Blazing Strike is a new 2D fighting game inspired by the best in the genre. Read our review to see what it did well, what it didn't do well, and if it's worth buying.

Blazing Strike Review Overview

What is Blazing Strike?

Blazing Strike is a 2D fighting game inspired by beloved classics in the genre from the likes of Capcom and SNK. The game features a unique mechanic called Rush, which is a resource that you can use to enhance moves, string combos, and even move quicker. It also features 14 different characters for you to choose from, each with their own unique playstyle. You can play against people in both offline and online matches, where the latter is supported by rollback netcode.

Blazing Strike features:
　⚫︎　 Pixelated 2D Fighting Game
　⚫︎　 Inspired By Classic Fighting Games
　⚫︎　 14 Playable Characters
　⚫︎　 Offline and Online Multiplayer
　⚫︎　 Rollback Netcode

For more gameplay details, read everything we know about Blazing Strike’s gameplay and story.

Blazing Strike
Steam		Playstation		Switch

Blazing Strike Pros & Cons

Pros	Cons
Great Retro Aesthetic Amazing Character Designs Rush Mechanic	Story is a Slog Stage Hazards Lack of Moves No Tutorial

Blazing Strike Overall - 60/100

Blazing Strike is an okay fighting game but is held back by a ton of dated game design choices. Regardless if it was intentional or not, the game just simply lacks content to appeal to potential players. It may have been a great game a few years or even decades ago. Even if the game looks amazing in terms of visuals, players will definitely lose interest quickly since there’s not much to do in the game.

Blazing Strike Story - 4/10

The game’s story is definitely a slog to get through. There’s too much on-screen text during the cutscenes, and it makes the whole thing a hard read. The game’s visuals definitely help in making the story great to look at, but the way it’s paced is problematic. It’s a mix of too much to read while moving at a snail’s pace. The story itself isn’t any better, as I was struggling to understand why certain characters are there in the first place. Not to mention that you actually can’t save your progress in the story, so you actually have to do the whole thing in one sitting.

Blazing Strike Gameplay - 7/10

The main inspirations of the gameplay are definitely old Capcom and SNK games, especially the latter. Characters are mostly simple to understand, as they all have their own unique special moves and attacks that make them who they are. The Rush mechanic is a unique mechanic that should be explored a bit more, as it’s definitely the most interesting element of the game.

However, the game lacks a tutorial for you to actually learn how to use the in-game mechanics. Pair this with a subpar story mode and an arcade mode where you just fight the other characters in the game, and then you have a pretty lackluster experience. The game’s inclusion of rollback netcode is a definite plus, but it may not be enough to keep people interested in playing.

Blazing Strike Visuals - 9/10

The game looks absolutely gorgeous. The classic arcade-style pixelated visuals and well-animated characters are definitely the game’s best selling point. If there was one complaint, it would just be the story mode’s text, since the text is way too small and too much to read. I would argue that the character designs and the animations of the game rival some of the other pixelated fighting games on the market, and I would even go out on a limb to say it’s better than most visually.

Blazing Strike Audio - 6/10

In terms of music, sound effects, and voice acting, the game is on the average to below average side of things. There’s not much to say about the audio design, except for it sounding like an old arcade game. Save for a few stage themes, most of the tracks were forgettable and didn’t leave that much of a mark.

Blazing Strike Value for Money - 4/10

For $39.99, the game doesn’t justify itself as another option for you to play a fighting game given the lack of content and steep price point. Given the competitive market and hard niche to get into, it doesn’t have much going for it, except for the great visuals, good character design, and online rollback netcode. Even with the exclusive mechanic that the game has, the game isn’t deep enough to be interesting to most players.

Blazing Strike Review: Decades Too Late

There’s a certain appeal to fighting games that not everyone will appreciate. It’s a genre that’s stood the test of time for a very long time, especially during the height of the arcade era. During those times, companies like Namco, Capcom, and SNK made a name for themselves with Tekken, Street Fighter, and Fatal Fury, respectively. To the point where their franchises are still the games being played today. Of course, the best way to emulate greatness is to learn from what makes them so great in the first place.

These were great during their time, but what happens if you try to release something that’s like the old games in today’s day and age? Enter Blazing Strike, a 2D fighting game inspired by the late greats. You could even say, maybe a little too inspired, that it’s a detriment.

Amazing Retro Style

First things first, the game looks amazing. The character designs, art, and animations are the best part of the game. I would even go so far as to say that the game’s visuals can rival some of the new retro-style arcade fighting games that are releasing these past few years. It also helps that the story mode’s scenes are mostly similar to comic books. In addition to the great character art, the characters in motion are something to marvel at as well.

It’s a very well-animated game, and the different character designs definitely pop when you see everything move during gameplay. It also helps that each character has something unique about them to make them way different from each other.

