In this silver age of fighting games, independent developers have been able to find their footing in the scene. From the silly Divekick to the visually-stunning and mechanically-deep Skullgirls, these games have received critical acclaim, sold well, and established their own communities. They may not have the name recognition as some of the AAA titans in the genre, but a number of indie fighters have proven to be worthy alternatives.
So far, I’ve sampled five indie fighters on the Nintendo Switch. Here’s how I rank them from worst-to-best!
It’s been a long time. We shouldn’t have left you! Without a dope show to step to!
Scheduling conflicts have made it difficult to get the band back together, but here we are in full force! Join Kris, Rachel, Jason, Mat, Jon, and I to discuss a ton of games, including Yoshi’s Crafted World, Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid, Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire, Nine Parchments, Paper Mario, Game Dev Tycoon, Tetris 99, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy, and Chocobo’s Mystery Dungeon: Every Buddy and more! Also, does Jason have what it takes to win today’s game show and retain the Boss Rush championship belt? You’ll have to tune in to find out!
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For a franchise rooted in hand-to-hand combat, you’d think that the Power Rangers would have a larger foothold in the fighting game space. Save for a bad SNES fighter with the most legendarily overpowered fighting game character of all-time and a mobile game that I think is doing well, they generally steer clear of the genre that probably makes the most sense.
Finally, the world is getting a Power Rangers fighter in the modern era. Published by nWay Games and developed with the help of professional fighting game players Clockw0rk, ShadyK, and Justin Wong, Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid aims to provide the thrills of a Marvel vs. Capcom style fighter at a fraction of the price.
It’s Morphin’ Time! I put on my tightest spandex and throw down in Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid! Since it’s day one, the level of play is very rough, but you can get a sense of how the game works and what’s possible with more practice!
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Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid pits the legendary warriors in spandex in a 3v3 fighting game similar to Marvel vs. Capcom and Dragon Ball FighterZ. While its controls and gameplay systems have been simplified somewhat relative to other tag fighters on the market, you’re going to have to put in the elbow grease in order to access the most damaging combos, head-scratching mix-ups, and brick wall defense. This is by no means a comprehensive guide to the game, but here are a few pointers to get you ready for morphin’ time!
At a certain point in my life, I became incredibly picky about where I get my fighting game coverage and reviews from.
Don’t get me wrong. I love sites like IGN, Gamespot, Giant Bomb, and Kotaku for their ability to provide news and reviews first. I will go to them to get a sense of what a fighting game’s broader feature set is. I love independent bloggers for being able to provide their personal insight and touch in ways that more generalist sites cannot. Will turn to them for stories about how they had fun with the game or logs of their personal progress in a fighter.
But when it comes to looking for information that will help me inform my purchase on a fighting game, these outlets are not adequate with answering the hyper-specific questions I have about a game. My most recent quests for information pertaining to Samurai Shodown and Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid served as a reminder of that.
It’s (almost) Morphin’ Time! Join me tonight at 8:00pm EST for our first stab at Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid on the Nintendo Switch! I love tag-based fighting games, and this one has fighting game pros like Clockw0rk, Shady K, and Justin Wong as part of the development team! It might be a budget title, but I’m hoping it punches above its weight class!
Never miss a stream by following my channel and turning your notifications on! You can also follow me on Twitter and Instagram for stream updates and other cool stuff posted daily!
The bar for fighting games in modern times is higher than ever. From AAA efforts like Street Fighter V, Tekken 7, and Mortal Kombat 11, to indie titles like Skullgirls and Pocket Rumble, the genre is now packed with games that are built with smart combat mechanics, accessibility, depth, balance, and tournament viability in mind. Even licensed games like Dragon Ball FighterZ headlined the EVO main stage while outselling previous Dragon Ball fighting games by making a title that appealed to both fans of the show and the hardcore tournament crowd.
Though I’ve had my concerns about the upcoming Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid due to it being a licensed game and featuring mediocre graphics, the fact that Justin Wong was working on the game as a balance consultant gave me hope that this might not be a cash grab. After watching the game’s first live stream, I have more hope that this will reach the standard set by other competitive fighting games on the market.
Admittedly, I haven’t followed the Power Rangers since their original Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers run in the early 90s. Having said that, I know the franchise continues to thrive with new stories being told in that universe all the time on TV, in comic books, and even in the theatres. As far as games go, Power Rangers: Legacy Wars has been a popular mobile fighting game for some time.
Now the Power Rangers are jumping back onto home platforms, and hopefully leaving the most broken fighting game character of all-time behind. Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid is a 3v3 tag fighter that stars a whole bunch of rangers from different generations. I have my concerns, but I also have hopes that this won’t be terrible.
I like the idea of this being a tag fighter. The Power Rangers fight as a team, so of course they would team up. This looks to borrow the basic framework established by the Marvel vs. Capcom series, where you control one “point” character, while the others can be called upon to perform assist moves.
From the little we’ve seen in the trailer, it looks like the game is going to make good use of this mechanic. In this one GIF above, the classic red ranger does a move that allows him to dash behind his opponent, while his yellow ranger assist continues to hit him from the front. Classic tag fighter tactics right there.
However, the animation of the game gives me pause. Movements look stiff in a way that is jarring to my eye. Combine that with the game’s overall pedestrian presentation, and I’m a bit concerned with how the game is shaping up.
POWER RANGERS FIGHTING GAME!!!!
Here is a fun fact about this game
I am currently helping balance the game and making sure this game is AWESOME! Please tell me how awesome my balancing skills are when you try this game out
At the very least, I’m glad to see the developers taking this game at least somewhat seriously. Fighting game legend Justin Wong has announced that he’s involved in the project in a consultant role. Not sure what his abilities are as a fighting game designer, but he’s phenomenal at playing them, even if he did lose to me once (and no, I will never let him live that down). Hoping his expertise helps take the project to the next level while possibly opening up more career opportunities for him!
We won’t have to wait too long to see how Power Rangers: Battle of the Grid turns out. The game is set for release this spring. Fingers crossed that it shapes up to be a quality fighter!
In Third Person 