Indie Pogo

So, I originally planned to write and publish this review much earlier, but then I joined the Indie Pogo Discord community and learned that a massive update was coming – so I decided to wait for it. Might as well report on the game after the update, lest I want a review that’s inaccurate merely a few weeks shortly after its publication.

The game that... didn't start it all, but it's almost as if it
did.

Among fighting games, the “Mascot fighter” sub-genre has been growing immensely. The genre was popularized by the Super Smash Bros. series, although it’s actually not the earliest example. Twelve mascots of popular Nintendo games, duking it out on stages inspired by their worlds, using items from their worlds. Some were famous, some were less so. At the time, Jigglypuff’s presence was inexplicable. While it wasn’t the first Mascot Fighter title, SSB launched the craze, which lasts to this day (with Smash Ultimate coming out last year), and numerous other games with a similar formula following suit. Just think of PlayStation All-Star Battle Royale, Sony’s response to Smash; or any fighting game that focuses on a single series, but features all of the major characters from that series. There are such games out there for Naruto, Sonic, Marvel Comics and Capcom… We even recently had Jump Force, a Mascot Fighter featuring famous anime heroes of multiple shonen series!

Fan-made or indie titles of that genre are also quite popular, no doubt due to every fan’s desire to create the biggest ultimate showdown of ultimate destiny. I recall Super Smash Flash 1 and 2, Newgrounds Rumble… Those were fun, but then there’s also today’s game, which focuses on characters from indie games available on Steam and other online gaming platforms… with a twist.

Where else could you see Shovel Knight, CommanderVideo, Sash Lilac, Penelope or Teslakid, fighting? And why is everything so jumpy?

Look at this aerial waltz. Isn't it majestic?

That’s the twist: Everybody jumps non-stop. Admittedly, I might have preferred an indie mascots fighting game in which we actually choose when to jump, but I guess that’ll do. It’s quirky, and hey, like many odd or unexpected gameplay mechanics in other games, I could end up enjoying it. It takes some getting used to, but I should do just fine.

Mind you, this game is still very recent; after a very successful Kickstarter campaign, it was released to Steam on July 10th, 2018 by Lowe Bros. Studios. As a sign that it’s still in development, there are notes on upcoming updates, which include new characters, stages and various other details.

Having this game in my Steam library is kind of weird to think about, as per its massive crossover nature it features a lot of characters from popular indie titles, many of which are available on Steam, and some of which I actually do own, have played, or might have yet to play. This is the full list of characters available in this game. Characters in italics are from a game I’ve played (and either reviewed or will be reviewing soon), and characters in bold are from games I own but haven’t played yet.

First thing to do here: Unlock the full roster.
It's not that long.

Starting roster: Blockman, from The Blocks Cometh; Diogenes, from Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy; Jack, from Jack The Reaper; Lilac, from Freedom Planet; Penelope, from The Next Penelope; Shovel Knight, from… well, Shovel Knight; Stardrop, from Stardrop Blaster.

Unlockable characters: BulletKin, from Enter the Gungeon; CommanderVideo, from the BIT.TRIP series; Fishy, from Shütshimi; Orcane, from Rivals of Aether; Teslakid, from Teslagrad; Velocispider, from Velocispider; Viridian, from VVVVVV; Welltaro, from DownWell; Zorbie, from Zorbie.

Characters planned for future updates: Dust, from Dust: An Elysian Tail; Gunvolt, from Azure Striker Gunvolt; Kick, from Divekick; Octodad, from Octodad; Voltar, from Awesomenauts.

Second thing to do: Unlock every stage? That's gonna be longer.
Already 13 stages? Wow, nice.

And of course, a mascot fighter game inspired by Smash wouldn’t feel right without many creative stages; and indeed, this game contains stages inspired by the games Two Brothers, Shütshimi, The Blocks Cometh, Flappy Bird, INK, Candies ‘n Curses, VVVVVV, BIT.TRIP, Runbow, Nefarious, Stardrop Blaster, DownWell, and more on the way.

Or, y'know... throw yourself off-stage, that's possible too.

