Pajamorama (XBLIG): "Something Borrowed, Something New ..."

By now most of you who have followed my tweets, watched my youtube gameplay videos, or read my reviews here have learned that I love fighting games. Most of you probably aren't aware of how extensive my fighting game history is though. I have played about every fighting game series that has been released, and even some import titles. I'm a long time Street Fighter, and Mortal Kombat player as well. I love new fighting game concepts even if they are low budget productions. It's nice to see indie game developers such as Dannobot Games take an interest in making unique fighting game experiences such as 'Pajamorama'. This fighting game actually features hand drawn art by Dan Manning (dannobot games), and music by Mike Cecelski. While the game isn't Street Fighter it does offer a fun gaming experience plus some extras that alot of the XBLIG titles are without these days.

I'm gonna start off by introducing the 4 female characters of the game. Fighting game characters are what this genre is all about. Pajamorama features 4 different female characters each with button inputs/special moves that you likely recognize from the 'Street Fighter', and 'King of the Fighter' series. First off you have a girl named 'Apple' who carrys a pillow as a weapon, and throws teddy bear projectiles similar to the style of Ryu's (Street Fighter) Hadoken/Fireball. She also has a move similar to that of Andy Bogard's from the King of the Fighters series. It's sort of a launched drill type of kick. The second character on the list is 'Sashimi'. This asian inspired fighter who is sporting what appears to be either pajamas, or an oriental outfit. Her moves include a hurricane kick similar to that of Ryu's/Ken's/Akuma's from the Street Fighter series. Our third character on the list is probably the most mature looking of the group. She is a dominatrix/librarian. Her special moves include a rising uppercut similar to that of Iori's from the King of the Fighters series, and a ground projectile that is also similar to Iori's. The final, and fourth character is a blonde haired girl with pants, a shirt, and black gloves. She has a kick that's kind of like Blanka's from the Street Fighter series, an uppercut similar to Ryu's/Ken's/Akuma's (Street Fighter series), and a ground projectile similar to Terry Bogard's (King of the Fighters series).

The controls In Pajamorama are simple, and only require some of the buttons on the Xbox 360 controller. You'll find that you can either use the 'Left Thumbstick', or the 'D.Pad' for character movement. The Y, X, and A buttons are used for attacks. I think the 'A' button is actually for throwing, but I'm not 100% sure. The 'B' button performs an evasive manuever that will allow you to move past your opponent. This definitely comes in handy. I'm not sure if there was a button used for block in the game, but I couldn't get my character to block during gameplay. There is no control layout/special move section in the game which is unfortunate. I would definitely love to see one added if the developer could do so.

Pajamorama features both Single Player, and Multiplayer game modes. These modes include match settings with three categories of play. You can go for the 'Stock' mode in which lives/remaining lives decide the winner. You can select to have between 1-10 stocks/lives. There's also a 'Time' mode in which you can set the timer from 60-600 seconds. The final mode is 'Points' mode in which hits are counted. You can select from 1-10 points for this category. Aside from the types of gameplay categories you also have a selection of levels/stages to choose from. These include a beach scene (Beach), A giant rubber ducky (Ducky), A giant Bed (Bedroom), A space shuttle with a rendered picture of Earth (Shuttle), and a giant cake (Cake). All of these levels are hand drawn creations. As an artist I can definitely appreciate this persoanl artistic touch. One thing the game doesn't make clear is that you can press 'B' in this option menu to go to a character settings menu where you can add up to 3 'AI' characters with different difficulty levels (0-9).

The multiplayer options in Pajamorama include some modes that a lot of the XBLIG developers haven't included lately. These modes include a 'Local', 'LIVE', and 'System Link' mode. While the 'Local' option would be fun I think the 'LIVE' mode would be much better. I was unable to find an online match though. This is probably, because the game hasn't been out that long or recieved much attention from other reviewers. I would definitely like to try out the online.

In the end I found the gravity-like physics of Pajamorama a bit odd. The controls are a bit loose, but I was able to execute some nice combos. The four characters in the game were definitely cool, and I did notice some 'jiggle' physics (if you know what I mean? ...). I do think the game caters to both guy, and girl gamers. The dominatrix/librarian is definitely more for the guys though. While this game isn't Street Fighter, or King of the Fighters I was glad to see Dannobot Games take a new approach to a genre with many clones. If you have some friends, and want a fun fighting game to enjoy that's also not pricey then I think Pajamorama would nicely fill that void.