While we were roaming the hallways of the E3 showfloor that were open to the public, I couldn't help but feel unexcited, if not a little sad as we passed sequel after sequel and milked franchise after the other. They offered little to nothing new but a fresh coat of paint to an idea that had been done multiple times before. Something that I had noticed at GDC earlier this year was my excitement at what small indie developers had been able to come up with, testing game concepts that bigger companies would deem too risky and be unwilling to try. Skullgirls is one of these titles.
Skullgirls caught my eye the second I found the one kiosk it was being displayed at. It looked like a game that Sammy (Of Guilty Gear and BlazBlue fame) would make, offering high res sprites with amazingly smooth animation. Now the idea of an American 2d fighting game is something that hasn't been seen in at least a decade in mainstream channels, and I was amazed that this was being created for marketplaces and not as a stand alone title. Its Melty Blood, Guilty Gear and semi western aesthetics all blended up into a beautiful looking title. You might find it strange, but I was actually more excited about the possible rebirth of a legit western fighting game over say, a new Call Of Duty or Battlefield game.
I had a chance to play as Peacock, the newest character in the roster..who kind of resembled a homicidal 30's cartoon character, with an animation style that mimicked the odd techniques of overly wobbly animation from the early thirties. After investigating the website and work of Alex Ahad, the art director/creative lead on this project, it appears that this project might have been in development for him for several years now. I'm really glad to see his vision come to fruition, and we're looking forward to hearing more about Reverge Labs and Autumn Games' newest title.
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