unknown. The closest the game has to a [[BigBad big bad]].

An UpdatedRerelease titled ''Muscle Bomber Duo'' was released exclusively for the arcades, which focuses solely on the 2-on-2 Team Battle Royale mode, adding new moves to each wrestler and finally allowing [[MirrorMatch same character selection for all four players]], followed by console ports of the original game on the [[UsefulNotes/SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem Super NES]] and [[UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis Genesis]]. Finally, a sequel was released, also exclusive to the arcades, under the name ''Ring of Destruction - Slam Masters II'' (''Super Muscle Bomber: The International Blowout'' in Japan), which ditched the wrestling mechanics for a pure [=2D=] versus fighting game experience (in other words, it featured round-based matches and victory by K.O.), [[HandWave under the excuse]] of Scorpion changing the rules. Outside that, the game follows the same non-plot as before, now with Ortega coming out of retirement to hold the final bout for the championship. The ten original wrestlers are joined by four new ones:

* '''Black Widow''': Hailing from Germany, she's the only female wrestler, albeit she's actually hiding that fact (she uses a masculine voice in-game and all, and her ending has her ditching the act).

** Balrog (the boxer, that is) and Zangief each appear in the background of a stage in ''Slam Masters 2'' -- namely, in their hometowns of Las Vegas and Moscow, respectively.

* GenreShift: The original ''Slam Masters'' was a typical 2D wrestling game with limited depth movement in which players were required to pin their opponents to win a match. ''Slam Masters II'' on the other hand plays like a typical 2D fighting game with multiple attack buttons, a single-fighting plane, victory by KO, and a round-based format.

** Haggar's LimitBreak in ''VideoGame/{{Namco x Capcom}}'' is named after this series.

* StatuesqueStunner: Out of all the women in Capcom fighting games, Black Widow is the largest, dwarfing them all at 6'6", 209lbs. Judging by her ending, at least 60% of that height [[ShesGotLegs is in her legs]].

* CaptainErsatz: With the notable exceptions of Haggar, Gunloc and Biff, every Slam Masters/Muscle Bomber character had a real life or Street Fighter equivalent (physically or stylistically):

** Titanic Tim = Wrestling/GiantBaba [[JustForFun/XMeetsY meets]] Wrestling/HaystacksCalhoun meets Music/TinyTim

** TheWraith = Wrestling/TheUndertaker meets Dhaslim.

* CaptainErsatz: With the notable exceptions of Haggar, Gunloc, Biff and The Wraith, every Slam Masters/Muscle Bomber character had a real life or Street Fighter equivalent (physically or stylistically):

** Titanic Tim = Wrestling/GiantBaba [[[[JustForFun/XMeetsY meets]] Music/TinyTim
* CombatPragmatist: