After successfully debuting at this year's highly watched and very entertaining EVO 2013, fighting fans who prefer their combat options to be extremely limited have something to cheer about next week as Divekick finally makes its way to the PlayStation Network this Tuesday, August 20th.
According to the game's creator, Adam Heart, the idea for Divekick came about when he and a buddy were having a chat and decided “wouldn't it be funny if there was a fighting game called 'Divekick', with two playable characters named Dive and Kick, and your only moves were dive and kick>?”
What started out as a joke has since evolved into a legitimate game and, despite the simplicity of the controls (or perhaps because of them), the result has been an extremely strategic fighting game that rewards careful planning, lightning-fast reflexes and a complete mastery of timing.
As you'll see in the following video, the competition can get pretty heated in Divekick, even when your combat options are almost exclusively limited to diving and kicking, which is sometimes the entire repertoire of moves that some gamers employ when playing side-scrolling fighting games.
As you can see, each character has its own dive angle, kick angle and speed. You can also activate an ability that lets you move faster for a limited time. Earning a kick to the head will also give your opponent a concussion, meaning they'll be greatly crippled in the next round. It seems silly at first but, once you get your hands on the game, you find there's a lot of tension packed into every nail-biting round.
The cast of characters has also evolved since the original concept to include one of the most bizarre collections of combatants to ever grace a fighting game. And in this genre, that's saying quite a bit. You can learn all about many of the characters here and here. One of the final character reveals recently went up on the PlayStation Blog, along with some helpful hints from the top three finishers at EVO 2013. The fighting community is really getting behind this game, and Mean Saltine, Kerahime~<3 and Adelheid Stark all have some thurough hints to help make you a Divekick master. Creator Adam Heart also offers up some additional tips just to make sure everyone is ready to roll once the game releases on Tuesday.
Look for Divekick to arrive on the PlayStation Network on August 20th, playable on the PS3 and Vita. And now...more Divekick action! Also, don't let Mr. N swindle you out of a win!
