Espectro The Fighters Focus

You love to see amateur games like this. It's not flashy but everything is done well from the classic 16-bit looking art to the controls to the music. There's also a decent amount of enemy variety, more than in some "big" AA-level beat 'em ups of recent (*cough* Marvel Cosmic Invasion). There are a lot of moves at your disposal including punch, jump, jump kick, grapple and punch, speed dash, speed dash kick, and a special three-tier powerup, which is basically described as lightning fists. About an hour to complete 10 levels all with nicely varied backgrounds including a driving level. Though they're all single plane, no elevation is present but there is an elevator level because there has to be an elevator level in a beat 'em up. It's the law. A really solid beat 'em up that plays fast and controls well, I'd just love to see achievements and button config. There's a listing for button config in the options menu but it doesn't do anything.

Right from the get go, this game feels like a love letter to classic beat ’em ups, and you can see it immediately in the premise. The story takes place in a metropolis where criminal gangs are starting to rule the streets thanks to a mysterious new weapon that either kills people outright or leaves them in a coma. One of the victims happens to be the brother of a vigilante, who decides to fight back and clean up the city with the help of his powerful super suit. Besides the titular hero, you can also pick two of his friends. One is a towering musclebound brawler, while the other is a swift samurai girl who favors speed over brute force. In practice, though, the differences between characters are fairly small. They mainly come down to their attack combos and special moves, while the stages and overall progression stay the same no matter who you choose. The controls are easy to pick up. You move around, use the main attack to chain together simple combos by mashing the button, jump for aerial attacks, and block incoming hits. Blocking can be a bit tricky to pull off consistently because the game moves at a pretty fast pace. There is also a super attack that becomes available once y…

This is a pretty solid Brawler. Sure, it doesn't have big, fancy visuals, but honestly, I love the artstyle; there's something that captures the core of the early-to-mid-'90s in a way that few other games can. The key here, though, is the gameplay, and you have a decent number of moves in your moveset. Your crowd control attack charges up over time, rather than eating your health, so it's encouraged to be used. Difficulty is kinda breezy; I'm not great at Brawlers, but I had more than enough lives to get me through, despite the final boss having a JO AMON amount of lifebars. Music is nice and smooth, even if not all that memorable. The translation is a bit off, but hey, that's pretty '90s, too, isn't it? There are a few bugs, too, but mostly text stuff that doesn't really affect the game that much. Overall, a pretty fun experience that was exactly what I needed.

Nice little game, felt like a classic arcade beat em up.

Looks and feels basic, music is mostly bad, story is whatever, but pretty fun to play co-op. You can finish it in one sitting/evening, that's a plus. I write this review to encourage other gamers to give this game a chance. For what it is and costs (on sale -40%) I give it 7/10.

Right from the getgo you can see all the homages to classic beat-em-ups of the past, from the Streets of Rage trilogy to more obscure titles. Its simple, its fun, and its worth the price. É Nois na fita.