Skullgirls Preview: A Tale of Monster Girls

Anime Expo had a spectacular showcase of video games but one game drew in the crowds and that was a downloadable 2D fighter called Skullgirls. The premise of Skullgirls gives homage to the fighting game genre while at the same time fixing the annoying quirks that plague the system.

At first glance, Skullgirls boast a nice hand-drawn aesthetic in its sprite art. That is because Alex Ahad, the artist behind the monster girls, believed in having a one to one representation of his artwork portrayed in game. Ahad is known for his work on Scott Pilgrim, Gaia Online. The sprite based game engine used to support Skullgirls lends quite nicely in showing off a fighter’s unique pose or animation. The inspiration for the cartoony anime look derives from Ahad’s inclusive blend of East and West art styles citing Bruce Timm, George Kamitani as artists he was inspired by.

Taking cues from preceding fighting games, Skullgirls boasts an innovative way to prevent players from “gaming” the system. For example, players can unleash a barrage of combos to a certain extent. The defending player has the ability, when prompted by a small icon, to enact a special attack and break the combo chain. It’s an essential lifesaving feature for combo driven games like Skullgirls. Another unique feature allows for ratio tag teams so that players can opt to choose whether to go against three weaker characters, two medium levels, or one really strong character. Fighting veterans will be pleased to hear that Skullgirls operates on a 6-button layout similar to Marvel vs. Capcom 2.

New players hesitant to fighting games because of their learning curve will enjoy the game’s extensive tutorial mode to ease them in. Two player VS mode was demoed at Anime Expo but the full offering will include Arcade, Story, and a Tournament mode for competitive gamers. In questioning Ahad about the roster of characters available, he promises that there will be DLC support post-release that will include additional content and support for Skullgirls. Ultimately, the game will release with 8 playable characters at launch.

Skullgirls is headed onto Playstation Network and Xbox Live Arcade later this year but its impressive showing has already led me to believe that its low barrier cost of entry and solid gameplay mechanics will allow for this quirky fighter to shine.