A running theme in fighting games, as they exist today, is accessibility. Everyone in fighting game development is trying to figure out the magic answer to getting new players in, and getting them to stay. Not an easy problem to solve. Playing a fighting game for the first time is like walking into a comic book store for the first time and trying to find a starting point for Batman. It ain’t easy, folks. Some of the attempts to solve this conundrum have been putting more juice into the story mode (Mortal Kombat, Injustice), introducing weaker, but automatic, combos (Persona, Dragon Ball FighterZ), comeback moves (Street Fighter), or single-button shortcuts (Dead or Alive 6). With SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy, SNK is trying a new approach--what if we simply changed the fundamentals? 

Well, here’s the answer.

When someone like me picks up a new fighting game, I’m already thinking about how I’ll apply the fundamentals I’ve built over many years. I’m thinking about mixups, about cancels and links into specials, and other levels of complexity that probably aren’t occurring to someone who doesn’t play fighting games. So what SNK Heroines attempts to do is strip out the excess, while still retaining what a fighting game might look like to someone who doesn't actively play them. 

What does a fighting game look like? It’s probably easy to boil it down to 2D movement, a mixture of light and heavy attacks, and flourishing specials. Maybe a big finish, ideally as a round-ender. So that’s what SNK Heroines does. It’s as simple as it can get while still resembling an old school, 2D fighter. There’s no crouching, and there’s a dedicated block button, which means there’s an element of the usual guesswork removed, which is where a lot of complexity comes from. Specials are performed like in Smash Bros., with a dedicated button mixed with a single direction. Finally, there’s a dedicated super button, and it truly is the round ender. In fact, the only way to actually end a round is to land your super attack. 

This combination of simplifications and mechanical re-definition makes SNK Heroines a game that a novice can play, and play effectively. And, also, have a heightened chance of winning. If you’re forced to land a super to win, not only does that mean the match can go either way, but also a less-experienced player won’t necessarily just get trounced by an opponent more efficient with basic moves. Meanwhile, more experienced players should be able to work within the confines of what’s on the table here, as well as explore new possibilities to make interesting, new combos in ways they may not expect.

Part of that is due to things like wall-bouncing and juggle states that you can still play around within SNK Heroines, but also an item system that is constantly a part of any given round. You can pick up items, and your tag character can toss them into the stage from the background. These items can have all kinds of different effects, and cause chaos in a fight just from being there and taking up screen real estate with loud visual cues.

While there’s plenty to mess around with in terms of the pure play of SNK Heroines, I am less enthused about the story. Obviously, being a crossover title, there’s not a lot of importance placed into how all these characters from different games got together. The important part is being able to play with everyone together, not why they’re there. But the story that is in place here is…weird, to say the least. 

There’s a bad guy, and the bad guy is like a perverted nerd wizard who has the power to make his own pocket universes. So what he does is essentially kidnap all the women involved, trap them in a creepy dungeon, then use the negativity from their situation to feed his power, which in turn will make his pocket universe envelop the real one. It’s kind of whatever, but what makes it weird is the whole game seems to be from this dude’s creepy perspective. He narrates the menus, and is ostensibly dressing all the women up when you’re customizing them in the menus and such. Meanwhile, during the story any time he’s onscreen it’s presented in very whimsical and comedic fashion, while the cast spends most of it being upset and confused about what’s even going on.

It's hard to tell if we, as the audience, are supposed to be repulsed by the villain, or amused by him, or have some kind of appreciation for his motivations in what he’s doing? Oftentimes the window dressing in SNK Heroines seems to take over the actual appeal of the game, which is, well, the SNK heroines crossing over and battling each other. I don’t like feeling like I’m indulging in some kind of bizarre abduction fantasy when I just want to play a cool fighting game full of dope characters, ya dig?

With SNK Heroines, we have a game that wants to appeal to a wide range of people. It really wants to appeal to casual players, but then again it also is a game about different characters from different games, all with decades-long history, coming together in a way they haven’t in a long time. So there’s a natural appeal to the hardcore. At the same time, it’s bright, colorful, and bizarre, so it has its sights set on the anime gaming crowd as well. And, of course, there’s a layer on fanservice as well, although I don’t think it’s particularly successful in that respect. 

Overall, SNK Heroines is a fascinating game, and one that stands out among some of its peers for its unique mechanics, eclectic cast, and strange affectations.

If you're interested in this game, you might enjoy these manga: 7thGarden, Bleach, Claymore, Juni Taisen: Zodiac War, Nisekoi: False Love, RWBY.

by Lucas White