Every game needs a turbo mode.

Played a stupid amount of this over the past couple of weeks, and the core reason, I think, is the momentum of fights. The game already has a great pace, able to fluidly control fights by dashing up and down lanes and the ability to throw enemies at the end of your combos - but start turning up the speed and you have a game that moves lightning-fast, where even the normally dominant parry starts to become a genuine risk, feeling like a game of chicken against the hyper-lethal enemies that can cross the screen in an instant. Play on the standard speed afterwards, and the game starts to feel positively glacial- a wonderfully transformative option.

Less enthusiastic about the structure; the most obvious path you’ll take on a first playthrough is one of the more repetitive, the midgame bogged down in a dreary set of forests and swamps, before picking back up during the infamous ferry ride (remember your parry)! And despite boasting a massive spreadsheet of endings, what it really entails is a series of grim little detours that merge back onto the main path. On the other hand, go for the best ending and you’re treated to a route that offers exciting fake-outs and unique bosses, and maybe most importantly: a chance to learn the patterns of the penultimate fights.

I mention this because the final room of the game has you fight against a trio of Dobermans and a pair of Jaguars, arguably some of the most dangerous enemies of the game, and, as was the case for me, enemies you wouldn't have fought if you took the main route. It makes for a gnarly difficulty spike, barely overcoming one batch of enemies, only to go into the next room, and fight an even tougher set of opponents that will summarily send you back to the beginning of the sequence. I can appreciate the old-school harshness of it, but even having done multiple playthroughs, it’s still something I dread. (Probably because of the time it takes to find a window to attack them safely) Very much the make-or-break point of any 1CC run.

But, hey, maybe it’s the dash of venom a game like this really needs, something to wake you up and make sure the prior 40 minutes won’t go to waste.

In my opinion, the value of a spiritual successor can often be measured by this question: "If the inspiration was made when a series/genre was alive, would this be considered plagiarism?" A lot of games I've played are trying to copy a series instead of being truly inspired. What's interesting about Fight'N Rage is that not long after its release, the beat em up genre recieved a bit of a renaissance with some modern revivals, with one of the releases being a Streets of Rage game, a series Fight'N Rage was certainly inspired by. So, can Fight'N Rage hold its own among these newer and bigger releases?

For the most part, yes. Although, Streets of Rage 4 is still the best.

Simply put, this game is fast-paced, short and sweet, and well made all around. By far, the best thing this game has above many modern beat em ups is the replayability. In my review of Streets of Rage 4, I said the game would've been a bit better if there were multiple shorter paths instead of one longer route. That's exactly what Fight'N Rage did, with multiple different paths and endings depending on your actions and where you decide to go, meaning this game has a ton of replay value.

Of course, that would only matter if the game was worth replaying, and it absolutely is. You only have 3 playable characters, and they stick to their archetypes for sure, but they're distinct enough to make a difference, and each takes skill to use efficiently. However, the game generally makes you feel extremely powerful, in between the ease of crowd control, flashy moves and mobility, and how enemies who have been excessively combo'ed burst into a skeleton.

This doesn't stop the game from being difficult though; The difficulty goes up steadily, and you won't be able to mash your way through each encounter. For one, the special system is basically lifted from SoR 3 (One of the few ways the game does 'plagiarize' the series), and just like in that one, you need to pay attention to your meter, make sacrifices, and are allowed to take risks if you're confident in your skill. Many enemies will also counter and dodge in different ways, so you need to be mindful of which you're fighting.

There are a few issues. For some reason, you have to unlock the training mode. Sometimes enemies will go offscreen and you can't hit them. As short as any playthrough of this game is, the ability to save several different runs would've been nice. The game can also throw a bit too many enemies at you occasionally. However, when the visuals and music are on point and you're on your last sliver of health, fighting desperately to keep going against all odds, none of that matters. This one's a new classic, guys. It honestly may be a 9/10.

I'm not really the biggest fan of beat em ups but this is definitely one of the most fun ones I've played. A solid arcade-style game which acts a gold standard in encouraging longevity in arcade games for casual players (there's branching paths in your playthrough, currency and a shop with lots of character skins and other extra modes available, and don't forget the technically 55 endings!). The only major issues for me is that F.Norris and Ricardo feel awkward to play compared to Gal and some of the bosses are pretty meh.

