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Usagi Yojimbo will be playable in the upcoming DLC for 'TMNT: Shredder's Revenge'
Developer Tribute Games just announced some robust DLC coming later this year for the well-reviewed beat 'em up ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge.’ The ‘Dimension Shellshock’ DLC features a new game mode, new color swaps for playable characters and brand new playable characters like iconic comic book character Miyamoto Usagi from ‘Usagi Yojimbo.’
'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge' is a glorious beat-'em-up revival
Last year, developer Tribute Games announced Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge, a brand-new beat-em-up title inspired by the arcade games of yesteryear. The game features retro pixel-art, two different game modes, online and local multiplayer (up to six players online), and seven playable characters, including the four turtles, Master Splinter, April O’Neil and Casey Jones. On the surface, it seems to have everything you could ask for in a modern version of an arcade classic.
'Sifu' is getting difficulty options to help more people actually finish the game
Developer Sloclap has plans for several major updates throughout the year.
The 'Space Jam' sequel is getting a free tie-in game in July
Beat up some robots with LeBron James, Bugs Bunny and Lola Bunny.
Beat 'em up revival 'River City Girls' arrives September 5th
WayForward thinks it has a simple way to keep the River City formula fresh: reverse the roles. It's releasing River City Girls, a revival of the side-scrolling brawler that has high school girls Kyoko and Misako laying waste to everyone between them and their captured boyfriends. True to the spirit of the series, virtually anything is a weapon -- baseball bats, bikes and even park benches are fair game.
Fist of Awesome punches bears on PC and Mac
The game best described as a "bear fighter," Fist of Awesome, is now available on PC and Mac. The game is currently discounted on the Humble Store to $3.99 (originally $7.99). Fist of Awesome is a beat-em-up in which players assume the role of a time-traveling lumberjack that must "punch bears to save humanity." Developer I Fight Bears is seeking community approval via Greenlight to bring the game to Steam. It launched on Ouya, iOS and Android in October following a successful Kickstarter campaign that raised £11,808 ($19,919) in December 2012. The UK-based developer was founded by Nicoll Hunt, a former Realtime Worlds (Crackdown) developer that also worked on Hard Lines for iOS. [Image: I Fight Bears]
Mother Russia Bleeds is an ultra-violent Soviet smackdown
Dear Video Games, It seems like just yesterday you were our sweet little hobby, all smiles and bright eyes. So cute and innocent, collecting coins and bananas. Now, though ... now we see there's a beat-em-up game coming out for PC, Mac and Linux in 2015 called Mother Russia Bleeds, and hoo boy is it violent. Even Devolver Digital, publisher of the hyper-violent Hotline Miami, seems to be impressed. They're calling it "legit" on Twitter. Is it the pixelated graphics that draw you to Mother Russia Bleeds? The way it allows for up to four players to control a drug-addicted anti-hero and his cellmates in what developer Le Cartel calls "a hazy journey of rage and hate-filled, psychotic vengeance?" We're not judging or anything - after all, expressing anger can be healthy! We just worry sometimes. Is everything okay? You know you can always talk to us. Love, Your friend [Image: Le Cartel]
Foul Play to enter stage left on PS4, Vita
Mediatonic's theatrical side-scrolling brawler Foul Play is heading to PS4 and Vita, the developer announced in a recent post on PlayStation Blog. Players take on the role of Baron Dashforth, a mustachioed demon hunter who retells his tales in front of a live audience, defeating waves of extras in the one-night-only performance. The co-op enabled beat-em-up doesn't feature a traditional health bar, but rather gauges the audience's interest with each passing moment, and closes the curtains for boring actors that take too many hits from the combat-trained extras. Foul Play launched on PC and Xbox 360 in September 2013 before arriving on Mac and Linux in October. Our four-star review of the game deemed the story as "superb" and the fights "frantic and fast." Mediatonic did not offer a release date for the PS4 and Vita versions as of yet, but it will be Cross-Buy compatible, so owners of both platforms need only buy it once. [Image: Mediatonic]
