WizKids announces Ultra Deluxe 2D Arcade Mega Fighter

With E-Sports becoming an absolute juggernaut and classics like Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat still pulling in major cash, it only makes sense that someone would try to adapt the fighting game genre to boardgames. And they did well, Level99 Games’ BattleCON fared well with some reviews even saying that it’s better than its videogame inspirations. So with the first foot in the door, it’s time to innovate.

And by innovate we of course mean ‘adapt’ Marvel vs Capcom. Wizkids have kicked things up a notch and come out of nowhere with Ultra Deluxe 2D Arcade Mega Fighter. Players draft their team of three from a roster of fifteen colourful 16-bit characters including Amoeba Bandita, Sharkfist, Tyranosorceror, Mecha Pope, and what appears to be a gorilla on a pogo stick. Which feels just like the sort of over the top character design that cartoons doing a fighting game skit go for and we love it. And apparently there are more than a hundred thousand possible match-ups which, being bad at math, we’ll just have to take their word for.

The goal is - as it always is in fighting games - to knock out the other team before being knocked out yourselves. Groundbreaking. Each character has a set of five unique moves that create a synergy among characters as well as a bunch of regular moves that can be used to start a combo, string a combo, swap fighters, or draw. And while this is pretty light on description, the idea of getting to play a fighting game that isn’t deeply rooted in dash cancelling, wavedashing, or years of practice is exciting. No more getting combo locked by twelve year olds!

Ultra Deluxe 2D Arcade Mega Fighter hits shelves this April