Sky Scrappers is a odd game that gives me a lot of different vibes. It’s hard to classify it in a specific genre, but it’s a fighting platformer at heart. The objective is simple: Get to the top. For this game , I’m looking at it in a fresh way, since I just found out that this had released on PS4 and PC before (understandable since I’m not a PC gamer, nor do I have a PS4). In any case, Sky Scrappers is a really fun and competitive fighting game that has elements I dare say that took inspiration in Smash Bros.
The premise of Sky Scrappers is that a group of fighters battle each other in a race against falling debris to get to the top and whoever does wins. Sounds simple, right? Well, yes and no because there are different ways to win the match. You can decide to make haste and try to get to the top, and if you are ahead of the rest the camera is focused on you. That doesn’t mean that the competition is out since at the cost of a little health and the special gauge, they do a super jump that sometimes ends up having your controlled character out of the screen. If you had little health due to damage from debris or attacks, it could spell your defeat. Or, you can go to the more aggressive route and concentrate on dealing all the damage you can, either with your basic attack or by using the debris to your advantage (since you can hit them to cause damage to other player). There is also a ground pound that leaves a shock wave that travels in both ways knocking opponents away and dealing good damage.
Talking about the roster, this is where I feel that Sky Scrappers fell too short of the heights it wants to achieve, since you only have four characters to choose from. Ehile I like their looks, they just feel like the same character with a different skin. I would like some difference among them. Perhaps make the Japan representative faster but with weak attacks, or the US representative stronger but slower? Do some changes to make them feel like different from each other. Besides that, I feel that the gam eplay makes up for its shortcomings in the roster department because there is a lot going on in each match, including debris and obstacles are falling down and other players are trying to get to the top. This makes up for interesting situations in which you can take advantage of big pieces of handrails falling down, and as the more diagonally inclined are the falling pieces, the higher your jump. In each match is a battle of wits between players.
Graphically, the game looks good. However, playing in handheld mode is a little bit difficult since the characters look really small. It’s understandable since the focus is oriented to the stage itself, and the field of vision must be bigger so you can see everything that is happening. But because of the chaotic fights, your character tends to be lost, and it’s hard to keep track of it. On TV, there isn’t a problem.
The main selling point is Tate Mode, which I may say that it has been brilliantly implemented. It feels like an arcade cabinet experience, even if the characters look a little small. In Tate Mode, the game feels more natural and is the way Sky Scrappers was meant to be.
Bottom Line: Sky Scrappers is a fun arcade experience with a brilliant Tate Mode that shows the way the game was meant to be played It also has fun and exciting matches, even more in multiplayer, but I feel like it would’ve benefit from more characters and stages.
A Review Code was provided for this review.