Shazam: Shaq returns in Shaq Fu A Legend Reborn
As was foretold, Shaq is returning to the gaming world with a rebirth of one of the more infamous games in history, Shaq Fu: A Legend Reborn. The flexible funding project is now live on Indiegogo, and is seeking $450,000 to make the beat-em-up game a reality. The funding page acknowledges the original game's less than stellar history and notes that Shaq Fu: A Legend Reborn will be "what the original game should have been." A Legend Reborn still stars the former basketball player, but instead opts for a beat-em-up style game that features "hundreds of moves and battle techniques" with "dozens of cool melee weapons." The game will include a cooperative multiplayer mode in addition to player-versus-player options. The developers behind the PC game at Big Deez Productions are former triple-A developers that worked on series like Halo, Street Fighter, Final Fantasy, Alan Wake, Battlefield, Killzone and more. The Indiegogo campaign is set to end on April 20. The game will come to additional platforms if it reaches varying stretch goal levels: $650,000 for iOS and Android, $775,000 for Xbox 360 and PS3, $960,000 for Vita and 3DS, $1.08 million for Wii U and $1.62 million for Xbox One and PS4. [Image: Big Deez Productions]
Beat and shoot-em-up in former Titanfall, God of War devs' To The Death
Indie developers Scary Mostro and Section Studios launched their Kickstarter campaign for To The Death today. The game combines beat-em-up and arcade shooter elements together, as players control one of two warriors that are dashing towards one another, hacking away at everything in their path. As To The Death's story goes, the warriors killed each other and are now stuck in The Crawl, a purgatory-like world between life and death. The two studios are led by developers with a deep history in the industry, with To The Death's game design and engineering coming from Scary Mostro's Todd Alderman and Francesco Gigliotti. Both Alderman and Gigliotti are credited as lead designer and engineer respectively at Infinity Ward on the Call of Duty series, and later worked on Titanfall for Respawn Entertainment. Likewise, To The Death's art direction comes from Section Studios Creative Director Cecil Kim, visual development lead for God of War 3. To The Death is in development for PC, Mac and Linux with early access tentatively planned for August. Scary Mostro and Section Studios are seeking $400,000 by February 19 to fund its development.
Final Exam co-op trailer lacks actual exams, shows off monster-bashing with friends instead
You know, I don't think the characters in Final Exam, formerly known as Obscure, know much about exams. I mean, here's this new trailer showing off co-op for the game, and instead of having study group and pulling all-nighters together, they're shooting rocket launchers, turning an amusement park ride into a death-mobile, and connecting with up to three friends for online monster-slaying. That's cool and all guys, but I don't think it's gonna get you on the Dean's List. Along with the new co-op trailer, Final Exam developer Mighty Rocket Studio has announced that the game is available on Steam Early Access, where pre-purchasers can play the first chapter ahead of release. The Final Exam Steam page lists a full release date of November 5, while the game's official site says it will be coming to XBLA and PSN "early November."
River City Ransom follow-up goes live on Kickstarter
River City Ransom: Underground is now on Kickstarter, seeking $180,000 (CAD) by October 9. Developed by Conatus Creative, the game is an officially-licensed follow-up to the original Technos Japan NES game. The developer acquired rights to the beat-em-up in April. River City Ransom: Underground will feature an 8-bit-style look while also expanding to include more playable characters and four-player cooperative multiplayer. The game is currently in development for PC only, though the developer noted that with enough support, it could appear on consoles as well.
