Battle High 2 A+ is a weird one. It's a 1 on 1 fighting game initially released on Itch.Io before making the way to Steam, meaning it is heavily in Indie Origin. It is also dirt cheap, and inspired by games like Street Fighter 3, so you can see how it got my interest. And with a price so low, I decided to check it out. Did Mattrified Games' fighter make a good impression on me? Let's find out!
Story: As a fighting game, each character has their own story in Arcade Mode, but is it kinda messy. Each character's goal is not stated at all in the start, making it so that I had to get into the Arcade Mode a bit to see why each character is fighting. Besides that, it's fine, and I do like some of the interactions. Overall, 6/10
Gameplay: The biggest matter in a fighter, there are some things to talk about. First off, this is a 4 button fighter with throws and a separate overhead attack, like SF3. What makes this game different is the Dash Cancel. See, if you are doing any move, and have the required meter, you can go and use your dash to cancel the animation and do a follow up attack, leading to some neat combos. There is an issue however, and that it is oversensitive. You don't have to actually hit your enemy to use this move, causing accidental Dash Cancels and wasting meter. This ain't good. Plus, there are times where the attack I did was already finished, and I tried to dash, only to get a Dash Cancel. This really is kinda stupid to code it this way, and wish it was done another way, like pressing a button to do a cancel. Other than that, the gameplay is actually very smooth. With an open combo system and some neat mechanics, you can get some neat juggle and link combos done that are satisfying to pull off. The Dash Cancel is still hard to ignore and push the game down to a 7/10 for gameplay
Graphics and Presentation: Oh no.... Oh no, this game looks awful! I admit, the pixel art looks fine and the colors are neat and all, with varied character designs, but THE STAGES, OH MY! They look like something from an early 3D DOS game, and not in a good way. The stages are 3D with some having basic textures and such, but most don't have any textures, making the stages look unfinished. Plus, stages with text like the mall have some of the most stock, Shareware-like font used for them and they just make me puke in my mouth. Doesn't help that the game doesn't properly cut out the character images properly for the HUD and cutscenes. It really sucks considering how nice the pixel art and endings looks. Too bad, looks like this is getting a 2/10
Sound and Soundtrack: Wow, talk about basic. I swear, they used the most stock sounding hit effect, making attacks much less satisfying than they should really be. Also, there is voice acting, but it also sounds basic. It really seems like the actors were just reading cue cards, and, does this game even have music? What is bizarre is that Kyle Hebert, voice of Ryu, Adult Gohan, Shadow Ranger, and more, did voices for this game! The music is so mute and forgettable it felt like there was none. Aie. What happened? All of a sudden the game is taking a nose dive! At least it's better than the graphics. 3/10
Replayability: There is nothing to do. Legit. All there is is training mode, the trials (called challenges), and Arcade. Not even online. The open combo system does allow for long lab sessions, but issues in the mode like the complete lack of meter options hurt the mode a lot. It's just.... Ok here. 5/10
Final Thoughts: I know this game is for literal pocket money, but I still need to judge it critically. And as it stands, it was so much more mediocre than I thought it would be based on labbing. As such, I just gotta give this game at most a 5/10 with a C-. There were good ideas in here, and they got a decent engine in place, but the final produce just feels so... Cheap, for lack of a better word. I do hope the devs use this engine to create something great in the future, at the very least, make it much less cheap looking. I still recommend the game since there is still some fun to be had (And it's only 2 bones anyway), I am NOT saying it's bad. Just, undercooked. If you wanna check this game out, oddly enough, it landed on XBOX ONE which is kinda interesting. Still, I hope you make something great one day, devs!
