There are projects within collective financing that are lucky enough to fulfill their dream in just 24 hours, such as the recent Jitsu Squad , an old-school beat ’em up by Tanuki Creative Studio that personally It has reminded my long-awaited Samurai Cats (Samurai Pizza Cats) of the 90s.
It is fair to recognize that exactly one year ago, this Dutch study launched a first campaign on KickStarter that had to be canceled a few days later due to the outbreak of the pandemic worldwide. While now, after reopening its campaign on KickStarter, it has far exceeded the money they needed (of 15,000 euros they carry more than 49,000 euros), so if everything goes according to plan, it will go on sale in 2022 on consoles and PC . The good? There is a demo.
Salt shaker hand drawn motion art
It is clear that Jitsu Squad is a game that comes by sight , first and foremost. Not only is everything drawn by hand, but the animations of the characters, as well as the details of the settings (with enough depth shots in many cases), are totally hypnotic. Without going any further, it is taken care of even for the tutorial, with some nice panda bears giving us instructions in a comical way. And I’m not someone who enjoys tutorials, wow.
Previously, yes, I activated the scanlines box to simulate an arcade aspect and show the life of the enemies by default, surprising me with the amount of combos that can be done in this beat ’em up . At times it looks like a Marvel vs. Capcom, having aerial combos and special attacks that occupy the entire screen . And all at a frenetic pace that is a joy.
Luckily, it does not remain in the showiness and goes further , enjoying a control that works perfectly and that is very gratifying as we discover variants for its combos or specials, even having the option of performing counter-attacks . In fact, this technique will be the only boss of this demo, putting us against the ropes in a fight that hits a tremendous turning point compared to the first phases, very simple in comparison.
Its creators speak of their influences mentioning the “freedom and accessibility” of games like Final Fight and Streets of Rage, but with the “speed and intensity” of Guilty Gear, Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes or Super Smash Bros. And it’s funny, because some techniques or sounds are reminiscent of certain Capcom video games where a Marvel superhero, like Wolverine, has also appeared.
Jitsu Squad, a beat ’em up to follow very closely
The demo leaves a good sample of its potential, despite having only two characters of the four that will be in the final version. The good thing is that those two, the shinobi Sakura Katana and the ninja Baby-o-Hara, make it clear that there will be palpable differences between each one , with the first raccoon as the typical Ryu on duty and the cybernetic rabbit as a Chun- li, but to fight at a distance with kunais.
Beyond the frenzy of the game, surrounded by extremely fast movements to never slow down the dynamism of the fighting, we have a series of orbs to collect that will heal us (blue), increase the time that we can use the special weapon (yellow) or face to use a devastating attack and / or the Fury mode, where we will transform into humans with the most cool armor . The latter also applies to bosses, by the way. Hence, these duels are so hard, being at our same level in relation to techniques.
On other occasions, we can summon an assistant through a special object, having as guests characters such as Maximilian Doon ( dressed as Ken and performing a brutal Shinkuu Hadoken ) or Yooka-Laylee themselves, who lately have not stopped appearing in every indie that boasts. Although the best of all is that we are facing another beat ’em up for four players, a trend that has resurfaced today and that we will never stop appreciating.
There is still a long way to go, in any case, knowing that there is more than a year to go before it goes on sale, having to first see what objectives it will end up meeting of those that are set and has raised money, such as a Boss Rush mode or an art gallery to unlock . But the sensations are of course very positive, missing only that there is nothing on the stage to interact with, except for some chests. They need more life.
- Platforms : PC (analyzed version), PS5, PS4, Xbox Series, Xbox One and Switch
- Multiplayer : yes, for four
- Developer : Tanuki Creative Studio
- Company : Tanuki Creative Studio
- Released : April 2022
- Price : from 12 euros on KickStarter
