Jitsu Squad | PS4 Review

There's passion in this here project. Borne of a love for Saturday morning cartoons, and fighting games this kickstarted game called "Jitsu Squad" bursts forth with much deserved hype. It got the community so riled up in anticipation for it's release that it met it's goals, and then some. Enough to include cameos of some of gaming's most memorable icons including Maximilian, and his dog Benny. Through nostalgia, and nods to other inspirations the heart and soul of it is reflected in every feature. Be it the mechanics, voice acting, or set pieces there's enough Easter eggs to fill a basket. What it does in homage it equally does so in creating a multiplayer experience that's both fun, and challenging. 

Inclusive of it's own starting screen theme song and an actual story, Jitsu Squad's main appeal comes from it's wacky roster of anthropomorphic animal heroes. Among the squad mates is a shinobi Tanuki named Hero, a female ninja rabbit named Baby, an afro samurai frog named Jazz, and an out of place Viking warthog with an iron clad sword. This team led by the elder sensei, Ramen, fights against the evil tyrant of the rival clan whom is chasing after a certain demonic statue of immense earth shattering power. The Jitsu Squad sets out to thwart the enemy's plans, and prevent them from obtaining the ancient relic.

Like it's inspiration Jitsu Squad plays partly like a 3D brawler with four player co-op in mind, and a mechanics inclusive fighting game. Each of the four playable Jitsu Squad characters wields a unique weapon, but deals damage via combo chains. The chains themselves come in two varieties including basic spammed combos, and hyper chains which involve adding delays or special attacks between each attack to alter the type of chained attack animations that occur. Additionally the game features a rewarding parry system in which parries increase damage output by 10% with each successful parry. This can also be combo'd to stack damage buffs. Outside of those mainstay mechanics there are special moves that can be learned, and used by inputting directional commands along with face button presses. This in tandem with the screen clearing ultra move that comes from picked up assists dishes out enough damage for a single player playthrough. That being said there is a difficulty setting to choose from initially, and it comes in the basic easy, normal, and hard no matter if you go solo or co-op. Though named differently to suit the nature of the game.

As with any brawler the goal in Jitsu Squad is to move section by section clearing out mobs, bosses, and sub bosses while trying to avoid game ending damage. Characters do have a limited stock of lives, and limited health. While these things are limited you can actually find 1ups, and health items that will refill a portion of the health bar. Tasks are not limited to these fundamental features though as the game switches up section objectives often times giving the player timed or number focused arena battles in which dealing with mobs in high numbers ties into that area's requirements for completion. After completing a planet which is the sum of these sectioned off areas you can go to the next planet in line via the main hub. Rinse and repeat. The ultimate objective being to see the story through to it's end through the clearance of each planetary domain.

Speaking of story, Jitsu Squad tells it's tale in a few different ways. This includes cutscene dialogue, intro conversations between all four characters even when playing solo, as well as the wise tutoring via sensei Ramen early on. Characters are fleshed out fairly well. With additional context being added to their part in the plot through boss rivalries. Each character has their own personality accented by ethnically diverse voice-over talent. Squaring it all off with additional voice talent for key NPCs, and boss characters. That, and the voices utilized to sound off when an enemy performs a special attack.

For those of you interested in honing your skills in Jitsu Squad there is a training mode just for that. The kind you'd expect from a fighting game. Decked out with a lot of useful toggles for practicing chains. Other extras include scanlines to toggle on/off as well as flash adjustments, and the usual sound levels. That, and language options. 

The Verdict ...

Jitsu Squad has a whole lot of heart poured into it, and it shows. You can tell by all the detail in-game that the developers at Tanuki Creative Studios were indeed passionate about the project. And it is that passion that both sold the kickstarter, and the game itself. It won me over almost immediately with the added fighting game mechanics, and how easily they are applied against overwhelming odds. It feels fluid and natural executing everything, even the parries. If you have yet to give this game a go, and love brawlers or fighting games Jitsu Squad is a perfect game to add to your library. It's nods to classic brawlers and fighting games will give you plenty to take in as you kick butt and take names!