Random Video Game Review - Rivals of Aether

So ever since the very first Super Smash Bros. game came out, it radically changed the fighting genre and for years so many companies have attempted to mimic the gameplay of it. The vast majority of them have ultimately failed which thus proves that Nintendo (or more specifically Masahiro Sakurai) have made something quite special there. Now you may remember some time ago I did a VS post in which I compared PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale to the then released games of that series. In doing that I said that All-Stars only slightly had the edge. Though thinking about it now, it could have been done better with some more thought, heart and soul. But hey ho it is what it is. So today's game is the spiritual successor to Super Smash Land which was a basic fan made game inspired by the Smash Bros. games. This time however, things are different so let's see how different it is:

So like Smash Bros. all the fighting takes place on a 2D stage with the goal of trying to knock the other characters out of the arena. Along with traditional fighting moves, each character can use one of the many elements as a powerful move or a passive move that can also affect the arena. This kind of makes the game a bit meta. It of course has original characters which each one having a move set based on one particular element which has been described as the reverse of the move sets seen in Smash Bros. But there are some third party characters as well which mainly come from the indie world which is OK.

With plenty of comparisons to Super Smash Bros. and elements of some other Nintendo games, this is actually pretty good fun. Its a welcome change to the aggressive world of fighting games and its actually the sort of game that works really well. Using elements to change things. Even I couldn't have thought of a more brilliant idea like that. Not innovative or original mind you. But still brilliant nonetheless. 9/10