Tag: ZGames »

Ever wanted to play Super Smash Bros. while on the move? Of course! Anyone with sense would want that! While Nintendo haven't quite made the move to mobile just yet (but we can hope, right?), that doesn't stop a similar experience from hopefully coming to iOS soon, courtesy of zGames. That title is Fright Fight, a horror-themed game inspired by Mario's brawling ways.

As is increasingly common these days, Fright Fight's development is being supported by a Kickstarter campaign which has just launched. As the project page explains, the hope is that Fright Fight will be the first 3D cross-platform mobile fighting game, with the plan being to port it to systems such as OUYA and Nvidia Shield as well as iOS and Android. Free-to-play, many of the pledge rewards relate to the acquisition of in-game coins or the unlocking of characters in order to give early backers an extra edge. It's shaping up to look pretty good so we had a word with Game Designer, Pavel Shtangeev, to learn more.

148Apps: Inspiration has clearly been taken from Super Smash Bros. but what other games have inspired Fright Fight?
Pavel Shtangeev (PS): Devil May Cry series: Additional inspiration for [the] battle mechanics, Diablo series [for the] RPG elements, Pokemon series for some gameplay elements and RPG mechanics, Awesomenauts [for some of the] gameplay elements, world and level design, art style. A lot of other games have minor influence on the game: Marvel vs. Capcom, DOTA, Quake III, etc. The list can go on forever.

148Apps: Has anything non-gaming related inspired it? Such as in terms of the choices of characters available?
PS: A lot of classic horror novels and movies influenced our decisions for worlds to include and characters to add. Still, we added twists to most of them. For example the vampire character is a combination of Carmilla from a classic novel of the same name and a mad variant of Luigi Galvani.

148Apps: How long has Fright Fight taken to develop?
PS: Right now, it's been 9 months in development.

148Apps: What challenges have you faced with making Fright Fight cross-platform?
PS: Unity3D makes things much easier, but certain problems still occur. These problems are mostly related to different form-factors of devices. NVIDIA SHIELD uses hard buttons instead of gestures so we put some tweaks here and there and remade all menus to fit both control schemes. OUYA uses bigger displays and this requires more advanced camera behavior, etc.

148Apps: The trailer suggests there will be RPG elements to Fright Fight. Can you elaborate on these?
PS: The game introduces a lot of classic RPG elements to the fighting formula: stats, skills, perks, etc. Right now, all characters already possess a full set of stats that can be upgraded through the course of the game. Moreover, each character is packed with an individual skill tree that allows customization of his attacks and play style. We have plans to introduce even more RPG elements by adding gear with different skins, items, and accessories and create pets that can aid characters in battle.

Thanks to Pavel for taking the time to answer our questions.

With the game already offering 3 different arenas, 4 different characters, and a fairly strong gesture-based control scheme, Fright Fight is shaping up nicely. Hopefully, by meeting its Kickstarter goal, the game will soon enjoy bot AI, and if the goal is beaten, new characters and arenas. For now, why not check out the teaser trailer and consider supporting the campaign?

Since its launch at the start of the year, the Atari Pong Indie Developer Challenge has courted some controversy. Mostly down to the company's ownership of entered game ideas even for non-winners. That's something that's not going to be a huge issue for the following seven entrants, however. They've made it to the final!

Each of these developers is guaranteed a three-year revenue-sharing publishing agreement along with a cash price, which will be awarded based upon their final ranking. The first place winner is set to gain $50,000 for their contribution.

Here's the line up of games competing:

RetroPong from PegPeg
Up to four players can compete in this Pong game with each player starting with a number of lives. Single player brings with it a history mode.

Pong Tournament 2012 from Delusions
Offering crisp graphics, retro themed arenas for its round robin style tournament mode and multi touch functionality, this game should bring Pong to the 21st century.

Pong Evo from Island Officials
Introducing an unique power up system, 5 game types and visual flare, Pong Evo looks set to be quite a reboot.

Pong 4033 from Fishbowl Productions
Pong 4033 uses gestures rather than a paddle to control movement, along with a selection of power mods.

Pong World from zGames
Supplying new game modes, levels and upgradeable paddles with active and passive boosts, all added to the original game's core mechanics.

Fong from Eppy Game
No longer restricted to a sharp edged screen, Fong offers the Pong expeirence in a circlular arena with goal targets to aim at and emoting paddles.

Pong Tournament from MadRuse Games
Steal energy from your opponent to buy defensive upgrades and special abilities to help succeed in this Pong remix.

The winner will be announced August 2, having been selected in part by a celebrity judging panel made up of Atari founder Nolan Bushnell, Dave Castelnuovo, David Whatley, and Mike Schramm. All of the finalists will enjoy a commercial release.