SNK Heroines Tag Team Frenzy is the latest in the current trend of crossover fighting games with simple gameplay. I’m actually a fan of this trend, especially with most fighting game series reaching into their twentieth entry in one form or another. This means getting into fighting games is harder than ever for casual fans.
That said, SNK Heroines Tag Team Frenzy is probably the weakest of the bunch especially with games like Blade Strangers out there. The only thing that makes this one stand out is the all female roster of SNK ladies that are in full on fanservice mode.
SNK Heroines Tag Team Frenzy doesn’t hide what it is or make you work for the t-n-a. The default costumes for the characters are their sexy ones, so much so that I had trouble matching the character to the game they are from because they can look so wild.
When Mai Shiranui’s (King of Fighters) base costume isn’t her already pretty lewd red dress and is instead a cow-print bikini complete with bell and ears, and when the adorable Nakoruru (Samurai Showdown) is in a vampire bikini that would get her thrown off the beach, you know your target audience.
The story, and yes, there is a story, sees some otaku creeper transport his favorite ladies from he SNK world in new outfits to fight each other for a chance to escape. There’s something about the losers feeding his power or something, but it sure does feel like SNK is taking the piss out of weebs with the sad story.
Graphically, things aren’t all that impressive. It’s hard to explain but the 3D models just feel a little off; not bad, just off. It’s almost like you are playing with mannequins instead of real people. I feel that these are built on old models and remind me of the 3D King of Fighter games from the PS2. I dare say it almost feels like a remaster with how it looks, if that makes sense…
Gameplay is where SNK Heroines Tag Team Frenzy tries to mix things up even with its simplicity. The buttons are trimmed down with a two basic attack buttons that allow for some basic combos and a special button that activates your characters special depending on how you are holding the directional pad.
It’s all really simple but where the weird part comes in is with the Dream Finish that everyone has tied to its own button. These serve as super moves but are also the way you have to win a match. If you take your opponent down to zero they won’t actually die. You can beat them to your hearts content without getting a win.
To win you are going to have to use your super move on your opponent when there health bar is flashing red. Essentially, they serve as finishing moves only not as deadly as something from Mortal Kombat. But this isn’t quite as simple as it seems as if your super bar isn’t filled your opponent can get out of their death state and keep fighting.
This can really make for some interesting matches as when you are in the red you enter a stun state that signals you are ready to be knocked out, but without your opponent having that special you can shake it off and keep fighting. On top of that is the spirit meter that isn’t tied to its own meter per say.
When you take damage and your life bar goes down, the empty space begins to fill with your spirit making a single bar act for two things. The more damage you sustain the more your spirit meter grows. Using your specials will deplete your spirit but it will build on its own over time.
Another wrench in the fighting game gears are the items that can be collected and used during matches. Think Mario Kart items only in a fighting game. During a match you’ll be able to break floating containers that will grant you all manner of items that can give you quite the advantage and be used for some killer combos.
Flicking the right stick activates an item which can give you some sort of buff, grant life, poison your opponent, or damage the other player in all sorts of wacky ways. SNK Heroines Tag Team Frenzy never takes itself seriously and plays everything for laughs, and boobs… Lots of boobs.
And since this is a tag team game you can select two ladies and you can swap between them at will during play. In a nice move your support character simply hangs out in the background like in King of Fighters games and simply teleports in when you trigger them.
But even with all of these things the gameplay is very light on depth and you aren’t going to be seeing SNK Heroines Tag Team Frenzy on the list for the next EVO tournament, but as a simple arcade fighting game it works well. If you are an SNK fan or looking to get into fighting games this is a pretty good start.
On top of the fighting is the collectible aspect of the game along the lines of DOA Beach Volleyball. You can unlock new costumes –including their original ones– via in-game money that you earn by playing. You can also buy accessories to customize each character to you hearts content, no matter how lewd that is.
The money you earn can also be used to buy art and a few other things but to be fair, there isn’t a lot to unlock. If you play through the game a few times using each pair of characters you’ll probably have enough money to buy everything available or that you want.
SNK Heroines Tag Team Frenzy also features the requisite modes you can expect with training, survival and some basic online modes. They work fine but do nothing to change things up from other fighting games. And because this is the Nintendo Switch version the online kinda sucks… A lot.
Matches take forever to connect –it is launch day to cut the game a little slack– and games tend to run in the single digits more often than not. Everything moves in slow motion so if you want solid online you are probably want to stay away from the Nintendo Switch version.
SNK Heroines Tag Team Frenzy is a fine female fighter. It keeps things simple and makes it easy for newcomers to the genre, but offers little depth and not a lot of reason to come back if you enjoy collecting all sorts of extras. The Dream Finish way of ending matches is going to be divisive within the fighting community, but the spirit meter implantation is really neat.
This one is probably for SNK fans and it does feel like a test-bed for future SNK fighting games in a lot of ways. If you are looking for a silly arcade fighting game I’d say check this one out but maybe when there’s a sale going on. If you want something deep there are other games to check out besides this one.
Final Score:
3/5
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