That’s an impressive selection! That's not even getting into the trophies and audience members! However, it does remind me of how many games I’ve yet to play…

Another similarity with Super Smash Bros. is that it’s possible to knock an enemy off-stage far enough to kill them. The big difference is that all characters also have a set amount of Hit Points (instead of a percentage-based system), and a character will also die if their HP is brought down to 0. This change allowed the devs to include stages without pits to knock enemies into.

Also of note for every character in the roster: Each one of them has its own entrance animation when a battle starts, its own death animation when defeated, and its own very special attack (akin to a Final Smash), which can be activated by collecting gems. Those are obtained by repeatedly hitting enemies, usually by jumping on them, before landing to the ground. A reward for successful combos, in a way. The special attack can be activated when a character has collected 5, as they cost 5 gems to activate.

Including the all-new option: Augments!

On the starting screen, you can step into the coliseum to play the main draw of the game: The battles. The one at the forefront is Local Battle, allowing you and up to three other players to duke it out. Although, “Local Battle” indicates that you need to have some setup allowing your friends to play with you. But that’s okay! As with any fighting game, you can choose to play against up to three CPUs instead, with all kinds of options for the type of battle. I personally quite enjoy giving every character 99 lives and only one HP, and randomize both the fighters and the stage.

Multiplayer? Awesome.

Can’t play with friends locally? Head over to the Online Desk to host a match or join one. I’ve been told that it’s the quickest way to earn the in-game currency. Joining the official Indie Pogo social media (the Discord server, in particular) helps in finding matches for Online play. It can be accessed through the Community option on the main menu. Tournament events are set up regularly, so you can join one after you've found your favorite fighter.

Not quite as many battles on the second screen.
Plus, randomization, that's always good.

And of course, what’s a fighting game without a campaign mode for all the lonely people out there? The Single Player section is divided in four parts. First is Arcade, a simile of Classic from Smash in which you battle your way through multiple characters from the roster. Before the May update, you fought all 14 available characters (many of which were put together in groups of 2, and all characters were fought in the same order), with a bonus level to collect coins and a final boss. You have three lives, and if you lose them all you can continue by paying 10 coins (which are also earned after every completed level) on Normal difficulty, and 30 coins on Hard.

Post-update, you fight only 9 of them, but unlike the battles pre-update, each character has their own set of adversaries - though it's always the same set in the same order, still not randomized.

As for the boss, I hope you weren’t expecting a giant right hand; the indie world can offer better than that. Instead, meet Crow, the protagonist of Nefarious. He has 99 HP (120 before the update) and extremely unfair attacks. Bombs, head-seeking missiles, flight? He has it all. I swear he’s even harder to beat after the update than before it. And he did NOT need to be made harder to beat, either. Jeeeezus. Only once did I manage to beat this guy without losing a single life. I can’t count the number of coins I wasted on Continues against Crow.

He's here to kick ass and kidnap princesses. And there are no princesses.

A challenge about eating apples? That's... unexpected.
Zorbie is such a weirdo.

Good thing there’s a Training Mode allowing you to practice a character’s moveset! Oh, and if you want something unusual, there’s a Challenges mode (similar to the Events from Smash); each character has at least one Challenge of their own, some of which directly reference to the game they come from. Unlocking the full roster unlocks a bonus Challenge in which you must defeat them all, yep, an All-Stars battle of sorts. I am not trying to make all of these references to Super Smash Bros.; it’s unfair to compare a game to another, but at least here, we can definitely feel Smash as a strong inspiration to the Lowe Bros. – perhaps even, their biggest inspiration in making this indie mascot fighter, since its modes take so many cues from Smash. And hey, there’s nothing wrong with that, as long as the game feels like its own thing.

Lot of money to be spent here.

The coins collected throughout your victories can then be used in the Marketplace area. Everything is unlocked in this game by paying coins – that goes for characters, stages, alternate costumes and taunts. Most characters are pretty inexpensive, so it’s a good idea to start with them and fill out the roster quickly. Coins can be gathered in the various single-player modes and in Local Battle – however, it’s Online Battles that bring in the big bucks. The most expensive item, as far as I know, is the gold-plated armor skin for Shovel Knight, with a whopping 7,777 coins.

