Developer Four Fats is known for making homages to games that they loved playing growing up, as well as including borderline legally questionable parodies of characters from throughout the world of video games and greater pop culture. I have a feeling I grew up loving many of the games these guys did, as I’ve been a huge fan of every Four Fats release, including all their games under their previous name Mooff Games. One of those was 2013’s Maximus, a beat ’em up very obviously inspired by Golden Axe along with numerous other classics in the genre. If “fun factor" wasn’t such a nonsensical descriptor for video games, I would say that Four Fats has an uncanny ability to capture the fun factor of those classics and channel them into their own releases. Maximus was like one big nostalgia trip that put a smile on your face the entire time. Well, it’s been many years coming, but a proper sequel is on the horizon. Behold the trailer for Maximus 2.

One of the things I love about the entire Four Fats/Mooff library is that they’ve spent so long creating characters and back story that they basically have their own interconnected universe going on between their games. As such Maximus 2 is filled with familiar faces and tons of inside jokes and references for fans. It’s also presented in one giant, continuous shot, meaning you’ll move from level to level seamlessly rather than being booted out to some overworld map or level select screen. It’s just like the old belt scrolling brawlers of the arcade heyday! Another big draw to brawlers in the arcades was the ability to play cooperatively with buddies by your side, and Maximus 2 will indeed feature that as well for up to 4 players either online or locally on the same device with bluetooth controllers hooked up. Pre-orders for Maximus 2 will become available on March 6th with a release planned for sometime in April, and I simply can’t wait.