fighting
Latest
New ‘Double Dragon’ game trailer promises nostalgic beat-em-up thrills
‘Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons’ releases this fall for every major platform, including PC, Xbox consoles, PlayStation 4 and 5 and the Nintendo Switch. This new franchise update features 13 playable characters, two-player local co-op and more.
'Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition' gains Sagat and newcomer G
The roster for Street Fighter V's Arcade Edition will today gain two new fighters. An announcement on PlayStation Blog confirmed that both series icon Sagat and mysterious newcomer G -- who were first revealed for Street Fighter V's third season during the 2017 Capcom Cup -- are joining the fray.
‘Skullgirls’ relaunches on mobile as developer ditches publisher
Stylized fighting game Skullgirls came out for mobile in May of last year. It was developed by Autumn Games and initially published by Line. Now, the developer has decided to part ways with the publisher and go back to being independent. As a result of this transition, the developer launched a new version (basically Skullgirls 2.0) and shut down the old one (now called LINE Skullgirls) on the App Store and Google Play.
'Killer Instinct' will be available through Steam
Ever since the revived Killer Instinct launched in 2013, you've had to download it through one of Microsoft's online shops, whether it's on your Xbox One or your Windows 10 PC. However, you won't have to go that route in the next few months. Iron Galaxy has confirmed that KI will be available through Steam sometime later in 2017. More details are forthcoming, so it's not clear if there will be anything new or any incentives for existing owners to make the leap. The very fact that it's happening at all is important, though, and it hints at an emerging trend.
Fighting game's 'useless' add-ons help its creators
Steam has a wide range of ways to support game developers, ranging from buying early releases through to countless add-ons. But it doesn't have a way to pay developers out of sheer kindness. How are you supposed to donate short of visiting a website? Pehesse has a way: turn those donations into add-ons. The developer's Honey Rose: Ultimate Fighter Extraordinaire is available for free, but includes eight DLC purchases that do absolutely nothing besides reward the team for its work. The creators of this brawler/visual novel hybrid are very explicit about their pay-what-you-like model, too -- tier labels even offer suggestions, such as "symbolic," "2016 standard" and "above and beyond."
'Skullgirls' is coming to mobile with a role-playing twist
Lab Zero's hyper-stylized fighting game Skullgirls has been available on almost every modern platform at some point in its history, but you couldn't play it on your smartphone... until now. Hidden Variable (best known for producing versions of Threes) has revealed that it's developing a Skullgirls game for Android and iOS that shakes up its formula. Rather than making a straightforward brawler, the studio is adding role-playing elements -- you collect, equip and upgrade characters as they progress through the story. There's even a Fight Assist option that lets you focus more on the bigger picture and less on the moment-to-moment action.
Gunless MMO game 'Absolver' slated for 2017 release
Indie studio Sloclap has teamed with Devolver Digital on a new melee-based MMO, dubbed Absolver. The game is currently scheduled for release on both consoles and PC some point in 2017.
'League of Legends' studio buys a fighting game powerhouse
Riot Games, the studio in charge of League of Legends, acquired Radiant Entertainment and all of its fighting game technology this week. Radiant is staffed by popular figures in the fighting game community, including former Street Fighter commentator and Capcom community manager Seth Killian. The studio was created by Tom Cannon and Tony Cannon, who are also founders of the world's largest fighting game tournament, the Evolution Championship Series. Radiant has two titles under its belt: the free, online fighting game Rising Thunder and the town-building simulator Stonehearth.
'Pokkén Tournament' joins the Pokémon Championship series
Pokkén Tournament is the latest evolution of the Pokémon video game franchise, featuring your favorite pocket monsters battling one-on-one in a 3D arena. It sounds like an ideal competitive fighting game, which is one reason it's joining the official Pokémon Championship Series this year. Pokkén Tournament isn't even out yet -- it drops for the Wii U on March 18th -- but players around the United States can try out for a spot in the Championship Series on February 27th at a handful GameStop locations. See the full list of participating stores below.
Play as Ronda Rousey in EA Sports' 'UFC 2' in March
UFC 2 lands on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on March 15th, and pre-orders are open right now. Pre-ordering grants players day-one access to UFC Hall of Famer Bas Rutten, "The Gracie Hunter" Kazushi Sakuraba and one mystery fighter.
