One thing we don’t get a whole lot of on mobile is traditional-style fighting games, mostly due to them being tricky to control on the touchscreen with virtual buttons and no tactile feedback. However, developers Ranida Labs and AngryDevs have teamed up to put out a new fighting game built specifically with mobile in mind. It’s called Vita Fighters and following a soft launch period on Android it also made its way to iOS last week.
It features blocky characters that remind me of the old Virtua Fighter games and mechanics that have been simplified to make for an easier time using the touchscreen, but not so simplified that it loses its traditional fighting game feel. You still have full movement control of your fighters and the controls have been streamlined into just 4 buttons. A Light attack button that can also be double-tapped to produce a Medium attack; a Heavy attack that is stronger but slower to land; a Special attack button that can be pressed on its own or combined with the forward/down/backwards directions to produce various special attacks unique to each fighter; and an EX attack button that will unleash a super move if you’ve filled up your power bar enough. Surprisingly this all comes together fluidly and it’s easy enough to link moves together to perform combos and mix in special attacks without any complicated rolling movements or charging on the d-pad. The virtual buttons can be moved, resized, and customized to your liking, and if ...