Social media has a lot to answer for, as well as Kickstarter. These two things are allowing for things that may never have been picked up by a major gaming company, as well as allowing that sort of bedroom coder feel make a comeback. Everyone knows by now that #IDARB was more or less a Twitter concept all stemming from Mike Mika’s red block and the world being asked to come up with an idea for it. What we have ended up with is a mix of three retro cult hits rolled up into one, with those being Sensible Soccer, the forgotten Konami PSX title Bishi Bashi Special and the Nintendo hit Smash Bros.
As well as having good points in the gaming industry, there are also some annoying points to the social media revolution, and as much as it helped to make this February Xbox One Game with Gold, it also leaves a mark. The twitter feed that seems to hover on screen at all times can become a bit on the annoying side, as some will get distracted by this attention bar as you’re playing. How does the game actually play though?
It does play pretty well to be honest, providing of course you are on a 1 vs 1 basis. The more people that participate only results in a complete carnagefest as time goes on, but in a way that is what you want from something like this. Do not start playing #IDARB with an extremely competitive head on, as you will get so frustrated that the experience will become extremely hampered and you will hit the off button very quickly.
The main objective is to score goals, but everything is happening at 100 miles an hour, especally when the teams are fully loaded. Passing, shooting, interceptions and that chase for any loose balls is just so chaotic that there should maybe be an age limit on it to prevent people over 40 from pulling out whatever hair they have left.
#IDARB has that now endearing retro pixelated feel to it, as well as a fully functional character editor and music suite to compose your own little ditties to use for yourself or indeed allow the world to grab via the world wide web. The most interesting thing about the game are the hash bombs (as all the wacky baccy ears prick up before disappointment) which allows people to tweet live games to change the appearance of the map and perhaps hinder opponents. It might seem like a gimmick, but at the end of the day it adds a little bit of light heartedness to proceedings. If it isn’t to your preference though you can turn it off. Being a bit of a Tweetphobe I find that most helpful.
The best way for me to describe this is that at it’s heart beats a party game and all it needs are some willing participants. This is that game that you would get a few mates to surround when you’ve had a few and just need to keep the house party going. It’s a much better alternative than bleating your drunken heart out in Singstar or what have you.
It is a fun little game though, when all is said and done. It started off as a harmless red rectangle and the fun factor has remained throughout. Delving beneath the main screen reveals quite a lot of inter indie love. Teams made up of companies like Team 17, Oddworld Inhabitants, WayForward and so on show that there is a lovely warmth about it all. I understand it may not be everyone’s idea of a great time, but listen, it is FREE. What can you seriously moan about if you’re getting it for no money whatsoever?
The style of the game means it will be one that will possibly only come out on special occasions or perhaps be something that will be played for a small period of time at the start and then left like Woody from Toy Story or something like that. There is talk that there will be additional content being integrated frequently and this is perhaps the saving grace. The community will be asked to help out on this matter and that can only be good because it means that there is a better chance of keeping it alive if the general public have a say in the matter.
When I sit and look at it I feel this is a game more designed for the watchers than the players. The whole audience participation feel of things makes me think that this is something that should be watched on TWITCH or something due to the hashbomb integration. Whether this is the way gaming is going now I don’t know, but only time and the public will show if this is the future of things in general in the gaming world.
Looking at it in general, would I pay full price for this? I probably wouldn’t, which is sad, as I’m a retro fanatic at heart, but I never liked Smash Bros and the many versions of it, so this doesn’t really float my boat as a full price Arcade release. As a freebie though it did prick my interest a bit and I have to say it is better than I thought it would be. It is a fully customisable giggle and almost hankers back to things like Net Yaroze and if you can go far enough back the Shoot ‘Em Up Construction Kit (perhaps too old for some I fear).
Some of your friends may well snub their noses up at it, but for those that don’t (and are suitably drunk at the time) this could become a cult hit in ways it never thought. It is harmless, fun and free, so I’d grab it now before the month is out before you change your mind and think that having your eyes bleed isn’t a good thing for a game to do to your optic nerves.
