SkyScrappers (PlayStation 4) Review

From the outset, SkyScrappers feels like a Street Fighter-inspired game. The fighters are thrust onto a 2D stage, with a backdrop of a skyscraper, which is in utter destruction and collapsing. As well as fighting each other, the aim of each battle is to also try and get to the top of the skyscraper first. Due to the destruction of the building, the stages are riddled with falling debris that can be used as platforms, in order to reach higher sections of the building. Once the characters start climbing, the screen starts to scroll vertically upwards, and those fighters who are left below off-screen end up respawning back on the screen, but at the cost of health and special. This is intended to keep the action flowing and fast.

Each character has a health bar and a special bar. As the battle progresses and the characters perform attacks and jumps, the special bar will slowly fill. Once it is filled, a fighter can then increase their jumping distance, or unleash a special attack, which will take health off nearby fighters. Fragments of debris can be battered towards the opposing fighters, with a well-timed attack, to further add to the chaos. The last fighter standing, or the first one to reach the top of the skyscraper, wins the battle.

There are four fighters that can be selected: an upper class gambler called Phileas, a thrill seeker by the name of Kichirou, a mysterious mercenary called Jessica, and a hired killer named Solene. However, none of the characters bring anything new to the table, and are stereotypes of other popular fighting game characters. As far as fighting styles are concerned, again, there is no advantage or disadvantage in selecting a fighter, with each one playing the exact same way. Little else sets the players apart from one another.

While there is a campaign mode, it is really just a collection of seven battles, beginning with 'Easy' before finishing up on 'Hard,' with a few speech bubbles before each battle between the combatants. The major plot point that is not explained is why the skyscrapers are collapsing in the first place. All in all, the campaign is hardly different to the multiplayer mode. The only significant difference in multiplayer is that up to four human players can face off in a match. This does ramp up the difficulty over the lacklustre AI, and even makes for a better gaming experience, due in part to the unpredictability of real life players compared to the AI, which can be very predictable. A lack of an online mode or a scoreboard does shorten the lifespan of this arcade fighter.

The artwork is crisp and clean; when the screen is littered with the various elements, the visuals don't clash against each other, but actually make for a presentable, chaotic picture. It is kept simple with the designs, which makes distinguishing between the different objects on the screen an easy experience. No fighting game is complete without a rocking soundtrack thumping away in the background, and SkyScrappers is no different. The only issue is that it only has the one track, playing over and over in the various levels and battles, which is a little repetitive.