Daily iPhone App: Combo Crew does beat-em-up on a touchscreen
Combo Crew is an interesting experiment that just showed up this week on iOS. Beat-em-ups and fighting games are great on consoles, where you've got plenty of buttons and d-pads to pull off various moves with. But while they've appeared on iOS a few times (Capcom's Street Fighter IV has done fairly well on the App Store), usually these games on a touchscreen tend to just fall back on virtual buttons, which are generally way more clunky and less precise than physical moving parts. Combo Crew, however, is an attempt to make a beat-em-up redesigned from scratch for the iOS touchscreen. It's a game made by the Game Bakers, a really excellent team based in France that's done a great job with the Squids turn-based combat series. Combo Crew has everything you'd want a beat-em-up game to have, including multiple characters, combination-based and counter attacks, and lots of cool super moves and punches. But the difference here is in the controls. Instead of pressing buttons, you swipe across the screen to perform your moves in sequence: Swipe once to attack, swipe and hold to charge up, swipe two fingers for a combo attack or tap the screen for a counter. It works -- mostly. Just like a traditional beat-em-up game, Combo Crew's moveset gets more complicated over time, so that once mastered, you're able to keep combos going for a long time, scoring tons of points and taking down the bad guys with ease. Unfortunately, the biggest issue is that you're swiping right across the screen you're playing on, so sometimes it can be hard to see where you need to go. Thus, precision isn't always exactly where you want it to be. If you swipe the screen, you will do an attack, but there's no way to move around the screen independently, and as a result, you don't always attack the exact enemy you want, which can be a problem at higher levels. Combo Crew is still a lot of fun, however, and The Game Bakers deserve a lot of credit for taking on such a tough genre to do on a touchscreen in such a creative way. There's even a co-op mode, and an endless-scoring game with plenty of various progression items to unlock and earn. If you like beat-em-ups and want something to enjoy on your iPhone, this one is a must-play for sure, just to see how it all works. The game is currently just $1.99, too, so if you're interested at all, give this one a download.
Ninja Theory partners with Chillingo to publish Fightback
Ninja Theory is an excellent game developer based in the UK that's produced Enslaved: Odyssey to the West and the recent Devil May Cry reboot. Now, Ninja Theory is releasing its first iOS title, Fightback, which EA studio Chillingo will publish. Fightback, as you can see above, looks like a fairly gritty arcade-style beat-em-up, and it boasts some AAA grade production values, as well as some interesting touch-based combat. Fightback is set for previews at E3, so we'll see more of the game in action then. It's set to launch on iOS later this summer. Chillingo is a very high-quality studio that's been doing plenty of good work lately, and with its ties to EA, it's no surprise that Ninja Theory gave it the go-ahead on publishing duties. Ninja Theory is a great studio, and we'll look forward to seeing how this one turns out. Show full PR text Chillingo Partners with Ninja Theory Ltd. to Publish Fightback on Mobile and Tablet Ninja Theory's Mobile Debut Playable at E3 MACCLESFIELD, U.K., May 24, 2013 - Chillingo, leading independent mobile games publisher and division of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA), today announced that they are partnering with prominent Cambridge, UK-based independent video game developer Ninja Theory Ltd. to publish the studio's first mobile game, Fightback for the App Store and Google Play™. From the award-winning studio behind Enslaved: Odyssey to the West and DmC: Devil May Cry, Ninja Theory's Fightback is a thrilling free-to-play action game with a striking 80s action movie vibe and a revolutionary touch-based combat system. "Chillingo is very excited to collaborate with such a talented, critically-acclaimed studio to help shape their first title for the mobile market," states Ed Rumley, COO, Chillingo. "Our team is working closely with Ninja Theory to ensure Fightback delivers a phenomenal experience for mobile and tablet devices." "Mobile and tablet gaming is a phenomenon that we just couldn't ignore as a studio and we're very proud to be working with one of the industry's heavy-weights on bringing Fightback to market. Ninja Theory has always strived for the highest production values and that absolutely remains the case in this exciting new space," said Dominic Matthews, Product Manager, Ninja Theory Ltd. Fightback is slated to launch this summer. Hands-on previews will be shared with press at the E3 Expo in Los Angeles. Additional details and information will be available at www.chillingo.com in the coming months.
