Every now and then, a game comes along that truly deserves to be called capital-g Great. I don’t mean a game that’s merely fun, or entertaining, or even aesthetically beautiful – all great things, but no single aspect of which would nudge a title beyond the level of “good”. I’m talking about a game that manages to mix a creative, imaginative world filled with original, memorable characters, equipped with polished gameplay, and to pull it all off with an expert craftsman’s level of skill and attention to detail – including literally thousands of frames of character animation. Skullgirls is a traditional close-combat fighting game that manages to bring all of this to the table. If you are a fan of 2D fighting games who has yet to add Skullgirls to your library, you owe it to yourself to rectify this situation as soon as possible. It would be a deal at twice the price.
Now, I’ve enjoyed fighting games since the days of King of Fighters and Street Fighter II – but outside of casually decking friends in Soul Calibur, the fact is I’ve never been particularly enamored with the genre for the gameplay’s sake, or even very good at the games. What’s always drawn me in, believe it or not, is the story and the personalities. Sure, the actual plots are typically paper-thin, cotton candy fluff – the Heihachi family’s internal squabbles in Tekken, the Orochi power in King of Fighters… it’s all silly stuff even (perhaps especially) when it tries to be serious, and it mostly serves as a backdrop to create fun, creative characters and personalities.
The setting of Skullgirls stands out even alongside the crazier, Guilty Gear variety of bizarre worlds, setting itself in the fictional Canopy Kingdom – a cartoony environment most reminiscent of the art deco designed 1940s, dominated by crime, strange creatures, and hybrids of technology and magic. Even before you get to the actual character storylines in Skullgirls, the visuals it presents you with – a mix of black, gold, neon and film reel decorations – is enough to make it incredibly distinct, as if someone took the setting of the original Bioshock and decided to make it all ten times more cartoony, and about a quarter as serious.
As for the plot itself, Skullgirls provides a situation reminiscent of most fighting game contexts: every seven years, a living artifact known as the Skull Heart offers to grant the wish of one woman. But if the wisher has an impure soul, she’ll instead be transformed into a powerful, monstrous Skullgirl – leading her to terrorize and wreak havoc over the world. A young girl named Marie has made her wish and apparently been found unworthy, leading various characters to set their sights on her, each with their own motives – some seeking to simply bring her assault to an end, while others are after the power of the Skull Heart for themselves. In Story mode, you’ll select one of these eight characters (with five more either available or on the way via DLC) and follow their journey, learning about their histories and their motivations along the way via beautifully drawn cutscenes and dialogue – but mostly, you’ll spend your time kicking ♥♥♥ in straight up frantic combo-chaining, guard-breaking style.
But before you even throw punch one, you’d do well to encounter the first feature that really makes Skullgirls shine – the tutorial mode. While it may sound odd to heap praise on what sounds like the most bog-standard addition to any game, let me emphasize: what sets Skullgirls apart on this front is the sheer depth of the tutorials. Let’s face it – fighting games are complicated, and despite having played many of them for so many years, I’d be lying if said I understood half of the fundamental mechanics that were at work in more serious matches. Here, things are different. Rather than simply cutting the player loose to understand the mechanics of the game on their own, or hunt details up online, the tutorials walk you through everything from the most basic low-medium-high punch/kink button layout, right down to throws, combo chaining, cancels, and even the ins and outs of each of the individual characters’ styles and moves.
But what really makes Skullgirls shine above all else is the sheer effort that has gone into the polishing of all of its audio-visual aspects. The soundtrack is actually something to stand up and take notice of, being a collection of largely-jazzy tunes that do a good job of fitting the fantasy-1940s setting of the Canopy Kingdom. Character voices are crisp, clear and distinctive, adding a whole lot of personality to the Skullgirls themselves. But it’s the art and animation that is truly breath-taking, in more ways than one.
So here’s where we’re at when all is said and done: a fighting game set in a gloriously original world, racked out with unique characters whose hand drawn animations are stunningly detailed and comprehensive. The soundtrack of the game is – at least for jazz fans – beautiful enough to warrant an OST purchase all on its own. The graphical presentation is phenomenal, the story mode is entertaining, the characters are unique and engaging as a whole. There’s a comprehensive in-game tutorial available for the game’s mechanics in general, and each character in particular. There’s DLC coming, there’s online and local matchups available, there are achievements and alt colors to unlock… and on top of all of this, the whole package is available for $14.99, or even less if you buy a multi-pack with a friend or three.
The only real downsides to speak of is some highlights of sex appeal that may turn off some players, the frank necessity to own a controller to truly enjoy the game, and the fierce competition players will face in online versus play. Those are some incredible positives, and very forgivable negatives.
As it stands, this very likely is the best PC fighting game available, period – and doubly so for the money. And not only that, but buying the game gives you access to the Skullgirls Beta, so you can test out changes in advance of their going live in the game proper. If you’re a fighting game fan, what more do you want?
MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS OF SKULLGIRLS:
OS: Windows XP, Window Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8
Processor: Dual-core CPU
Memory: 2 GB RAM
Graphics: Intel HD3000
DirectX: Version 9.0c
Network: Broadband Internet connection
Storage: 2 GB available space
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