Fight'N Rage is the perfect example of how to ruin a moderately decent combat system with absolute incompetent enemy placement that edges on artificial difficulty.

I finished the campaign on hard using the default character and this game's way of providing any semblance of challenge is by ganking you with multiple bosses at once or rather having you go long stretches with barely any health upgrades or items. And to top it off the difficulty curve is also extremely inconsistent because the game is mostly a cakewalk where you basically fight the same three or four variants of the same mobs but as soon as you get to the last two chapters the game increases the enemy density to almost an autistic level where the game simply spams ganks after ganks almost ruining the whole point of the parry mechanic.
As for the presentation, it's ugly. The pixel art is hideous to look at and it meshes in with the background almost way too often. The music is also lame and forgettable.

If there's any reason anyone would ever recommend this incompetent excuse of a beatemup is because of the constant comparison to Streets of Rage 4 while failing to understand what actually makes it a masterpiece and this one a hot pile of steamy garbage

I’m not going to write out a long review for this one but I have to stop and say, holy crap this is a good beat ‘em up. Seriously Fight’N Rage is fantastic.

Fight’N Rage nails the old school look it is going for while still having a bit of its own style. It’s smooth, polished and has a bunch of visual options like scanlines, CRT TV mode and different colour styles. It has great art, animations, and good enemy and environment variety. The soundtrack is really fun and goes well with the visuals and gameplay. The gameplay just hits the sweet spot. It is challenging but never feels unfair or cheap. It is easy to pick up and start playing but difficult to master. I think this game made me a better beat ‘em up player and it has sparked a greater interest in this genre. It’s just fun and so replayable and there is so much content here. There’s plenty to unlock, different modes and multiple endings.

I think the main drawback for me is that it’s slightly too long. I wish a run through was a shorter blast but honestly that’s probably mostly a skill issue on my end. Yeah, that’s possibly the biggest problem with the game, I kind of suck at it. But I’m getting there and it’s been rewarding to improve. Some other minor issues are that the bosses could have been a bit better, there’s some unnecessary repetition and occasionally there’s too much going on which obscures the action a bit. You could find fault with the story too I guess but that’s not why you play this.

Fight’N Rage was made by one guy, with another person doing music and I think a handful of testers and it’s really impressive. I haven’t ventured too far into beat ‘em ups but this has to be one of the best. If you like fun and a challenge go buy this, easy recommendation.

8.8/10

Probably one of the most impressive solo efforts I've seen since Cave Story, Fight'n Rage is another throwback beat 'em up made by someone who is obviously a genre enthusiast. The combat is fast, satisfying, very flexible and diverse between the 3 characters and there's a good variety of enemies in the mix. The branching story paths lead to a surprisingly wide array of different levels so no one playthrough has to be the same thing every time and the game is loaded with unlockables giving it excellent replay value. It's not perfect though, the very intense and busy visuals can make this game a headache to look at after extended play so I really can't recommend the game for photo-sensitive people. (you can modify the visuals to tone down some of the effects but there is a limit to it) On a more general note, it's a very difficult and not beginner friendly game at all. While it has many modern conveniences, the enemy count is very high, and they can drain your health in a hurry. That can just as easily be a pro for some people though, so I don't count it against the game that much. If you love classic beat 'em ups but would like something that has the control feel of a Vanillaware game, give this one a check.

If you took Streets of Rage, Final Fight, and River city Ransom and combined them together, this is what you get. the game is beautiful and plays very smoothly, the music is actually really energetic and your 3 main characters all fight differently. The game is actually longer than it feels because you can take alternative paths and see different events and fight different enemies. The game definitely has an edge of challenge to it on it's default difficulty.

The only drawback the game has is very minor, but Fight'N Rage tends to lean too heavily on it's homage to other beat em ups to the point, it's a great mix of nearly every mainstream beat em up you can think of with many references to them but....the problem is, the game lacks it's own identity, nothing in this game stands out as something of it's own, if you've played a lot of beat em ups you'll instantly see references to past games all over this game, but nothing this game can call it's own.

from incredible well made sprites that are 100% smooth, rocking good music and combat asking you to style on enemies to both look cool and survive, it goes above and beyond despite being a relative unnoticeable title among the genre, that's without accounting a lot of stuff it leaves you to do, like actual branching paths, more endings and lots of modes

the fact this was done all by a single guy and his musician friend really puts into perspective everything involving about this game. colored me impressed