It is difficult to live up to one of the best-selling and best-loved franchises in the Nintendo catalog. For this reason, and as we will see throughout the analysis of Brawlout, its developers sign a heartfelt tribute to a franchise that is seen, from afar, that they admire and enjoy. They take the competitive benefits of Sakurai’s game and rewrite it with new characters and their own mechanics. Outcome? A fun and worthy (although far from the charisma of the original) doppelgänger.
During the first hours of play at the controls of Brawlout for Nintendo Switch I had a deja vu: in my mental map of what I was going to say about the Angry Mob Games video game in the analysis that you are reading, it posed the same questions and issues that back in the day I did it while reviewing Skullgirls, from the great Lab Zero Games. Yes: Brawlout is to Smash Bros. what Skullgirls was in its day to 2D fighting, but I think that the second, despite its innumerable tributes and its many references to the genre, had an identity of its own with which the first cannot (He doesn’t seem to want to) compete.
And don’t get me wrong: it’s not that I didn’t like Brawlout, but I think, with all its good mechanics and ideas, it ended up being too conformist. Could it be in the rush for the Switch launch before Christmas? Perhaps because of the established and obvious respect that its developers have for the legendary Nintendo fighting franchise? A bit of both, surely. What is clear is that when you try to compete with a genius like Masahiro Sakurai and characters like Mario, Link, Samus Aran or Pikachu, they will bring out the colors. Brawlout’s greatest virtue? Being able to endure the comparison with talent and good ideas is commendable, since copying the present subgenre has never been an easy or pleasant task.
Do you remember exercises like DreamMix TV World Fighters or PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale in the past? Despite the good reviews, they were massacred by the public, who were never willing to serve clones of Smash Bros., regardless of the good ideas and the unbeatable intentions behind them. I am convinced that to Brawlout what is not going to happen to Hudson or Sony: the use of their own characters (and a couple of independent guests) does not seem to produce in the users the rejection that they experienced with the works mentioned above.
Brawlout: Launch Trailer
Smash without complexesBrawlout is easy to explain : it takes everything you already know about Smash Bros. and adapts it with characters created by the Angry Mob itself . Of course, it is inevitable to see nods to the Nintendo franchise and other popular references such as Mortal Kombat, Guilty Gear or Street Fighter in some of the movements of the fighters and their mechanics, but it does not go beyond mere tribute. As you can imagine, as they take damage, your fighters add a percentage to a counter that, depending on how high it is, the easier it will be to throw it off the platform, taking lives from your rivals. The one who holds the fight alive ends up winning the game. It has eight series fighters and another eight unlockable.
He has two indie guests: The Drifter from Hyper Light Drifter and Juan from Guacamelee.
The content is accessed through gold and diamond coins , which open loot boxes . The coins are obtained by completing the different challenges proposed by the software and finishing its individual and on-line game modes . Lovers of arcade mode are in luck: they will be able to battle against their rivals in three different challenges in which we will fight against one, two or three fighters simultaneously. Even if the final enemy is disappointing, you can enjoy a classic conclusion with arts that illustrate the outcome of your favorite fighter.
The action on screen is clear. Another song is when four fighters are mixed in the scrum.
There are games that fit the Switch perfectly, and Brawlout is one of themBeyond its characters and mechanics, what differences are there between Brawlout and a Smash Bros. to use? I prefer the Rage bar and with the absence of a defensive mechanic like the barrier that we have been accustomed to since the first installment on Nintendo 64. The Rage bar is built below the percentage of our character, and if we reach half from the meter we can spend it to cut a opponent’s combo; If we complete 100% of the bar, we will get a temporary damage and resistance bonus capable of turning the fight around with great ease. In terms of defense, it has opted for a dodge that will allow you to evade rival attacks if you are skilled enough and know your opponent’s attacks.
It is much more risky than planting an impenetrable barrier that withstands several blows, but when used well it is rewarding. The attack and defense mechanics help to be before a very aggressive video game, in which the daring and bravery of the player is rewarded. However, the problem with dodging is that it is not the most optimal solution for playing online: as is well known, fighting is one of the most demanding genres in online modes, and the case of Brawlout, at least At its premiere on Switch, it’s not the most polished online experience we’ve seen in the console’s short life, making it foolhardy to use the present mechanic when competing against others online.
You can play with three other friends anywhere.
Without identity, but with talentCertainly, it does not stand out in terms of sound, with uninspired melodies and no identity. Visually, it reaches 1080p with the base connected and is quite stable at 60fps, although in some of the nine scenarios it has, this stability is questioned. Imaginative designs and movements are the highlights of its protagonists, to which you can apply new skins and colors. As you can imagine, there is plenty of content to unlock, and the mere exercise of finishing all the difficulty modes in the arcade to add gold will already give us a good handful of hours.
Simple scenarios? On the contrary: a bet on the competitiveness of Brawlout.
In what a priori may seem simple screens and the absence of objects, it is seen, a league away, that Angry Mob love the competitive Smash Bros., and they have wanted to honor it with their own production. It is difficult to contribute something to a subgenre that seems hermetically sealed by its developers and fans, so Brawlout, despite its indisputable virtues, may remain an exercise that lacks ambition and imagination. However, it is no less true that the software ends up being a remarkable and fun party fighting game that responds to a playable style absent from the console.
Due to its playable condition, there are titles that fit perfectly on Nintendo Switch, and Brawlout is one of them: the possibility of enjoying it with three other friends locally is a virtue for the game, which aspires to become a substitute for Smash until that the Kyoto firm decides to break the Internet with the announcement of a new installment of the franchise in the future. Until then, it remains to be patient. Brawlout will arrive on Xbox One and PlayStation 4 on a date to be determined next year 2018: if you do not have Nintendo Switch, do not hesitate to give it a try in the Steam Early Access, available since last April.
“Okay”
Brawlout
Brawlout, in its eagerness to look at other proposals of the genre, may remain in no man’s land, but it does not mean that it is a video game capable of providing hours and hours of good entertainment on your Nintendo Switch. Broad in terms of fighters and game modes, it becomes the only and viable alternative to fighting for platforms on the new Nintendo console. You will need to improve your online stability to be competitive.
- An indie alternative to Smash Bros. on Switch
- Take advantage of the multiplayer benefits of the Nintendo console
- Aggressive and frantic, it rewards the risk and bravery of the player
- Rich in content for solo play
- Online mode stability should improve
- Some scenarios cause drops in FPS
- Although it turned out, it lacks identity
