Early last month, Squids developer The Game Bakers announced their forthcoming iOS game Combo Crew. It’s a beat ’em up inspired by the greats of the ’80s and ’90s like Final Fight and Streets of Rage, but with modern visuals and a gesture-based control scheme built specifically with the touchscreen in mind. No virtual d-pad or buttons here folks. You can see the controls in action in the developer’s hands-on video from the announcement.
Today The Game Bakers have announced that Combo Crew is nearing the finish line and is set to launch next month, and they’ve released a brand new trailer and a few more details about the game.
The controls sound simpler than I first thought after seeing them in the video. Basically you’ll use a single finger swipe to punch and kick, tap to counter attack, and a two-finger swipe for special moves. It sounds almost too simple, but then again traditional brawlers are typically just flimsy button mashers so a control scheme that allows you to focus on beating the crap out of stuff sounds like a smart choice.
In addition, Combo Crew will be arena style with a structure geared for quick play sessions, and will include a few different modes. You can battle your way to the top of the tower in the campaign or see how long you can last in an endless mode, and a co-op mode lets you team up with a buddy to beat up bad guys and compete for high scores. The co-op play will be cross-platform between iOS and Android devices, too. Finally, The Game Bakers promises plenty of unlockable power-ups and bonus moves in Combo Crew.
I’m pretty psyched for this one based on what I’ve seen so far, and I’m really intrigued by the control scheme. Button-mashing just plain doesn’t work with virtual buttons, but I could see swipe-mashing being pretty satisfying. Also I’m really digging the animation and visuals in Combo Crew, and The Game Bakers are known for quality stuff.
If your interest is piqued like mine then add Combo Crew to your TouchArcade (Free) app Watch List and we’ll let you know when more news hits as next month’s release approaches.
