Home > Rage Against the Arcade Machine - Fight'N Rage Review
Originally published on Nintendo Castle.
Ever yearn for the days of the arcades? Dropping quarters into a beat 'em up machine repeatedly in an attempt to get one screen further? A time long since passed, what with arcades falling in favour to home consoles. But it is a time not forgotten and solo games developer Seba Games Dev is here to remind you of the quarter munching days in front of a glowing CRT cabinet with Fight’n Rage, a ridiculously faithful celebration of the tough as nails brawlers of the 90’s. Is this a fight worth your time? Or will it fall to the player’s rage?
Platforms: PC, Switch [Reviewed]
Developer: Seba Games
Release: September 26, 2019 (Switch)
MSRP: $19.99
Press Copy provided by Seba Games
Right off the bat Fight’n Rage makes it plainly obvious of its arcade inspirations, starting up with a boot screen reminiscent of a cabinet being rebooted and straight into the warm, bleeding glare of a monitor befitting of dark arcade. So much has been put into making this as authentic feeling as possible and none of it goes to waste. It’s so ridiculously 90’s that it hurts, but it’s a welcome punch to the gut in the wake of numerous 8-bit and 16-bit homages with little substance beyond the visual style.
As for the art itself, it bears similarities to imported anime at the time with very particular attention paid to the ladies (it’s frankly rather hilarious how ridiculous their animations are). The music is an adrenaline pumping heavy metal adventure from start to finish. The aesthetic may turn off some, as it is definitely not something that carried over into the 00’s, but considering how far you might have to go to relive some of that feeling, having it in the palm of your hands so easily is not something to be sniffed at.
Fight’n Rage’s gameplay is astonishingly simple. Y to attack, B to jump and A for specials. That’s it. Though it’s not a mindless brawler, as you can parry pretty much every attack, grab and throw enemies, bounce off them in mid-air to continue your combo and so on. There’s as much depth as you’re willing to put into it, though the standard combo then throw option goes pretty far, maybe too far.
While the combat is simple, it would have to be considering one of the game’s biggest strengths is the astonishingly large playable roster. You start off with three, Gal, F. Norris and Ricardo, but you can unlock almost every enemy there is in the game.
The sheer amount of options available doesn’t just end with your playable cast. The game’s visual options are very dense, allowing you to change between CRT and clean pixels, the amount of screen bloom and even changing it to grayscale if you’re so inclined. Additional modes can be unlocked as you play the game, some of which can be extremely challenging, and extra costumes for everyone. There’s probably too much to obtain though, as 100% will require playing through the various modes a ridiculous number of times. In fact, the repetitive nature of the game isn’t exactly going to keep people coming back for the unlockables unless you’re a truly die hard beat 'em up fan.
All in all, Fight’n Rage is a love letter to the arcade days, for better and worse. It’s pitfalls are all the things that make the arcades so frustrating, from harsh punishments for failure to scarce checkpoints. Some of it feels pointless, as you can get game overs which ultimately serve no purpose, as you have unlimited continues and you’re certainly not expected to cough up your pocket money to keep on playing.
The sheer dedication to the medium is still to be admired, but it might be a lot to put up with for a casual player. A lot of fun can still be had with the game, but unless you’re fine with putting up with the tedium of a lost era this might not be the game for you. An impressive solo effort, but an incredibly niche project that will no doubt have its fans within the community.
Pros:
- Gratuitously 90’s, goes all-in on the premise
- Gorgeous visuals and animations
- Rocking soundtrack sure to get your blood pumping
Cons:
- Probably too deep in the arcade roots with all the drawbacks included
- Too specific a niche, but this can be a pro in the right person’s hands
Verdict
Good
Good games are simply that: good. They are generally fun to play but might be lacking in longevity, replay value, or presentation. These games might be good buying decisions for some people, but not for others. Some otherwise great games may fall into this category if they are priced unreasonably high. The devil is in the details.
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