A lot of times, with ports of fighting games or other competitions that rely on console-exclusive matching, I can end up spending minutes waiting to find others to play against, or just quit out of the frustration of not finding anyone. Lethal League Blaze also already has a fairly active and fast online scene, which I took the time to explore because, well, it was actually there.

The abilities of each character, both special attack and mobility, are balanced against one another: each is uniquely different, each has advantages over others, but none are left on a strange isolation of “too strong” or “too weak.” This is what I like to call a Layer Cake game, in which the initial taste is great, and being able to appreciate the different segments that have been created only makes the flavor more robust. Players like Jet have different mobility tracks, being able to actually levitate via jetpack, which drastically increases their access to aerial returns, whereas Latch can actually spend a bit of time on the wall, getting out of the melee and refocusing on trying to grab the ball on a particular rebound. Between jumping, moving, and using split second determination as to when you need to swing/punch at the ball, players have to learn, quickly, about how their own character of choice and how other characters interface as the pressure increases. Running consistently smooth and silky, players are able to track themselves and the manic speeds of the ball across differently designed play fields and arenas, often times contending with three other players (either AI or human) who are desperate to be the next to get into the mix and take control of the ball. In actuality, the success of Lethal League Blaze comes down to the performance, and the game excels in this direction.

Knock out the other players a grand total of four times each in order to claim victory. By successfully hitting the ball, players fill up a bar that allows them to do an ability (tapping the Y button twice) that will affect the ball in some way, either by putting some English on it, trapping it in a deceptive bubble that does NOT slow down the speed when the bubble pops, or otherwise affecting gameplay in some way that could really help or hurt anyone. There’s simply hitting it, there’s the ability to catch and throw it, and you can bunt the ball into a secondary hit to add extra damage and umph. As the match goes longer, the velocity and damage of the ball gradually increases, until it’s a kinetic blur of madness that requires you to have unnaturally accurate fingers to intercept the ball.

Instead, a ball bounces around the screen, changing color depending on who hit it last. The main idea of Lethal League Blaze is to rock the face off of up to three opponents at once, but you don’t get to do it with fists or swords. Truthfully, the story mode is a tad boring in comparison to the gameplay, but it serves the dual purpose of a.) allowing players to unlock stuff in a more interesting fashion and b.) sample all the different characters to see what’s what. The most famous of the underground leagues is the titular Lethal League, and the story mode of the game follows some of the characters as they seek to understand more about the world around them, continue to enjoy the sport they love, and fight for some funky freedom in a world gone mad. Naturally, the ban made people more interested to play it, so an underground competition started.

Unfortunately, the game was deemed to be too dangerous because one person died in the process of playing it (seriously, just one?), and it was banned across the board. Set in a future where things are generally bad, the people of this broken metropolis of Shine City develop a new sport that combines all the risk and speed of jai alai with the insanity of arena league baseball, and lo, it was good. But what if things were stripped down to a more simplistic and direct design? One where all you needed to understand was “Don’t get hit?” Perhaps that’s the thing that I find so appealing about Team Reptile’s dystopian sport, Lethal League Blaze, and why I’ve been addicted to getting my behind stomped online. I still enjoyed them, and still do to this day, but I tend to shy away from the online scene and the competitive areas due to me not being able to understand everything I need to do. Thinking back to the times where I saw my butt handed to me eight consecutive times by someone who played Voldo without using the joystick at all, it became clear that there was a ton of strategy and planning that went into fighting games. The most difficult aspect of getting better at fighting games, at least from my vantage point, has been working out the sheer number of potential combos, counters and sequences needed to succeed.

Swtch lethal league blaze