Striking Gold

A fighting game for total beginners: how a genre veteran hopes to transform funds into fundamentals.

- David Sirlin

He worked as lead designer on Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, was running the Evolution tournament before it even bore the name, and has placed in the top eight three times at the championships as a professional player: David Sirlin is serious about fighting games. It’s perhaps surprising, then, that the one he’s currently developing is aimed at a far more casual audience.

Fantasy Strike is a 2D fighter with an extremely simple control scheme. There’s a button to walk left, another to walk right, a third to jump and a fourth to attack. Quarter-circles and multi-input combos are nowhere to be found: two more buttons trigger a special attack each, while pressing Attack and a Special together unleashes your super. That’s your lot. Our immediate reaction is sceptical. But then, Fantasy Strike’s purpose isn’t to preach to the choir. “I think that, while I have my roots in hardcore games, the real opportunity is to go much wider and get a whole bunch of new people into the genre,” Sirlin tells us.