Funko POP fans won’t want to miss this chance to level up their Mortal Kombat collectibles.
If you’re in Santa Anita, California this weekend and you love both Funko POP figures and Mortal Kombat, you’ll want to head to the mall and get in line at Animetasia for their Mortal Kombat meet & greet event this Sunday. Actors from the Mortal Kombat movies — Robin Shou (Liu Kang), Chris Casamassa (Scorpion), and Keith Cooke (Sub-Zero) — will be offering a signing to promote the newly-released Mortal Kombat Funko POP figures at Animetasia Westfield, Santa Anita, California at 11:00 AM on November 19. Fans will definitely want to take advantage of this excellent opportunity.
Announced earlier this year, Lunar Hare Studios have released a special pre-release tutorial for their anime/platform fighter hybrid, Earth Romancer. As this experimental fighter blends aspects of both genres together, this tutorial introduces prospective players into the core mechanics which sets Earth Romancer apart from other platform fighters like Super Smash Bros. or Rivals of Aether.
Projectiles play a massive part in Earth Romancer‘s neutral game, with it having a dedicated ranged attack button. Each ranged attack uses Energy, indicated by the green gauge underneath your character portrait. While projectile attacks are a great way of covering your approaches or anti-airing opponents, almost all projectiles in Earth Romancer can be nullified by dashing, jumping or diving through them.
Damage calculation works a little differently when compared to Smash and even from the explanation given in this tutorial, I’m not quite sure on how it works. Rather than just having one base damage counter, Earth Romancer splits damage taken between a Vitality and Shield counter. The Shield counter works like the traditional damage counter in Smash; the higher the number, the further you fly when hit. Unlike Smash though, this gauge slowly depletes if you avoid getting hit.
The level to which it depletes is based on your Vitality gauge, which is the white number next to your character portrait. Attacks in Earth Romancer do different rates of Vitality and Shield damage, and you can instantly drop your Shield gauge to the same number as your Vitality gauge if you hit your opponent with a melee attack. While it’s the first time I’ve seen a “recoverable red health” style mechanic in a platform fighter, I feel that this system is too complicated at present — with it not helped by it using the word “shield”, which will make players think of Super Smash Bros’ shield mechanic.
The other major mechanic in Earth Romancer is the Shift system, which changes how players control and attack with their character. Blueshift is the simpler stance, where players have increased defensive capabilities, better recovery and “familiar controls”. In Redshift, players have increased offensive options and access to more unique mechanics, in exchange for poor recovery and defensive options. Based on the “familiar controls” comment, I imagine that Blueshift has more Smash-like controls, while Redshift uses traditional fighting game motions (QCFs, DPs, 360s etc). You can choose which mode you wish to start in before each match, and you can even shift between Red and Blue mid-fight, should you need more defense/offense.
Just from this brief mechanical breakdown, Earth Romancer does look like a breath of fresh air for the platform fighter. While things like the Shield/Vitality gauge seem a little obtuse at present, its desire to remix familiar aspects of the genre should lead to something really exciting. Lunar Hare Studios are in the process of preparing for a crowdfunding campaign for Earth Romancer, so check out their fig.co page for more information on the project.
ARIKA have released more information about the Fighting EX Layer beta, following its announcement earlier this week. One crucial bit of information that wasn’t covered in that announcement was how to access the beta on December 11th. Well, as long as you’re a PS Plus member with an account in one of the following countries, you’ll be able to play:
North/South America:
USA
Brazil
Chile
Ecuador
Honduras
Paraguay
Canada
Argentina
Colombia
El Salvador
Nicaragua
Peru
Mexico
Bolivia
Costa Rica
Guatemala
Panama
Uruguay
EMEA:
Australia
New Zealand
Austria
Bahrain
Belgium
Bulgaria
Croatia
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Finland
France
Germany:
Greece:
Hungary
Iceland
India
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Kuwait
Lebanon
Luxembourg
Malta
Netherlands
Norway
Oman
Poland
Portugal
Qatar
Romania
Russia
Saudi Arabia
Slovakia
Slovenia
South Africa
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Turkey
UAE
UK
Ukraine
Unfortunately for South East Asian players, the Fighting EX Layer beta will only be available in Japan — so you will have to make a Japanese PSN account and use your free two weeks of PS Plus in order to play. The actual beta launch will be staggered, with the Americas getting access to the beta on December 11th, while the rest of the world gets in on December 12th.
