Fighting games have never really been realistic, have they? Sure, back in the 80s, one on one fighters tended to have a certain level of realism, if not mixed with some cartoony elements or cues from Martial Arts films, see games like Karate Champ or IK+ for instance. But with the success of Street Fighter 2, fighting games have discarded their realism based roots and gone butternut bananas with fire balls, flying and kicking people so hard they fly across the planet. But Psikyo dared to ask, what if a fighting game could be realistic?
Thus Battle K-Road was developed, a 2D fighting game that takes a more realistic approach to fighting styles, much like the 1993 Sega hit, Virtua Fighter. You pick a character and they represent a certain fighting style, like Boxing, Karate, Muay Thai, Ju Jitsu, mixed Martial Arts and so forth. It's not like in Street Fighter where they crib elements from those styles and make them outlandish, the game makes a valiant effort to represent each fighting style with great detail.
Matches are quite fast, you'll be taking shots at one another as you find the optimal way to hit your opponents, and knockdowns reset your character's positions to the default, so it's all about trying to get your opponent down if you're in a tight spot, and hitting your opponent hard before they can fight back.
As such, it isn't as simple as Street Fighter, as each fighting style comes with its own quirks and tricks to work effectively, it is somewhat streamlined for ease of use, but it may take time to adjust, it isn't an easy to learn game.
Graphics are pretty sharp, characters look good and the backgrounds, while simple, don't distract from the action. Sound is fine, none of the songs are particularly memorable, except for the rather great main theme. The realism angle might be a turn off for some, and would've earned Psikyo more points if it held it for the whole game, but much like Virtua Fighter, it all kinda falls apart at the final boss. I won't spoil it for those that haven't seen it, but just know that Tekken might have pinched him for their own game.
If you're looking for something a bit different with your fighting games, I would recommend it, but it's not the easiest fighting game to understand. A good game, held back by some hampering thanks to its realistic approach. Also that final boss. What the fuck where these guys thinking?
Thus Battle K-Road was developed, a 2D fighting game that takes a more realistic approach to fighting styles, much like the 1993 Sega hit, Virtua Fighter. You pick a character and they represent a certain fighting style, like Boxing, Karate, Muay Thai, Ju Jitsu, mixed Martial Arts and so forth. It's not like in Street Fighter where they crib elements from those styles and make them outlandish, the game makes a valiant effort to represent each fighting style with great detail.
Matches are quite fast, you'll be taking shots at one another as you find the optimal way to hit your opponents, and knockdowns reset your character's positions to the default, so it's all about trying to get your opponent down if you're in a tight spot, and hitting your opponent hard before they can fight back.
As such, it isn't as simple as Street Fighter, as each fighting style comes with its own quirks and tricks to work effectively, it is somewhat streamlined for ease of use, but it may take time to adjust, it isn't an easy to learn game.
Graphics are pretty sharp, characters look good and the backgrounds, while simple, don't distract from the action. Sound is fine, none of the songs are particularly memorable, except for the rather great main theme. The realism angle might be a turn off for some, and would've earned Psikyo more points if it held it for the whole game, but much like Virtua Fighter, it all kinda falls apart at the final boss. I won't spoil it for those that haven't seen it, but just know that Tekken might have pinched him for their own game.
If you're looking for something a bit different with your fighting games, I would recommend it, but it's not the easiest fighting game to understand. A good game, held back by some hampering thanks to its realistic approach. Also that final boss. What the fuck where these guys thinking?