In a Rush

The game has a unique mechanic called the Rush mechanic. The way that it’s unique is that it functions both as an offensive and defensive tool. It’s the main way for you to extend combos and move faster, but it’s also used to enhance moves and let you move away from your enemy faster with a backdash. It’s a resource that you should manage, however, since overusing it will render you unavailable to move for a short time and will leave you defenseless.

If you’ve played some of SNK’s games, it functions like King of Fighter’s Climax Mode, but the screen doesn’t stop or slow down. It’s something that you have to constantly be ready to use as an offensive tool to continue pressure or something to remember while you’re on the receiving end.

Stage Hazards?!

A weird addition that the game has is the existence of stage hazards. It’s not even something like Netherrealm’s interactable objects; they’re actually hazards that just happen automatically. It’s definitely a way to make it unique as a fighting game, but it’s more of an annoyance than something you can use to help you. You could argue that these are things that you should play around with when learning the game, but some hazards are straight up frustrating.

An example is the Desert stage where you could be vacuumed by a tornado, which will render you stationary for the time it’s out. Another is the stage with the crane hooks that descend from above that hit you if you’re not crouching. This is a weird design choice where I would say that being different doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re making a good choice.

Weak Story

The main issue of the story is the amount of exposition there is. It’s a very lengthy read and it’s paced horribly. The story is uninteresting, to say the least, and it’s weird that you don’t get to play Jake (the protagonist) most of the time. I’m not entirely sure if the game would be saved by a better story, but the fact that the game doesn’t have a function like Chapter Select or a way to save your progress is criminal.

Yes, the story isn’t all that long, but the fact that you bombard the player with so much text and characters while expecting them to understand what’s happening is definitely something. It’s even good to point out that some characters were literally just included in the story and didn’t really contribute anything to the actual narrative.

Not Enough to Go Around

After playing the Story mode and the Arcade mode, you’re pretty much out of anything else to do in terms of single-player content. You could mess around in Training mode to look at all the other characters, but after looking at their move list, you’re pretty much done. The only things left are the offline and online multiplayer. In comparison, even Tekken 5, a game that came out two decades ago, has more offerings than Blazing Strike.

Archetypes? Maybe?

In terms of actual character gameplay design, it’s definitely different. Fighting game characters tend to have different archetypes like rushdown, zoners, and the like. Blazing Strike has these but has a couple of odd additions and omissions from these characters.

For context, each character really only has three to four special moves that do different things. Some of them are for combos, some are for ranged capabilities, but it’s weird that some characters have overlapping moves that have different functionalities.

One example is Zero, where he has a laser special move that hits from full screen and another special move that moves like an arc that explodes when it comes into contact with something. Clearly, this design makes it feel like he’s a zoner, which he is. But it’s definitely weird that he gets the game’s variation of a Shoryuken or Dragon Punch, while others don’t actually have functional anti-air attacks.

It’s not like the character archetypes are completely butchered, but some characters just have weird attacks that don’t fit the design that I thought they were going for. That being said, I could easily be wrong about how I perceived certain characters, as maybe they were intending to make each character a little different than their supposed archetype.

Style Over Substance

Blazing Strike is a classic example of style over substance. It’s a definite miss to not some out with more content, since the game has already been delayed a lot since its announcement back in 2021. It looks amazing, but the gameplay isn’t all that deep, and there’s not much to play around with other than learning the characters. For the same price, you could get an old fighting game that could offer so much more, which is a damn shame.

Is Blazing Strike Worth It?

No. You Might Be Better Off With Another Fighting Game.

The game is priced at a pretty steep point for an indie game at $39.99. While the visuals of the game are definitely top-notch, there’s not much else for people to do in the game. You can play through the game’s painfully slow-paced story mode, complete the Arcade mode after a few minutes, go on Training mode to get a feel for your character, and maybe play a few online matches. After doing all these, you’ve already exhausted everything there is in the game.

It may be a disservice to say that there isn’t much to do in a fighting game, since learning the mechanics is part of the fun of playing and learning a new fighting game, but it just lacks things for you to do to keep yourself entertained.

Digital Storefronts
Steam		Playstation		Switch
Wishlist only				$39.99

Blazing Strike FAQ

What are the System Requirements to play Blazing Strike?

The System Requirements are as follows:

Game8 Reviews

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Blazing Strike Product Information

Title	BLAZING STRIKE
Release Date	October 17, 2024
Developer	RareBreed Makes Games LLC
Publisher	Aksys Games
Supported Platforms	PC (Steam), PS5, PS4, Nintendo Switch
Genre	Fighting, 2D
Number of Players	1-2 (Local, Online)
Rating	T
Official Website	Blazing Strike Official Website

Michael Gerra-Clarin

Resident fighting game nerd, avid FFXIV fan, and enjoyer of mostly anything gaming. Currently, he is enjoying Dawntrail as a Viper, while dying to Messmer's flames in Shadow of the Erdtree.