Fight ‘N Rage XSX Review 8.5/10 "A Wonderful Throwback Title With Astonishing Depth" 💥👊 @sebagamesdev #GameDev #IndieGameto

The side-scrolling brawler genre is such a timeless and wondrous thing when done properly, as one-man Uruguayan studio Seba Games Dev has done here with Fight ‘N Rage.

The natural repetition of the genre is spiced up here by an insane amount of unlockables that make the grinder part of me twitch into action.

There have been some tasty games in the genre over the last year or two – mainly courtesy of DotEmu - (and I know it’s older than that, but I have to mention Mother Russia Bleeds) and Fight ‘N Rage absolutely has to be mentioned in that conversation.

Set in a world where humans and mutants are locked in a deadly battle – and humans are getting their arses handed to them – you play (initially) as one of three characters; speedy Gal, who is the swiftest and certainly most bounciest-of-boob. F. Norris, a grizzled martial artist who really reminded me of Guy from Final Fight, was my favourite character; and Ricardo, a buff bull wearing clothes that wouldn’t look out of place on Haggar...Good.

In terms of the meat and potatoes of the game, the visuals are made up of big, crunchy pixels with a heart clearly in the early ‘90s. The game begins as an arcade machine would, with the RAM and data loading up in percentages before showing the title screen. It’s all incredibly retro and arcade-like, with the CRT filter automatically on, the dev clearly knows the demographic he’s aiming for!

The combat is satisfyingly weighty, and as you work out the subtleties and nuances of your character, it can almost lead you into a zen-like state as you fly-kick like a pinball between enemies, before sliding under them and juggling them up in the air, your combo-meter shooting up like Oliver Reed’s blood-to-alcohol level at a wedding with a free bar.

The characters all feel distinct in their abilities and skills, and with up to three players able to join in the fray, a surprising amount of strategy can be employed, this is not a game in which you can idly button bash and get to the end. I especially enjoyed the mechanic whereby your special meter fills up as you fight, allowing you to utilise your special move without health draining, it’s an integral part of the gameplay and I found my eye always flicking to the corner, waiting for that moment that I could unleash a flurry of punches, and smash enemies into exploding bones.

The music is also a big part of the energetic vibes, with Gonzalo Varela bringing some incredible music to the table. The initial stages had a pretty full-on widdly-widdly guitar (a technical term), and whilst it added to the sense of threat and pace of the game, it’s a style of music that can get wearing – but it’s like Gonzalo was reading my mind as the stages open up (some have multiple paths) and many musical genres are introduced that vary quite wildly and wonderfully. This is a soundtrack screaming out for a vinyl release.

The real gem here is that the game is one of discovery. When I first played, I got to about stage four and was soundly whipped as I was completely crowded and beaten down by various mutant animals wielding weapons. Following being beaten to death, several screens came up showing the amount of each type of mutant downed and awarded me coins in kind, this was when my trousers slowly unbuckled themselves, floated into an adjacent room and folded themselves neatly in a drawer.

Upon going through the menus following this, various flashing icons showed me what different modes, characters, music tracks, tips and items I’d unlocked, and this really is the pull of the game.  A perfect ‘one more try’ in a game already rich with tight gameplay and content.

SUMMARY

Fight ‘N Rage really crept up on me, the first few minutes were fun, but it was when I discovered the depth of gameplay and wealth of unlockable content that I sat bolt upright and got my war face on.

It’s a perfect blend of saucy combat and a treasure trove of content. Good.