Super Smash Bros was not the first platform fighter or the first crossover fighting game, but it managed to make the two genres feel synonymous. Other games followed from publishers trying to cash in on the popularity of Smash but most have come and gone. While some had original characters and worked to capture the gameplay instead, the best-known games are the ones that feature crossover characters.
MultiVersus is Warner Bros. Games’ answer to Super Smash Bros and is arguably the best game to take inspiration from the fighter so far. A crossover of multiple properties owned by Warner Media, MultiVersus is a 2v2 Platform Fighter with a surprising amount of depth. While many games go for either style or substance, MultiVersus manages actually to capture both from the time spent with it.
Warner Bros. Games provided an Alpha access key and after playing, I was very impressed. Starting off with a quick tutorial, the game walks you through the basics while offering additional optional tutorials to make sure you can understand how everything works. The tutorials are well made and really allow you to get the handle of platform fighters a bit easier.
MultiVersus has a range of fighters to use with characters filling traditional roles in a fighting game, such as Shaggy from Scooby-Doo filling the Ryu style character role. Every character has a good feel to them, and the modifier known as Perks offers quite a bit of customization options for characters. What is especially good is how the characters all play in a way that is in character for them in the source material, such as Shaggy being food-obsessed, Taz being a speed tornado (with his own meter), and Batman using gadgets.
This alpha test allows for crossplay for all major platforms the game is on, and it ran beautifully during my time with it. I tested the game in each of its options such as 2 v 2, 1 v 1 and free for all, and the game had no issues in any of the modes. It is great that MultiVersus has these modes, but this is a game that is designed for 2 v 2 and many of the mechanics are based on buffing your teammate, guarding, helping them recover and so on.
What made me take notice was not just the excellent rollback netplay but also the input buffer option for the gameplay. When it comes to fighting games, an Input Buffer lets you enter the input for a move before the last execution is finished, which helps greatly in pulling off combos. And this is a very combo-heavy game that will interest veteran fighting game fans as much as casuals interested in playing as a Looney Toons character going up against Wonder Woman.
I am very excited about the final product of MultiVersus, but as stated earlier, this is the best game so far to use the Smash Bros-style formula. It helps that Warner Bros. Games has teams dedicated to fighting games in the form of NetherRealm Studios, so there is a frame of reference to go by. This is definitely a platform fighter that we should all keep an eye on.