Skullgirls

Skullgirls is a fast-paced 2D fighting game being developed by Reverge Labs. Currently slated for a 2011 release, it is being published by Autumn Games.

History - Skullgirls began its life as two separate “doujin” projects. Tournament fighter Mike “Mike Z” Zaimont had begun working on a fighting game engine, while Alex “o_8” Ahad had begun working on a world, story and characters for a fighting game. Some years later, mutual friends introduced them to one another, and their two personal projects were merged into the game we see today.

Mike Z, a tournament level fighting game enthusiast has teamed up with Richard Wyckoff and Emil Dotchevski, the founders of Reverge Labs, to bring Skullgirls to home consoles.

Gameplay - Skullgirls is a 2d fighting game. The developers have stated on numerous occasions that their primary goal is to make Skullgirls great at the competitive level by addressing problems such as design and balance issues that other games in the genre suffer from.

Infinite Detection - One of the most important design decisions in Skullgirls is a unique infinite detection system. This decision was made in order to make sure to maintain balance with each character. If the game detects that a player is performing a loop, the game will change the color of the hit sparks, and the opposing player can end the loop with a single button press. However, as long as the player is not performing a loop in their combo, they can continue to combo as long as they are able.

“Ratio System” Tag Battles - Before the beginning of the match, players are able to choose a "ratio" of characters. Players are able to choose from playing as one, two, or three characters. Single characters do more damage and have more HP, but lose the strategic advantages of character assists and the ability to regenerate health while off-screen. Teams with two are more characters have less HP and do less damage, but are able to take advantage of assists and different playstyles.

Custom Assists - For the first time ever, Skullgirls allow players to create their own assist moves for their characters. Even though each character also has their own preset assists, Skullgirls allows players to choose an assist move by inputting its motion. Players can choose any move except super moves; this includes throws, normal attacks, dashes, and any special move.

Easier Inputs for more complex motions - In order to shift the game’s focus from executing difficult moves to fighting strategically, the game features simplified inputs.

For example, if a character has any moves that require to move the joystick in a 360% motion, the game will be able to recognize the motion, even if the input was not placed as fast as is required as in other similar fighting games. This makes executing these moves easier for the majority of unexperienced players, and allows them to potentially try out new characters that were beyond their skill level in other titles. This simplicity also prevents the character from jumping while performing the 360% motion, which is a common occurrence for many players.

Building Super Meter - Skullgirls allows players to build meter in the usual manner of hitting the opponent, as well as whiffing attacks. However, unlike other games in which any missed normal move results in gained meter, the player must be moving towards the opponent. If the player is moving backwards and attacking, meter will not be gained. Additionally, this only works if the player has less than one bar; in order to gain more than one bar players must connect with the opponent.

High/Low Unblockables - High/low unblockables are a common, extremely useful tactic in other tag style fighting games. In Skullgirls, however, after a character blocks a high or low hit, they are protected for a period of time from being hit by a low attack or an overhead, respectively. The protection window is small enough as to not have an effect on regular gameplay, but allows players who correctly guess the correct attack to defend themselves from what would otherwise be an unblockable attack.

Netcode - Skullgirls uses GGPO (Good Game, Peace Out) netcode, which has long been a favorite of the hardcore fighting game community. This netcode in the past has helped to create a near-lagless online experience on emulated arcade games, but Skullgirls is one of the first dedicated console titles to be using the code.

Other Features -

Soundtrack - Reverge Labs has announced that the game's music will be comprised of original compositions by Michiru Yamane, who is perhaps most well known for her work on Konami's Castlevania series.

Characters Three characters have been confirmed; Filia, Cerebella and Peacock. An announcement has not been made in regards to the number of characters to be in the final release, the website currently has 8 characters slots available. Many other characters have been shown in other forms of media, male as well as female. More announcements are expected to occur as the title gets closer to release.