Legacy controllers will not be available to use during the beta, but ARIKA are in talks to ensure that legacy drivers will be included in the final release of Fighting EX Layer. Unlike other recent online betas, players will have access to Training Mode as well as Player Matches, meaning you can do some lab work in between games. ARIKA have even uploaded two videos to their Facebook, showing exactly how long it takes to start an online match and switch characters while in Training Mode.
I downloaded him since I have the Season Pass and when I started the game it said some this so that means an update is coming too pic.twitter.com/4baHYoQaeB
There is a good chance that this date will be made official across all platforms very shortly, or Microsoft will have to make a swift retraction. Given we are over half-way through the month (and given that twitter user xray2k1 was able to download the update, although not play it, as seen above), I am anticipating the former.
With people in full-blown nostalgia mode with fighters lately, we are seeing ports coming out more frequently on modern consoles. This week is no exception — as the Data East fighter Karnov’s Revenge — also known by its Japanese title Fighter’s History Dynamite — was released on November 16th for the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch.
The fighter — which is a sequel to the Fighter’s History title — never gained much popularity in the West. This could possibly be attributed to the copyright infringement lawsuit levied against Data East by Capcom over alleged similarities to Street Fighter II that made it look too similar. The lawsuit was eventually thrown out, but the damage was done in the eyes of the consumer. Despite this, the game has some interesting mechanics, including a stun meter which hinges on you breaking a medallion on your opponent’s body, requiring you to target that specific zone on the body.
Continuing its schedule of post-launch content for the arena brawler, Bandai Namco have announced two more Mobile Suits that will be joining the already-extensive Gundam Versus roster. AGE-2 Gundam from Mobile Suit Gundam Age and Mudrock Gundam from Zeonic Front: Mobile Suit Gundam 0079 will be launching in Japan on December 5th, costing 602 yen.
While it’s great to see Bandai Namco supporting Gundam Versus post-launch, my heart still longs for Tequila Gundam and Nether Gundam to finally be playable. The publisher have also released some new trailers showing off Atlas Gundam from Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt and Zeydra from Mobile Suit Gundam Age. These two Mobile Suits will be released on November 21st in Japan — no news on a Western release date just yet.
Back for another year of top-flight Super Smash Bros. Melee competition, DreamHack have opened registration for DreamHack Winter’s Smash Championship. Acting as the perfect stage for Europe’s top Melee players to show off their skills, this year’s event sports a $10,000 prize pot and events for both singles and doubles.
Singles will run round robin pools, with the top two from each pool making it through to Top 64, while the doubles tournament will be a straight double-elimination bracket. If you are interested in competing, you’ll need to buy a DreamHack Winter event pass, which will give you access to the whole event along with the Melee tournament. The event runs from December 2nd-3rd, so you only need to buy a Saturday and Sunday ticket should you not be interested in arriving on the Friday.
So far, Armada, Leffen and Android have signed up to defend the Swedish homeland, while US Sheik player Swedish Delight has also registered — obviously trying to blend in. For more information about both DreamHack Winter and the DreamHack Smash Championship, check out the official smash.gg page.
The last weekend marked some excellent competition for the anime scene. Team St1ckbug organized “Yabai Invasion,” a special event for Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2 and other games, inviting top competitors from across the United States. Several players were flown in thanks to the generous help of the fighting game community.
