Fight of Animals Review

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Fast Facts

Fight of Animals

Developer: Digital Crafter Interactive Media
Publisher: Digital Crafter
Website: http://www.digital-crafter.com/
Genre: Fighting, Action, Arcade
Platform: Nintendo Switch
Age Rating: PEGI 7
Release Date: 09/04/2020
Price: £8.09

A code was provided for review purposes.

Fighting among champions!

The Nintendo Switch has seen the release of some decent beat-em-ups of late with titles such as Skullgirls, Mortal Kombat and Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid each offering a diverse selection of modes and DLC content options for players to indulge in. But there’s a new champion that’s just entered the ring with a cheaper price-point that you shouldn’t turn your nose up at.  The question is though, can it offer the same thrills as previous titles or is this fighter all talk and no bite?

Weird and weirder

In 2017, Digital Crafter released their take on the beat-em-up genre with a game called Fight of Gods on the Nintendo Switch. This certainly ruffled a few feathers as, controversially, all of its fighters are gods from different religions. It was made clear that this was a fictional beat-em-up and wasn’t trying to mock or make fun of any religious entities. It happened to be a decent beat-em-up, and while it wasn’t perfect, I enjoyed the flashy moves and special attacks. However, the game was missing two key features: online play and DLC content.

Jump to 2020 and Digital Crafter are at it again, but this time they have created a game based on animal meme’s from the internet with a new title:  Fight of Animals. In much the same vein as their previous release, it features the same unusual design choices and eclectic cast of characters.

Fight Club

Fight of Animals is a pretty decent brawler that is based around animal memes like the beluga whale with a six-pack or hook dog who has massive forearms. Each character represents their ‘real-life’ counter-part pretty well, and you can play as several different animals each with their own combos, abilities and special moves.

These can be activated once the super bar has been filled by dealing damage or taking it.  Recently, some new additional characters were added as unlockables and the rather cute egg dog was included in this free DLC, there was also an extra level added and a few costumes too but more on that later.

Combat!

The combat, while simple, works with just four buttons and is very similar to Super Smash Bros where you press a direction button that allows your character to do different types of attacks and abilities. It’s a simple system but has some depth for players who want to master each character move set. But fighting is nowhere near the complexity of other fighters.

Modes: Arcade, Versus, online

There are your average set of modes available in Fight of Animals – there’s nothing too fancy here. The modes consist of Arcade, Versus – 1 vs 1, 1 vs CPU, CPU vs CPU and then there’s a standard Training mode. Of course, a robust and surprisingly great net-code for the online play with lobby functions is present here too.

Let’s take a brief look at each mode below:

Arcade is your typical mode that sees you fighting through all characters to reach the end. Sadly, there are no amusing cut-scenes once you’ve completed the arcade mode which is a little disappointing, but it’s a decent mode to practice against the CPU on one of the five different difficulty settings. I found most of the settings though quite tricky as the enemy AI is really tough, and they can demolish you pretty swiftly if you aren’t on your A-game.

Versus mode again is similar to every other versus mode in existence: you can play 1 vs 1 or against CPU. Select your character, costumes and what level you want from a small selection and begin.

Training is pretty self-explanatory.

Online Mode really surprised me as I found the whole experience silky smooth. And while I don’t play fighters for their online component, I felt like the net-code was pretty solid and it proved easy to find a match.

DLC

As I mentioned above, Fight of Animals has been receiving some free DLC of late, including three additional characters and some free costumes. I did see an extra character mentioned awhile back, but I’ve not seen anything since. So, if you are interested in more details about the title, I would recommend checking the Discord or Twitter page for further announcements. They also run contests on their twitter page to so keep a look out for that too!

Graphics and Sound

Visually, Fight of Animals has a sort of cel-shaded look to it with a black outline surrounding each character. The characters also look like their meme characters pretty well and the animations, for the most part, are pretty smooth.

Each level has its own distinctive look from a martial arts dojo to a boxing ring and even winter wonderland. The music is decent too and runs the gambit of being your typical stock beat-em-up arrangement to some pretty good tunes.

Verdict

Fight of Animals is a decent little beat-em-up with simple controls that anyone can pick up. There are a range of different fighters, and developers so far have been supporting the title with additional content.

There aren’t many frills to speak of – I would consider this the only real negative. But thankfully the net code is stable, the lobby system is a welcome edition and playing with friends to perfect your fighting skills against the toughest animals about is a good laugh.

Rapid Reviews Rating

You can purchase Fight of Animals from the Nintendo eShop.