Developer: Reverge Labs

Publisher: Autumn Games / Konami

Reviewed by: Jordan C.

What’s Skullgirls catch? You guessed it, all the playable characters are female. This game is a throwback to the days when 2-player fighting games dominated arcades, and the Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat franchises were king. However, many titles had much shorter lines and offered just as much fun and challenge. These included Tekken, Virtua Fighter, King of Fighters, and Samurai Showdown to name a few. The latter had a very cartoony style and a combo system that seems to be the predecessor to the frenetic, over-the-top screens of the Street Fighter vs. Marvel franchise. Well, Skullgirls is the spiritual heir to exactly that brand of craziness. This game is all about insane, screen-filling combos and super moves that bring out whole armies of side characters (Parasoul has got a posse).

This was not an easy game to play. On “normal” mode I was getting my ass kicked consecutive rounds with all different characters. Parasoul, Valentine, and Peacock all failed me, though each character’s theme and look was quite original. It wasn’t until I played with Cerebella that I managed to rack up some kill. She has an animal toque like Finn from Adventure Time but hers is alive and very strong. The ears of her toque act like giant arms and she uses them in all kinds of interesting ways. I beat four or five opponents in a row and was only stopped when I came up against my doppleganger, a purple/pink colourway Cerebella. The combos and counters seem tailored to the fighting game vet. And the block system is definitely more complex than simply pushing "back" on the direction pad.

This game has a fun factor sorely lacking in most games today. If you're a fighting game sensei or just looking for something different with some soul, Reverge Labs deserve the couple bucks it will cost you to go grab this on PSN or XBLA.