Pixel Fighters Review

Pixel Fighters is a tough one to call. While its turn based RPG foundations are pretty solid, it still feels like a work in progress. At only 99c though, it feels like one to watch.

Perhaps the biggest surprise of Pixel Fighters is that it entirely dispenses with any storyline. Instead the focus is entirely on combat. Essentially it's the Streets of Rage of the turn based RPG world as all that matters is the score at the end of the game. It's an interesting concept and it almost works. It means that Pixel Fighter is an ideal game to play in the typical short doses that often come with a portable gaming device. You don't have to worry about losing track of what's going on as you can just return to fighting without thinking about your motivations.

On the flipside however, it's not as interesting as a conventional turn based RPG. With the constant battling, the combat system needs to be amazing to keep you interested. It's not though. The challenge is never particularly fearsome so you never really feel a need to plan your moves carefully. While an action points system restricts how often you can make moves, that's about as deep as the combat gets. For much of the time you'll find yourself making the same moves over and over again. A variety of class types helps mix this up a bit but Pixel Fighters still doesn't feel as exciting as the concept sounds.

If the game had a fast forward mode so you wouldn't have to wait ages for each character to make their move (something that begins to grate after a while) and the enemy AI was improved, this could be really something special. A score-focused RPG has a lot of potential indeed and is certainly an unique idea. For now though, you might find yourself longing for a little more depth.