Mekamon is a fighting robot with an augmented reality twist
A couple of little four-legged bots could be the future of fighting games. Reach Robotics, a UK-based company, is pushing for mixed reality gaming with modular robots called Mekamons that will face off in the digital and physical worlds. It's building an augmented reality game with these intelligent bots that are capable of launching a full-blown attack on each other. Its existing prototype at CES has infrared, Bluetooth and an in-built compass to help it detect the exact location of an opponent for an accurate attack in a multiplayer game. For now, Reach is using an app to control, arm and level up the bot in a single-player game (the only working format at the event).
UFC doesn't want you posting Ronda Rousey fights on Instagram
The running joke about a Ronda Rousey fight is that you can fit the whole thing into a 15-second Instagram video, if not a 6-second Vine -- she's so good that her opponents usually crumble in seconds. You may not see many of those bite-sized clips from her title bout this weekend, though. In a first, UFC is discouraging the press (not just the general public) from sharing unauthorized footage of the fight on the internet, whether it's a GIF animation or a looping video. There's no official explanation, but it's easy to see the concern: the league is worried that you'll skip that pay-per-view purchase knowing that a fan site could recap everything in a tweet.
The Pokémon fighting game you've been waiting for hits Wii U in 2016
Hold on to your Poké Balls -- Pokkén Tournament, the Pokémon fighting game that debuted in Japanese arcades this year, is heading to Wii U in spring 2016, worldwide. Pokkén Tournament is in development at Tekken and Soulcalibur studio Bandai Namco, published by The Pokémon Company and Nintendo. As reported back in August 2014, Tekken producer Katsuhiro Harada and Soulcalibur producer Masaaki Hoshino are leading the project. Pokkén Tournament takes a realistic approach to Pokémon (as realistic as it can be, at least) in an attempt to turn the franchise into a serious fighting game. It looks positively buttery in the first trailer, though note that the footage is taken from the arcade version of the game, rather than the final Wii U build. Also note the new Pikachu Libre challenger. Also also note the second video we've included in this post. You're welcome.
'Gears of War: Ultimate Edition' and 'Killer Instinct' will come to PC
Microsoft hasn't offered a whole lot of affection to PC gamers in recent years, but it's making some reparations for that today: the company's Phil Spencer has revealed at the PC Gaming Show that both Gears of War: Ultimate Edition and the 2013 version of Killer Instinct will come to Windows 10. He didn't have much to say about when these ports will show up, or whether or not they'll have any new tricks up their sleeves. However, Iron Galaxy Studios' Dave Lang has confirmed Spencer's hint that KI will have Fable Legends-style cross-platform play that lets you brawl with your Xbox One-toting friends.
'Skullgirls' on PS4 gives you the chance to brawl with your PS3 friends
If you were quick to buy a PlayStation 4 or Xbox One, you've probably had that horrible moment when you realized that your friends with last-generation systems couldn't join you in online games. You won't have to leave them behind when Skullgirls arrives, however. The fighting game's senior animator, Jonathan Kim, has confirmed that the PS4 version will let you take on PS3 opponents. The notion of a cross-platform strategy isn't completely new, since titles like Guilty Gear Xrd Sign do it. Still, it's helping to establish a welcome trend -- you may not always have to abandon your favorite players to get a new console, or feel pressured to upgrade just to keep up with the Joneses.
'Mortal Kombat X' for mobile rewards your victories with konsole kred
After a lengthy hiatus, Mortal Kombat is coming back to the mobile world -- and it's giving you a few extra incentives to brutalize fighters while you're waiting for the bus. Mortal Kombat X will reach Android and iOS users on April 14th with not just the obligatory fatalities and other gory details, but a two-way reward system that encourages you to keep playing when you switch platforms. If you thrash enough suckers to unlock content on your phone, for example, you'll get some perks when you fire up your console at home. Something tells us the mobile MKX won't be as challenging as its full-size counterpart (swipe to finish someone off, really?), but look at it this way: it's not often that you get to break someone's jaw on your commute and feel good about it later.
