This game, in my opinion, is quite unique, maybe not in genre, but more so unique in it's design and execution. Pun fully intended given this game's theme. With this in mind, I honest to God feel like this game is as much left field as it's inspirations.
At it's heart, Blades of Gory is a dumb and campy/cheesy fighting game, but in the best ways possible, whilst also being a pocket sized homage project.
To put it humorously, if you looked up the term "Good Clone" in the dictionary, this fits that 90%, and the other 10% brings oddity in a fun way
In my opinion, Blades of Gory, or BoG for short, feels like a mixture of the following games/design choices, I'll elaborate on each
SNK Neo Geo Pocket/Neo Geo Pocket Color era/platform handhelds as well as SNK style difficulty
Time Killers
Bootleg era fighting games (Think of the oddities you see from the NES, Genesis, and Gameboy esque era
Simplified Fighting Games
Conan the Barbarian/Deadliest Warrior
Each game inspiration and design choice is elaborated below
Time Killers-Now this is the biggest left field design choice in my opinion. For those unaware, Time Killers was a Mortal Kombat Klone (yes that was intentional) created by the company Strata in November,1992.
In that game, eight fighters from different time periods compete to win dominance and glory, each with their own purpose, motives, and way they wish to shape the timestream.
What made this game get a bit of a cult following was that it’s approach to amputation and limb control (Beating Tekken 1 by about 2 years, even though Time Killers is 2D instead of 3D. Whilst beating Samurai Shodown 1 by one year)
Controlling limbs for pressure sensitive combos and a bigger emphasis on timing the button presses, along with being able to amputate your opponent or being able to be amputated yourself, and still fight to the very end, was what made this game stand out
The pacing was a bit slower, but it made up for it with how in depth it was at the time
Blades of Gory? It shoves that mechanic and a similar vibe in your face, and THANKFULLY, it does so in a way that mostly lands fairly well
Neo Geo Pocket Games-The color pallets, sprite work, minimalist yet eerie music, and general design choices feel like this game EASILY could’ve released on SNK’s Neo Geo Pocket handheld line. And honestly? I wouldn’t be surprised if eventually someone would go as far as to make a homebrew port of this on that handheld or some other handheld within that same era’s timeframe.
The difficulty also in my opinion feels like a slightly watered down approach to “SNK Boss Syndrome” as it’s called, unless you read your opponent, know each character decently enough (both who you’re using and your opponent) and of course have a bit of luck and repetition/retries on your side. You WILL get your ass handed to you. Especially given that the game’s bosses, at least to me, feel like the developer took a few notes from the arcade era of Mortal Kombat as well regarding boss difficulty.
But don’t let this fool you, while you will win if you’re persistent, lucky, and patient enough, getting game overs and starting over WILL happen, that W is earned in pixelated blood, real life sweat, and nerd rage filled tears
Bootleg Games/Bootleg Handheld Titles-This honestly feels and at times can seem like you’re playing one of those knockoff NES games from China, (Kart Fighter anyone?)
This mainly comes into play with the basic names for fighters (Ikini, Billy, and Spike to name just a few) as well as the simplified controls to understand, but admittedly a bit difficult to master
Conan the Barbarian/Deadliest Warrior-Every character is a different type of medieval or warrior achetype, some more time accurate/realistic than others, but this feels like the designs took notes from a B-movie tie in game without the worries of having a ♥♥♥♥♥♥ license attached to it
It doesn’t help that any and every trope of medieval/gladiator esque fighter is filled here to the brim
Sexy dominatrix that caters to someone’s kink while using a whip and wearing skimpy animal leather? Check
Barely clothed amazonian woman with daggers? Check
Heavily armored knight that is really sluggish and bulky and carries I spear so long he could pole vault with it? Check
Rambo-looking warrior but medieval looking and has so much muscle it's almost as if he has a membership at both Stallone’s and Schwarzenegger’s personal gyms? Check
In short, the character designs are generic enough that the game feels cheesy and like mindless fun, but the overall execution thankfully saves it that this title is in the “so basic looking/meh/bad looking it’s campy and fun/funny. This element of the game honestly almost feels like parody. Fortunately, it was applied well in this game’s case
Each character also has just enough of differences in hit boxes and stats along with weapon range to behave differently enough to where every match plays out uniquely. It’s not the most complex fighting game, because at it’s heart it’s a gory and semi amped up game of rock paper scissors. But at it’s heart this title takes a simple concept and adds just enough flair and it’s own identity to stand up on it’s own two feet
With all this in mind? Is this the next fuel for EVO moments? Or is this the next hot topic to be talked about among the FGC’s reddit forums? Hell no. What you get is a dumb, mindless fun homage project that took some odd and obscure avenues in direction and design choices, and admittedly, it’s not for everybody.
BUT, the overall package, for me personally, creates a unique and campy experience that feels like an unexpected callback to an otherwise bygone era, and while this is no Street Fighter, Samurai Shodown, or Mortal Kombat, I feel as though this is one hell of an intriguing hidden gem and experiment
My only warning is to be FULLY AWARE OF THIS BEFORE BUYING and PLEASE GET THIS GAME ON SALE AND NOT AT FULL PRICE
