DC Wonder: Unlimited

What the frick is this game, no rollback. 0/10

What a silly strange little thing. It's a 2D fighting game featuring the members of a defunct indie pop group that never really got anywhere called DC Wonder. Seems like they ended over a decade ago and even before this game was released but I'm not quite sure there. I listened to a small bit of their music and it's fine. Not really my thing, it's kinda ethereal hazy dream pop stuff, very much of its time in the 2010s. Not enough incoherent yelling for me and I'm always disappointed when a drummer can actually keep time but it's probably got good vibes for a robotrip or something. Anyway, the game itself is a pretty basic 2D fighter going for a faux 8-bit style. The character designs are influenced by Bryan Lee O'Malley's art without a doubt. A nerdy indie pop band of that time would be all over Scott Pilgrim. There are other inspirations too, like one of the characters moving the same way that Sonic The Hedgehog would, even with the ability to go Super Sonic for a special attack. There are three action buttons - two attacks and a block - (actually it's maybe four? I think the B button may have been a dedicated throw button but I'm unsure at the moment) and the hit detection is lax, to be polite. I also wasn't quite sure how to active the ultimate attacks after the energy bar is filled up but something would eventually happen when I just hammered all of the buttons. These aren't really problems though. This game is not trying to be a serious fighter and the jankiness has some really great charm to it. The AI in the single player mode is pretty dumb and easy until the last boss was an SNK Boss style difficulty spike outta nowhere. Made me laugh really hard in a good way. I bet it's a blast with friends and some drinks too. I hung out with musicians and scene kids 25 years ago or so and was in a band at one point myself. I liked seeing that things really haven't changed too much in that world. It's not like any of us were making video games about ourselves but I appreciate the band lore and inside jokes being on display here. I'll never understand those things for a band I know nothing about but the ideas around it hit home to me. Being referenced in a video game is probably better than being in the Special Thanks section of the liner notes in tiny print anyway. I love this kind of ephemera. It tells you more about the people involved than any coached interview or staged photo shoot. I'm glad the know this exists. You probably don't need to buy this but I'm glad I was able to toss a buck and a half towards this.