Perhaps only 87 for now, but it's not done growing.

Much like in the Smash games since Melee (minus Ultimate), there’s also a way to gather trophies; you get a playable character’s trophy by beating Arcade Mode with them. Most of the additional trophies are from various indie games found on gaming platforms. Only as trophies? No! As you collect them, you may start seeing these characters appear on some screens, as audience members, as an example. What bugs me about the trophies, however, is how you acquire the ones that aren’t playable characters: A gachapon machine. Yep, it’s all up to luck. And the more unique trophies you collect, the lower the chance of getting new trophies you don’t have yet. You can put more coins in the machine in order to increase the odds of getting something new, but even then it’s not going to help a whole lot. And this randomness brings me to the same issue I have with Smash; what do we do with copies of trophies we already have? What’s the point of keeping more than one of each? Why isn’t there some way to get rid of the extraneous ones?

Not every trophy can be obtained through Gachapon; each fighter's trophy is obtained by beating Arcade with them on Normal difficulty, and each of them has a second trophy that is earned for beating Arcade again on Hard.

Also of note, by pressing a button on each trophy, you'll be taken to the page (on Steam or any other online gaming platform) for that character's game.

I’ve made a point of this review being written immediately after a massive update to the game, and as I was writing it received yet another update, adding the character Diogenes from Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy. Since the character is brand new, there are still tweaks and changes to be had, so the devs at Lowe Bros. Studios are more than happy to receive feedback and bug reports (though as you can expect, they’re already most likely aware and/or may have corrected many of them by the time this review is out). Playing through Arcade with the new character on the very day it came out, I ran into a glitch where Crow would run offscreen after a bit and not come back – so either Diogenes is too badass for the boss, or some things need correcting. But I’m certain that in a few days, this issue will have been resolved.

Again: Keep in mind that updates will keep on rolling, so it’s very likely that by the time you read this, the game will have changed quite a bit. It’s weird to think that this review will be, not even a month after its publication, already discussing an older version. Like a snapshot of a precise moment in the existence of that game – following some big changes, preceding more big changes. At least, this is a clear indication that the Lowe Bros. are taking good care of their product.

Speaking of, the latest update experiments with augments that can be added to a few characters. So not only are new characters being added, new modes and options keep being added as well. The Shop now also has links to DLC skins for a few characters that you can purchase with actual money, if you so desire. I think I would have preferred for those to be in a separate shop, since more may be added over time and they should be split from the many items that can be bought with in-game money. I also don’t see the point of so many Taunts in the shop, but then again, I’m not a multiplayer competitive type of guy; I guess they have value for those who play in the Indie Pogo tournaments. 

Not the whole group is around the campfire yet,
but I'm working on it.

All in all, a very good game. You can feel the effort that went into making this mascot fighter game. It’s excellent – the available characters and stages, the modes, the moves inspired by each character’s original series, the detail added to everything… It’s great. The Arcade mode isn’t too difficult (except for Crow, which I feel is a bit too tough compared to everyone else, but that may just be a personal issue). Some challenges annoy me, but otherwise they’re alright. Many items in the Shop are pretty expensive (the last stage to unlock costs 5000 coins, and many alternate character skins cost almost as much or more). I think the Gachapon machine is annoying as well – it’s too random. And of course, there’s still the odd glitch here and there, which is understandable, but as I said, the devs are on top of their game and use their community of players to receive reports, so they can then work and remove the glitches that may pop up from an update to the next.

Last but not least, it may be a nitpick, but I have the impression that the game has begun its existence with many characters with unusual mechanics - perhaps too many this early into the game's life. Does it make for interesting fights? Yes, and I suppose it helps make this game feel even more distinct to Smash. I guess I was expecting more "normal" fighters in the starting roster, as a lot of characters as they exist now can and will surprise you with some of their tricks.

However, all in all, I recommend this game. Amazing work, Lowe Bros., you’ve got something you can be proud of, and I’m definitely looking forward to all of the coming updates.

Especially Octodad. I can’t wait to play my favorite squid-man!