Fighting games aren’t for everyone. They are hard to get into as they feature dozens of different characters each with very different strength and weaknesses, sets that usually require very precise movements and timing, and many different play-styles. One True Game Studios is looking to remove the barrier to entry for fighting games with Divekick, a fighting game which relies on only two buttons to play.

 

Divekick turned everyone’s head during PAX East 2013 when everyone quickly fell in love with it thanks to the simple controls and hilarious premise. Since then, the game has evolved and changed some, but the core is still the same. In Divekick, all fighters can only do one move: divekick. One button makes your character jump or dive whereas the second lets you kick. Press both buttons when you’ve built enough kick meter and you will perform a special move which changes depending if you are on the ground or in the air. The goal is to hit your opponent - one hit and the round is over. That’s it. Simple, right?

 

 

Despite the simplicity, Divekick is a surprisingly deep game. It’s not about mashing the only two buttons until someone get’s hit, it’s about forcing your opponent to make a mistake, to expose himself; it’s about being unpredictable. This can result in extremely tense matches as - more often than not - whoever has the best twitch reflexes will win. It only takes one hit to win -  remember - meaning that anyone, regardless of skill, can win at least one round by having faster reflexes than their opponent for just that one crucial play.

 

There is a Story mode for single-player which follows the character of your choosing as they battle different opponents to be crowned Divekick champions. It’s not much, but the backstories and motivation behind each character are hilarious and often feature funny references to pop and fighting game culture. Dive and Kick (Yes, these are the ACTUAL names of the main characters) are brothers, even if they are from two completely different races and have completely different personalities.

Dive is a mathematical genius who uses math to carefully calculate optimum divekicking angles to win fights, whereas Kick is basically Will Smith from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. These two have very similar move sets and are the most “basic” characters. However, DiveKick features a roster of 13 fighters; each with different play styles. Dr. Schoals can change the angle of her kicks mid-air, Redacted is the only fighter who can duck, Seth Killian a.k.a. S-Kill can teleport, and much more.

 

 

Unfortunately, this is where the game starts losing its charm. While having many different characters with different styles and moves does give Divekick more variety, it also raises that barrier to entry it so desperately tried to destroy. I did make the argument earlier that even if you are an unskilled player versus a very skilled player, you will be able to beat him; even if he would probably beat you more consistently. It adds that element of unpredictability and makes every round tense. If however, a very skilled player plays someone like S-Kill, that element disappears. While some characters are fun little diversions to the original idea of Divekick, others just change the game too much and add an unneeded layer of complexity to a game which boasts about its simplicity.

 

Divekick‘s Online mode is very strong: there is rarely any lag and, when the game matches you with an opponent, you can chose not to accept that fight if you think his Ping is too high without penalty. Most of the time Divekick matches you with players of a similar skill level but, unfortunately, when there aren’t many players online the system struggles. It’s not uncommon to be matched with players of a much higher or lower skill bracket or to be matched with the same person over and over again. It’s not the game’s fault, but it can make the online mode very boring after only a few matches.

 

 

I’ll conclude our Divekick review by stating that the game shines the most for me when played locally. Having a handful of friends over to battle while the others watch and take turns playing makes Divekick one of the finest fighting games around. Also, this gives you the opportunity to ban certain fighters from being played to avoid scaring away newcomers. Nothing beats the “Oooohs” of your friends as you land a headshot on your opponent, or when you make a brilliant comeback. It’s a fighting game everyone can play and everyone should play - it’s just a shame the online servers aren’t as populated as they could be and some complex characters could scare off newcomers until they have a really good grasp of the game.