There are two perfectly innocent words in the English dictionary that are individually insignificant but when combined become a beautiful yet deadly maneuver. Dive. Kick. Divekick.
This game is ridiculous. It genuinely started as a parody video - a comedic view of one of the more irritating moves in fighting games to new players as they are often unpredictable and lightning fast. Fans of fighters, being the stark raving lunatics they are, decided that parody was not enough and that Divekick deserved a chance to live. After a highly successful Kickstarter campaign a company named "Iron Galaxy Studios" decided that they'd cut out the middle man and just entirely fund the game themselves, seeing the potential within.
They were not wrong.
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| I've seen a few blokes stumble out of clubs like this on a Plymouth Saturday night. |
The concept is probably the most simple of any fighting game ever. The minimum requirements for the game are a brain and two working fingers. One to propel yourself into the sky at terrifying speeds and one to rain down pain in the form of a diagonal kick. Each kick is a devastating one-hit KO and the winner is the first to achieve five rounds on their opponent. Now initially, I thought this sounded too simple to be good. A bit of a laugh for five minutes, yes, but nothing you could call "competitive" in any meaningful way. I'll hold my diving and kicking digits up in error now as on my first session I ended up playing for approximately four hours whilst bemused onlookers questioned my sanity.
The depth of the gameplay originates mainly from two things: the first of which is the variety in the characters. Each has different jumping abilities, diving angles and gimmicks, which will keep you locked in playing until you master your favourite player. The most simple characters, for instance, are Dive and Kick, two imaginatively named characters that are slightly better at their namesake abilities. Other characters, however, are downright bonkers. S-Kill, based around a popular figure in the fighting game community, can only kick after jumping twice. And his jumps are also teleports. Yes, some characters play rather strangely. But the fundamentals of the game are constant and this both allows interesting varied gameplay without needing to take a degree in each selectable fighter.
The second factor in making a deep game is the special system. As you dive and kick your opponents you'll build up your Kick Factor meter; you can use bizarre and powerful moves using the Kick Factor meter with a press of both buttons, making each character unique - or you can wait until it's full, automatically entering a mode where your abilities are increased exponentially, parodying the "X Factor" system from "Marvel vs Capcom 3". You can eliminate the meter by hitting a headshot on your enemy which also dizzys them in the next round. Between avoiding these devastating blows and balancing the use of supers with saving the meter for Kick Factor mode, you're left with a game as complex as the most mainstream fighter.
Gameplay aside, this game is full to the brim with a vivid and unique personality, taking many elements from the fighting game community to rib-tickling effects. Almost every character is either a real famous fighting game player, a parody of an existing fighting game character or... the straight-jacketed demon embodiment of a laggy fighting game stream?
Obviously, the game's humour might be lost on players not ingrained into the fighting game community, but there are still plenty of surreal and offbeat laughs to be had, from Uncle Sensei's master of wellington hand divekicks to Kick's losing shouts just being the names of Will Smith movies.
I think to summarise, all I can do is suggest, no, beg you to give this game a chance. It's a very refreshing take on a genre largely monopolized by giants and it's an absolute joy to play; the game possesses smooth controls and fluid gameplay that will leave you leaping up from your chair in celebration or to slam a high five to the closest person in the vacinity in awe of your buddies particularly well executed maneuver. It's a cheap game, coming in at around £7 in the UK so it is most certainly worth a try. So dive and kick into the night my friends and remember - don't choke!
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| I wish I could even explain this. |
Gameplay aside, this game is full to the brim with a vivid and unique personality, taking many elements from the fighting game community to rib-tickling effects. Almost every character is either a real famous fighting game player, a parody of an existing fighting game character or... the straight-jacketed demon embodiment of a laggy fighting game stream?
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| ... Don't even ask. |
I think to summarise, all I can do is suggest, no, beg you to give this game a chance. It's a very refreshing take on a genre largely monopolized by giants and it's an absolute joy to play; the game possesses smooth controls and fluid gameplay that will leave you leaping up from your chair in celebration or to slam a high five to the closest person in the vacinity in awe of your buddies particularly well executed maneuver. It's a cheap game, coming in at around £7 in the UK so it is most certainly worth a try. So dive and kick into the night my friends and remember - don't choke!
