Getting to sit down and chat with Alex Ahad about SKULLGIRLS was a most excellent opportunity to grab while at I was at Anime Expo. As huge as fighting game arcade culture has ever gotten in America, it’s always been about a third of the size of the frenzy in Asia. Thus, no matter how sharp and shiny 3D graphics get, they'll never hit me in quite the same way as the onslaught of 2D fighters I was immersed in did during my salad days in the pacific. They’ll never hit Alex in the same way, either, and it’s those sensibilities that made this game such an eye-popping treat on the convention floor.
See for yourself in the art below...
He did early work on this while making conceptual art for GAIA ONLINE and it clearly come from the right place. It's a labor of love with influences that range from contemporary anime to the golden age of American cartoons in addition to the aforementioned classic gaming. A lot of games these days use cel shading to emulate the style of 2D, but this furious and delightfully cheeky game really did feet like you're playing animation.
We weren't able to show any footage of the game, so see it in motion here...
The build I played was a lot of fun, but it still wasn't a finished product. Autumn Games is saying on its official site that the full game isn't due for consoles until later this year. If you like your anime in your games in a very Reese's peanut buttercup fashion - - but are bored with the umpteenth DBZ fighter - - this is a game worth keeping your googly eyes open for.
Tom Pinchuk’s the writer of HYBRID BASTARDS! & UNIMAGINABLE. Order them on Amazon here & here. Follow him on Twitter: @tompinchuk
Wow, that game looks great, thanks for bringing it to my attention Tom.
Kinda looks like they made Mickey Mouse into a fighting game.
edit: yeah it's fine now
Thanks to Bryan J. Daggett for his help on this.
@Newten: @Rockingham: @craigbo180: It should work now.
@Rockingham: @craigbo180:
Video works fine for me. If you aren't, you might want to try watching it in Firefox.
I hope the game does well for them, but I wont be buying it. I don't play fighters much at all because in this age you need to really dedicate yourself to them or all that's going to happen is getting your ass kicked. I also don't download many games. Only time I've done that was for Little Big Planet and inFamous. That was because they were free and part of the Welcome Back package.
Little Big Planet is so damn addictive.
Agreed, I can respect the cats who are good at these kind of fighting games and I love watching them play but it takes a bit too much work to get into anymore.
I really like the way all the 'classic' style 2d fighting games look and play and this one has a pretty cool infinite prevention system, if they have kept it in at this point.
Edit: fighting games :P not the game which isn't out yet
They are all easy to learn but the good ones take some serious effort to master, to put it plainly. For me, it was too frustrating to be online and screw something up when I knew it was because of lag from me or the other guy. For 'twitch' based games I prefer shooters on a PC, too many years of CS ingrained into me from my younger times =P. I also refuse to adjust my play style to 'compensate' for online latency. If it's laggy, I leave. I'm elitist or something. /shrug
edit: I haven't seriously tried a fighting game for about 3 years now sooo, I'm sure it's much better online these days.
The game is looking pretty cool so far, i'll probably check it out.
i like how this is filed under Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, when nobody mentioned it. or did i miss that part?
Then again, you wouldn't get anywhere on any games that have an online mode without dedicating time to it. The world isn't that easy to beat without a few sacrifices.
That aside, compared to the usual Tekken, SF, etc., anime fighting games are pretty tame and are meant to be enjoyed even by casual players so your experience all depends on whether you are playing this for fun or for getting a world rank.