Some of the best games find success in taking a basic idea and adding to it. For instance, the idea behind Sonic was essentially just fast Mario, yet it was enough to create a franchise that stood the test of time. One unfortunate thing is, despite having so many advancements, it isn’t uncommon for genres to be forgotten, which has largely happened for beat’em up games. Sure, we got a really good one recently but they release far and few between. With hopes to add to this rather simple genre, Fight’N Rage takes three characters, a number of goofy enemies and all the charm of the ‘90s in a new game, but is it enough to make it successful?
Fight’N Rage has a fairly basic story that is slowly told through various choices, interactions and conclusions over the course of your many cycles. The basic idea is, in the future, there are mutants lead by a lion dictator known simply as “Boss.” He wants to bring the mutants to power, though you’re there to stop him. Depending on which path and choices you make you’ll receive one of a number of endings. Be warned, there are a lot of them, with the total being roughly 56 possible conclusions. While we were not able to unlock every ending, most play out largely the same way with marginal differences. It might’ve been better to do fewer endings and more variety, though the story isn’t that important.
Where Fight’N Rage finds the most success is by making the traditional beat’em up more complicated. Every character has their own set attacks, including a combo string, aerial, rushing, jumping and special attacks, along with even some specific moves you can use in a wide variety of situations. The trick isn’t to focus on pushing one button a lot, as much as attacking, using your super to reset your combo and/or use a specific attack to maximize damage. Those who want to be the best will love to hear there is a parry system and a lot more than simply pushing a couple buttons until you win.
Along with a complicated combat system, Fight’N Rage finds a lot of success in utilizing goofy enemies. There are dogs in suits, pigs that charge at you, the ever popular women with whips, boxing flies and more to overcome. These enemies have their own distinct advantages and disadvantages that you’ll need to overcome. Once you learn how they fight, they’ll seem less cheap and easier to deal with. But, keep in mind, if you handle them incorrectly, expect to lose.
Similar to enemies, there is a good deal of level diversity. The path I original went on included a city, beach, forest, ever popular elevator to the final boss room and all the other standards. Some of the weirder paths include a stage where you fight on a truck, another where everyone is surfing and some paths even included another classic, night club. As you unlock more endings they’ll lose their charm but there is more than enough to keep you interested.
In addition to the main story, there is also various difficulty settings (they seemingly just impact how aggressive and many enemies attack), along with score attack, time trial, an endless elevator, fighting mode where you can fight as enemies and more to fill your time. Completing various challenges will also unlock a wide array of optional settings and/or costumes for characters. It’s fun, though there is probably more content here than the average person will ever unlock.
Fight’N Rage Verdict
Despite lacking online multiplayer and giving players a lot of different ways to do the same thing, it’s impossible to not find value in Fight’N Rage. There is enough diversity between paths to warrant at least a couple cycles and gameplay is complicated to the point of giving you something to work towards. It is the fight beat’em up in a while that I felt like I could play for 10+ hours and not get bored and that is an impressive feat at an extremely fair price.
[Editor’s Note: Fight’N Rage was reviewed on PS4 platform. The game was provided to us by the publisher for review purposes.]
