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Idol Showdown

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Idol Showdown
Developer(s)Besto Games
Publisher(s)Holo Indie
EngineUnity
Platform(s)Windows
Release
  • WW: May 5, 2023
Genre(s)Fighting
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Idol Showdown is a 2023 fighting game developed by Besto Games. It is a freeware fan game featuring VTubers from Hololive Production as the playable fighters.[1] The game received positive reception on release, and the developers announced plans to continue adding additional characters to the game in updates.

Gameplay

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Idol Showdown is a 1 on 1 fighting game where two players battle to knock each other out. At the start of a match, each player selects a main playable fighter, as well as a secondary assist character who can be summoned to perform additional attacks during battle. Each character is based on a Hololive VTuber, and has a unique set of attacks and special moves. Fighters can perform light, medium, and heavy attacks which can be chained together into combos. During a match fighters also charge up a “superchat” meter, which can be used to activate special "super" moves.

Idol Showdown is a multiplayer game that can be played online or locally. It also features single player modes where players can fight against AI controlled opponents. This includes a tutorial mode where players can practice each character's moves, an arcade mode where players have to win several consecutive fights, and "Virtual Frontier" mode where the player faces a series of fights with random modifiers and items appearing to modify the gameplay experience.[2]

Characters

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There are so far 11 playable characters and 14 "collabs", characters who provide assist moves, available in the game. Several other Hololive members appear in the game in other features.

Fighters

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Collabs

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  • Amane Kanata
  • Ayunda Risu
  • Kazama Iroha
  • Houshou Marine
  • Ookami Mio
  • Roboco
  • Sakura Miko
  • Takanashi Kiara
  • Watson Amelia
  • AZKi (DLC)
  • Moona Hoshinova (DLC)
  • Kaela Kovalskia (DLC)
  • Ceres Fauna (DLC)
  • Oozora Subaru (DLC)

Boss characters

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  • Fubuzilla & Kurokami Fubuki (DLC)
  • Ouro Kronii (DLC)
  • R-Trus (DLC)

Development

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Besto Games spent 2 years developing Idol Showdown. The game utilizes rollback netcode for its online multiplayer.[3] Despite being an unofficial fan game, some of the VTubers featured in the game offered to record voice lines for their respective in-game characters.[4]

Release

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Idol Showdown was first revealed in a gameplay trailer on March 22, 2023.[5] The game was released on Steam on May 5, 2023.[6] The game launched with 8 playable characters including 7 current Japanese VTubers from Hololive, and retired Hololive member Kiryu Coco.[7] The developers announced plans to add 3 additional playable characters in future updates.[8] At Evo 2023 Usada Pekora was revealed to be the game's 9th fighter. Her character was added on August 11, 2023.[9]

On 15 November 2023, Cover established their own publishing label for fangames named Holo Indie to better support fangame creators.[10] Idol Showdown, one of Cover's directly cited inspiration for the establishment of the Holo Indie brand,[11] joined the brand on 17 March 2024.[12]

Reception

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Elliot Gostick from Siliconera rated the game 7/10 saying, "Idol Showdown is a beginner friendly fighting game and a love-letter to Hololive's streamers and community. But it may have limited appeal outside that demographic."[13] PCGamesN's Ken Allsop praised Idol Showdown saying, "I’m already impressed by the game’s catchy pixel art style and soundtrack. I hop into the game’s tutorial mode and am immediately struck by its comprehensive instructions, responsive feel, and overall mechanical depth."[2] Austin Wood of Games Radar reported the game was downloaded 200,000 times in its first weekend, and received a 95% positive rating from user reviews.[14]

References

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  1. ^ Romano, Sal (May 5, 2023). "Free-to-play Hololive fighting game Idol Showdown now available for PC". Gematsu. Archived from the original on May 13, 2023. Retrieved August 22, 2023.
  2. ^ a b Allsop, Ken (May 6, 2023). "Free vtuber fighting game is the perfect Street Fighter 6 stopgap". PCGamesN. Archived from the original on August 21, 2023. Retrieved August 22, 2023.
  3. ^ Wood, Austin (April 6, 2023). "Vtuber fans spent 2 years making a fighting game about their favorite streamers, and I can't believe it looks this good". Games Radar. Archived from the original on August 21, 2023. Retrieved August 22, 2023.
  4. ^ Chalk, Andy (May 9, 2023). "Make famous VTubers fight in this surprise Steam hit". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on August 21, 2023. Retrieved August 22, 2023.
  5. ^ Lada, Jenni (March 23, 2023). "Idol Showdown Hololive Fighting Game Releases in Spring 2023". Siliconera. Archived from the original on August 21, 2023. Retrieved August 22, 2023.
  6. ^ Lada, Jenni (April 24, 2023). "Here's the Idol Showdown Hololive Fighting Game Release Date". Siliconera. Archived from the original on August 21, 2023. Retrieved August 22, 2023.
  7. ^ Wood, Austin (April 24, 2023). "Vtuber fans absolutely lose it after legendary streamer Coco gets announced for free fighting game coming next week". Games Radar. Archived from the original on August 22, 2023. Retrieved August 22, 2023.
  8. ^ Lada, Jenni (May 5, 2023). "3 More Hololive VTubers Joining Idol Showdown, Pekora Teased". Siliconera. Archived from the original on August 21, 2023. Retrieved August 22, 2023.
  9. ^ Lada, Jenni (August 5, 2023). "Usada Pekora Joining Hololive Fighting Game Idol Showdown". Siliconera. Archived from the original on August 21, 2023. Retrieved August 22, 2023.
  10. ^ "【ホロライブ】カバーが二次創作ゲームブランド"holo Indie"を立ち上げ。第1弾タイトルとして『ホロパレード』を12月1日にリリース | ゲーム・エンタメ最新情報のファミ通.com" [(hololive) Cover launches a derivative game brand "holo indie". The first title, "Holo Parade," will be released on December 1st.]. Famitsu.com (in Japanese). Famitsu. 2023-11-15. Retrieved 2023-11-15.
  11. ^ Konishi, Toshiaki. "「ホロライブ」の公式3Dモデルをゲーム開発者に提供。二次創作ゲームを盛り上げる「holo Indie」の新しい取り組みとは？". 4Gamer.net (in Japanese). Retrieved 2024-09-16.
  12. ^ Gostick, Elliot (2024-03-18). "Idol Showdown Is Now a Holo Indie Game, Will Get More Hololive Characters". Siliconera. Retrieved 2024-09-16.
  13. ^ Gostick, Elliot (May 16, 2023). "Idol Showdown Is Another Surprisingly Solid Fangame". Siliconera. Archived from the original on August 21, 2023. Retrieved August 22, 2023.
  14. ^ Wood, Austin (May 8, 2023). "After two years of work from fans, this free vtuber brawler is now one of the biggest fighting games on Steam". Games Radar. Archived from the original on August 21, 2023. Retrieved August 22, 2023.
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