Undoubtedly, Guilty Gear heads (and not only) will appreciate the tournament, especially since so many skilled players entered. Below you’ll find footage of the event’s tight top 8 featuring very close battles. The top 8 includes:
Don’t miss any of the action going down in Boston at the Capcom Pro Tour NA Regional Finals!
The best Street Fighter V players — and their fans — from across the country are converging on Boston this weekend for the Capcom Pro Tour North American Finals at Red Bull Battle Grounds. This is the final Street Fighter V qualifying event in North America before the world’s Capcom Cup 2017 finals in December — so you know it’ll be chock full of incredible action and high-level play. If you won’t be there in person, you can still watch the battle live via the Capcom Fighters Twitch channel!
Tune in Saturday, November 18 starting at 9:00 AM PT to catch hundreds of hopeful challengers (both pro and amateur) competing in the 512-player open bracket tournament for a slot in the grand finals the following day, and Sunday, November 19 at 9:00 AM PT when the top seven players from the Capcom Pro Tour regional leaderboards — and the winner from Saturday’s last chance open qualifier — will then battle in an 8-player bracket for North America’s top Street Fighter V spot.
Fans who watch the livestream will get “inside access” to the tournament, with two wireless cameras capturing all of the nail-biting moments. Interviews with the eight players who qualified for the CPT NA Finals will also be shown on the second day. Industry luminaries from last year’s Red Bull Battle Grounds are scheduled to return (including host Joshua Gray) and commentary will be provided by UltraChen TV, Tasty Steve, and Sajam.
Alongside adding new fighter Misango, ARMS‘ version 4.0 update also adds a new mode and a number of balance changes. For those interested in these changes, Nintendo has finally released the complete list.
First up is the new mode. Called “Party Crash,” the new mode is a limited-time event similar to the standard Party Match. The hook here is that playing the mode constantly earns a player levels, which then allow them to unlock badges and in-game prize money.
As for the balance changes, some tweaks have been made to team battles. Specifically, the rope connecting two teamed players has been increased in length; however, Arms speed in team mode has been decreased. In addition to this, a number of character-specific tweaks have been made as well.
You can check the complete patch notes below.
ARMS 4.0 patch notes
Added new fighter “Misango.”
Added new ARM “Scorpio.”
Added new ARM “Skully.”
Added new ARM “Glusher.”
Added new stage “Temple Grounds.”
Added online event “Party Crash.”
A different take on the usual Party Match, presented for a limited time by ARMS Labs.
The more you play the more your level will go up, and you’ll be rewarded with badges and in-game prize money!
There’ll be an in-game notification when the event gets close, so don’t miss it!
When conditions for acquiring a badge are satisfied within a match, a “You got a badge!” message will now display at the end of the match.
In “Customize Controls” you can now press the + button to reset controls to their default settings.
Increased the length of the rope conjoining allies in team battles.
Decreased ARM speed in team battles.
Adjusted the abilities of certain fighters and ARMS as follows.
Fighters / Arms
Adjustments
Ribbon Girl
She’s been working on her air game. Air dash movement speed increased.
She’s more comfortable in the air. Normal dash speed decreased.
Adjusted camera for better visibility during a quick drop.
Min Min
Increased normal ARM size.
Kid Cobra
Adjusted camera for better visibility during a charge dash
Helix
Fixed issue where a high jump couldn’t be done when jumping on a trampoline in extended form
Master Mummy
Fixed online play issue where rush would be triggered at the end of a throw
Byte & Barq
Decreased movement speed when dashing
Twintelle
Adjusted the deceleration factor when slowing down ARMS
Revolver
Increased extension speed of 1st and 2nd rounds
Retorcher
Increased extension speed of 2nd and 3rd rounds
Homie
Increased retraction speed
Whammer
Increased homing
Roaster
Fixed issue where rush gauge did not decrease when inflicting flame
Popper
Increased retraction speed
Chakram
Decreased expansion rate for charge attacks
Thunderbird
Decreased speed of charge attacks
Decreased homing
