The Rhythm of Fighters

It's been many a moon since I was immersed in the fighting game scene. And even when I was, I was never a part of the King of Fighters crowd.

But I definitely respect SNK Playmore's style. And I also appreciate the fact that they've tried to do something a little different with The Rhythm of Fighters.

I mean let's be honest here, turning a fighting game into a rhythm game is pretty weird.

Kick to the limit

Despite the beatdowns going on in the background, there's no actual fighting in The Rhythm of Fighters. At least, not in the traditional sense.

Rather than worrying about fakes, combos, cancels, and positioning, all you have to worry about is timing.

Symbols appear on the screen with a stretched-out loop attached to them. When that loop shrinks down to line up with the symbol it's surrounding you need to tap, flick, or push down on the screen.

Perform these actions well and your character will block incoming attacks and beat the snot out of your opponent. Perform them poorly and you've got a concussion or two in your immediate future.

It's a fairly simple system that works quite well. Although, even after some tweaking in the options menu, the timing feels off by the slightest fraction of a second. It's not great, but it's never so bad that you feel like the game is making you miss.

It's all in the mind

Some of the tracks are a bit weaker than others, as you'd expect. And while the initial bundle of 14 songs is pretty generous, offering another 16 for around $12 is a bit steep.

That's not to say you'll run out of stuff to do. Between working your way through the Arcade and Free modes, levelling up your fighters, and acquiring special support characters there's plenty to keep you occupied.

SNK fans will certainly get a kick out of the game, but you don't need to be well versed in the King of Fighters and Samurai Shodown universes to have some fun.

The Rhythm of Fighters is a bizarre hybrid of genres, but it works surprisingly well. Well enough to keep my fingers (and toes) tapping far longer than I expected.