EA Sports UFC kicks back on EA Access next week
The full version of EA Sports UFC will be available through EA Access starting next Thursday, December 18. The mixed martial arts game will enter the Xbox One streaming service's "Vault," allowing subscribers to play the game as much as they like. EA unveiled its $5 per month ($30 per year) subscription service in July, and EA Access went live for all players in August. EA Sports UFC just received its sixth free content update this week, which added popular and legendary fighters such as Mark Coleman and Brock Lesnar to the game. Thanks to its various updates, EA Access players have 18 new brawlers to use as well as new fighting mechanics like manual taunts and kick catching compared to when the game first launched in June. [Image: EA Sports]
Brock Lesnar among MMA legends now in EA Sports UFC
EA Sports issued its sixth content update for EA Sports UFC this week, introducing four new fighters to the game. The free update focuses on four legends of the octagon: one welterweight, one light heavyweight and two in the heavyweight division. The two heavyweight fighters are Mark Coleman and Brock Lesnar, the former being a member of UFC's Hall of Fame and winner of the organization's first heavyweight championship. The other two new playable MMA fighters are Matt Hughes (welterweight) and Quinton "Rampage" Jackson (light heavyweight). While our review of EA Sports UFC found it to be a "barebones fighting game," the publisher has introduced a handful of free updates since its June launch. This week's four legends join 14 other fighters that were added to the Xbox One and PS4 game, such as Diego Sanchez and Matt Brown. The free updates also added a number of game mechanics like "Finish the Fight," manual taunts, kick catching and guillotine takedown reversals. [Image: EA Sports]
Smash Bros. sells over 490K on Wii U in three days
Super Smash Bros. is the fastest-selling Wii U game to launch in the United States, according to a press release issued by Nintendo today. The publisher says it sold more than 490,000 copies of the game from its launch on November 21 through November 23. The figure represents sales at retail as well as digital copies of the game. The sales data pairs well with the portable version of Super Smash Bros. for 3DS, which reached over 3.22 million copies sold as of late October. Those that own copies of the game on both platforms will receive the Pokemon character Mewtwo as a playable fighter down the road, though Nintendo may also opt to offer the fighter as premium DLC as well. Nintendo also launched its line of NFC-capable figures on the same day as Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, Amiibo, which can become pretty dastardly in the fighting game. The publisher did not offer any early sales data for Amiibo. [Image: Nintendo]
Battle enemy robots with your own in Ironkill
Ironkill is a fighting game between warrior robots that you get to build and fight. There isn't much of a storyline but there doesn't have to be, it's all about the action. Travel across the world to fight while building up your skills, upgrading your robot or building new robots to defeat your computerized opponent. Your use of just three simple controls dictates whether you win or lose. Ironkill is a free game with in-app purchases for iPhone and iPad and requires iOS 7.0 or later. You start out with some coins and some gems. More on these later, but they are Ironkill's in-app currencies. You're going to spend 20,000 coins building your first robot: Sumoist. It looks like a robotic sumo wrestler which I'm guessing inspires the name. The game's initial tutorial is informative without being overbearing. You soon learn that only three buttons on screen control your fate. The blue control sends quick, low-power punches, the red control sends heavier attacks on the opponent and the large gray control (it looks like a keyboard space bar) is a defense mechanism to block strikes. I find that the latter doesn't do much of anything. The defense doesn't block against heavy attacks (red button) so your opponent ends up doing damage on you anyway. A few levels in, my wisdom is to remain on offense as much as possible. I have yet to lose a battle. Honestly, not much about Ironkill is particularly unique. It's just another battle game. It has robots, it has upgrades for your robots to increase your power, it has energy levels that drain with each hit until the game declares a winner. Quite frankly Ironkill is everything you'd expect out of a battle game and very little more. Is that a problem? Normally, I would err on the side of yes, but something about Ironkill has the special potion making me decide it's not an issue in this case. I'm not entirely sure what it is. The graphics are superb, the controls are dead simple but not juvenile and what's actually refreshing in a game of this genre is that Ironkill doesn't try to be more than it is. Even the title of the game, "Ironkill" basically lets you know in one word that murder and iron are two main components. One drawback is the in-app purchases. Coins are necessary for many of the upgrades and of course to build new robots. You do gain some as rewards for winning battles, but they seem to run out quickly. Then gems kick in to speed up the building process and perform some other tasks. Once your out of those, you're also out of luck. Prepare to fork over some real dollars to purchase gems. Ironkill is set up in such a way that it's a bit too easy to have to buy currency. If you're able to get past that, Ironkill is a pretty decent battle game. It's appealing to both novices and experienced players. It lacks a "Wow!" factor, but plenty of pleasurable intricacies add up. Get Ironkill for free with in-app purchases in the App Store.
