Ladies First

 After taking extra shifts at work all last month, I hope to keep my resolution to add new content at a slow, but steady, pace throughout the new year.  Between working, eating and sleeping, I've only ever played portable fighting games with mostly female rosters.  A gimmick for an unfinished post from way back, I've decided to pick it up again, starting with this game . . .

Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax Ignition (PS Vita)

Though there's already a localized, translated version of the SEGA title available, this Japanese-exclusive version is updated with tweaked gameplay, new characters and added features (some of which I'm sure I deleted after unknowingly resetting the game to default).  Similar to such anime fighters as Under Night In-Birth and BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle, the roster has characters from various anime, video games and light novels like Sword Art Online, Virtua Fighter, and A Certain Scientific Railgun.

Among several support characters that assist the fighter in battle, Ignition adds a second slot for power-ups.

 

 

Of course, the fighters have their own special moves and supers.  Though I haven't skimmed through every moveset, most are activated by the classic quarter motion on the analog stick and a shoulder button assigned to 2-3 face buttons.

Soon after buying this, I discovered 2 more character sets that are available as DLC.  The problem is they're tied to a region-specific branch of the Vita store.  Rather than switch accounts on my Vita and risk losing my save files, I'm buying a second console to mess with.

Dead or Alive 5 Plus (Vita)

 

One of the more provocative games in my growing Vita collection, DOA 5 Plus is my second game from the franchise after Dead or Alive:Dimensions for the 3DS.  The latter being my favorite handheld fighter after Super Street Fighter IV 3D, I had to get this after trying the demo.  Now that I have it, though, most of my time is spent in the tutorial section, learning tons of techniques I'm likely to forget later.

While most techniques are easy to pull off, it's the timing of combos where I'm always stumped.  That and the CPU doesn't always recognize the on-screen instructions, forcing the player to work that much harder or drop the lesson altogether.

To prepare for the inevitable, I usually buy all the DLC for all my games.  But the cost of all the costumes available for DOA surpasses what I paid for the game itself.  Right now, I'm good with the free 'First Time' pack.

 

 

 

The most controversial feature of DOA: Dimensions lets the player take photos of the characters from virtually any angle.  I thought it couldn't get weirder till I tried Touch Play Mode, where players fight by poking, flicking and pinching the screen.

 

 

 

SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy (Switch)

 

 

 

Hearing all the press surrounding SNK's newest game, King of Fighters XIV--and downloading every Neo Geo Pocket Color port from the Switch eShop--had inspired me to dig this one up from my sock drawer.  I bought it at GameStop for cheap, played it for a minute, beat it in that minute, and hadn't touched it since.  Now I'm playing it again with all the DLC characters added.

 

 

In this non-canon crossover, the girls of SNK are trapped in a pocket dimension, under the watchful eye of a mysterious benefactor.

 

Like BlazBlue CTB, teams of 2 face off for 1-4 player, girl-girl action.

 

Most players prefer saving their super for ending a match in spectacular fashion.  Here, it's mandatory, which was what turned me off about the game in the first place.

 

 

Using in-game money earned from each fight, you can buy accessories to add to each fighter's costume, for a more (or less) practical look.
 

And now, somehow, we've reached the end of my first post for 2021.  Feels good.  Hopefully those still following the blog will join me next time as I find other ways to veg out on the go with my Vita.  Till then, I'm dusting off my climbing gear so I can get back to the Top of the Heap.