7Sixty releasing Western version of HurricaneX2 on XBLA as Kung Fu Strike
Rumors of developer 7Sixty being hard at work on a kung fu project, based on the Chinese game HurricaneX2, are true. The game is coming to an Xbox Live Arcade near you as Kung Fu Strike: The Warrior's Rise. The teaser trailer above doesn't show much in terms of gameplay, but you can see the screenshots below for more (and there's gameplay of the Eastern version out there as well).The title looks like a quick and stylistic arcade beat-em-up, a genre that certainly has its fans. 7Sixty says the game, which comes with local co-op and versus modes, is showing up on XBLA "early this year." Expect to see more "very soon."%gallery-146945%
Latest Elsword patch introduces enhanced PvP, grouping incentives
Kill3rCombo's anime-style sidescroller Elsword has just received a brand-new update that adds a few new features for players to enjoy. PvPers will surely be overjoyed by the newly enhanced PvP system, which boasts new matchmaking functionality and the addition of Arena Points. Arena Points are earned by players through participation in matchmade games and can be used to purchase new weapons. Social players will find that partying up now grants increased experience points, which should provide greater incentive to adventure as a group. The final two Velder town levels are now available, and so are two new pets which will assist players on their adventures. To get in on the fun, head on over to Elsword's official site. [Source: Kill3rCombo press release]
Rusty Hearts smashes its way into open beta on September 13th
Fans of Perfect World Entertainment's side-scrolling beat-'em-up Rusty Hearts are in for a treat. After a leisurely Labor Day weekend, PWE announced in a press release today that the title will launch into open beta on September 13th. Closed beta players will have their last hoorah on September 8 at 5:00 p.m. EST, at which point the game will shut down until it enters open beta on the 13th. The open beta isn't the same old cow as the closed beta, however. With its open beta launch, Rusty Hearts is also bringing a number of new updates, such as the removal of the universally panned Stamina system and customizable gamepad settings for Rusty Hearts' more console-inclined players. The level cap will also be raised, allowing players to explore a brand new hub world and a number of new dungeons and quests. So sit tight, Rusty Hearts fans. You'll be pounding monsters into a fine paste before you know it. [Source: Perfect World Entertainment Press Release]
New Rusty Hearts dev diary gets bossy
It's time yet again for another Rusty Hearts video dev diary. This time the focus is on the big baddies that players will be pitting their skills against in the anime-style brawler. We're talking, of course, about boss fights. As any brawler or beat-'em-up fan should know, no true game of the genre is complete without a challenging boss fight to cap off a level. The dev diary introduces players to a couple of the early bosses they'll be encountering, such as the nasty Blood Skeleton and the hulking Butcher. In addition, it details the rewards players can reap for defeating these challenging fights, such as copious amounts of gold, high-quality equipment, and high-value loot cards. For the full diary, including some footage of players facing off against the game's many bosses, jump on past the cut for the full video.
New Rusty Hearts dev diary delves into delicious design decisions
It's time for another dev diary from the fine folks at Perfect World Entertainment, this time detailing the art of Rusty Hearts. We're sure that by now most of you have seen Rusty Hearts and its crisp cel-shaded anime style, but the dev diary goes into detail on what the team is aiming for with the art, and outlines the inspiration behind it. The team is careful to note that while the overall vibe of the game is decidedly dark and gothic, that by no means insinuates that the world will be dull or muddled. Taking inspiration from popular anime such as Bleach and Full Metal Alchemist, Rusty Hearts aims to carve a niche for itself as a "living comic." For the full dev diary, hop on past the cut!
Massively Exclusive: Elsword Online community Q&A, part deux
KOG Studios, developer of free-to-play hack'n'slash MMO Elsword, has unleashed the second round of an ongoing series of Massively-exclusive community Q&A segments for your enjoyment. A bit of backstory for the uninitiated: Elsword is a popular Korean side-scrolling MMO that saw its North American launch in May. The game puts players in the role of one of three characters as they face off against legions of manga-styled enemies, or against one another. This second Q&A session covers questions from the Elsword community regarding the hilarious mishaps of localizing the game for North American launch, the team's preferred style of play, and what games the team plays when they're not working (or playing) on Elsword. For the full Q&A, jump on past the cut!
