Two Strikes Review

Two Strikes is a unique genre in the long running 1v1 fighting genre. While most fighters have players been the living daylight out of each other until their health bar are empty, in this case victory comes with precise movement as a single strong hit or two weak will end the battle.

The control scheme a weak, strong attack, block button, feint attack, forward dash and backward rolls to dodge enemy attacks. Blocking is timed; as it last barely a second, so players just don’t continuously block. If you see an enemy about to attack while in the midst of your own, dashing will allow you to cancel your move and avoid certain death.

Given this is a weapon based fighter, parrying (duh!) is a must. Timed your parry correctly and you live a bit longer. Mis-time your parry and it’s death. Feinting allows players to pull off a fake attack in order to try and lure them in for a strategic ploy.

While the core gameplay lacks depth, at least there’s bevy of gameplay modes that can be tackled. You can jump One Life, which is a fancy way to call Survival mode. Arcade mode as well where you climb the proverbial ladder up to a boss. Team Duel is as the name implies, it’s team fights.

Story mode where you can learn a bit more of backstory for each fighter; and each of them has three different endings to unlock. Infinite which is you last as long as you can. One Strike where one hit means death. And finally, Practice where you can practice your skills and training where you can get a feel for the game. The last two feel a bit redundant.

One thing is for sure, Two Strikes has a unique and beautiful black and white; hand drawn aesthetic and animations for the characters whereas the background, still hand drawn, are colorful which makes the fighters standout thanks to the clash of colors. The soundtrack is an ejoyable Japanese inspired score that meshes well with the settings and theme of the game.

While the gameplay is quite unique, it’s still part of its shortcomings. There’s no real challenge or depth. You can sometimes use a single character and just mash the same button once and kill your enemy without a single thought. Just wait until the round starts, watch your enemy’s movement and just pretty the attack button. No strategy.

While I can appreciate developers taking chances, it’s hard to recommend a game like Two Strikes. The combat is definitely unique but it feels more like playing chess than a fighting game. The genre is known for its gameplay depth and intricacies, which Two Strikes lacks. Feels like a missed opportunity to have a proper 2D weapon based fighter. While not my cup of tea, I can see the potential of Two Strikes for what it is. I can recommend this to fighting aficionados looking to try all games of the genre. But if you’re looking for a fighter with depth to sink your teeth into, this ain’t it.