A cartoonish ball of dust and debris envelops my Blaziken as the opposing Primeape gets his mitts on me, and I'm swiftly thrown across the arena. There's barely a moment's respite before the monkey is again on my back, this time hoisting my fighter above his head and lobbing him further away.
This might sound more like a self-insert story from the anime than a moment from the Pokemon games themselves, but it's actually from my misadventures in a fan-made 2D fighter. Like Pokken Tournament, the game - created by fighting game enthusiast Battle Capacity - draws its roster from Nintendo's franchise, specifically focusing on fighting types to give its brawl some real weight.
The current roster is relatively limited, but I'm already a fan of its breadth and how different each fighter feels. As a Gen 3 fan for life, I'm immediately drawn to Blaziken, whose kung-fu aesthetic combines intricate, exacting blows with longer-range fire attacks. The remaining currently available characters include the slightly oafish movements of Bewear, Toxicroak's direct, jabbing poison attacks, and the skittering, frantic movements of Heracross. There's also Primeape, of course, whose furious and unrelenting deluge of blows puts my fire starter in the ground many, many times before I can finally claim a round off him.
As you might have realised, as much as I love my Pokemon games, I'm no fighting game expert. Thankfully, Battle Capacity's efforts have impressed people who know a little more than me - you can look at the game as it's meant to be played in the Tiktok below. Over on Twitter, where you can download a current build of the game for free, the creator has highlighted the techniques of impressed fighting game fans starting to pick apart the game's intricacies.
@honorable10jin ♬ Has To Be (new wave) - CapzLock & 33col3 & Rosesleeves
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