Windjammers 2 (Xbox One) Review
Release Date: January 20, 2022
Publisher/Developer: Dotemu
Platform: Xbox One (reviewed), Steam, Switch, PlayStation 4
Price: $19.99 (currently available via GamePass)
The original Windjammers made it’s debut as a Neo-Geo arcade game in the mid nineties. Rereleased to home systems in the late 2010s, an official sequel is here that builds upon the original as if the decades between were just a blip on the radar. Armed with new moves and characters, starting up Windjammers 2 I immediately felt as if my Xbox belonged in the middle of a noisy arcade, hooked up to a glaring large screen and set of joysticks, with INSERT COIN blaring across the splash screens. Alas, it is here in the comfort of my own home.
Dotemu has done an amazing job of perfecting an art style that gives homage to pixel art and also manages to be it’s own thing: I fell in love with this style on Streets of Rage 4. Smoothly drawn characters make it feel like you are playing a comic book come to life. The original design of the game gave a wonderful amount of depth to what amounted to a top-down play style, with a not-quite-overhead look that allowed you full view of your character. The slick comic visuals allow you to catch the personalities of every character, old and new alike.
Windjammers plays like a strange combination of Pong and a fighting game. Players stand on opposite sides of a net with an extremely powerful Frisbee to throw back and forth. Instead of playing catch, though, the object is to get your opponent to miss, whether you hit a net or the disc flops to the floor on their side of the net. Windjammers 2 adds new abilities, like being able to jump after a lobbed disc or slam the disc down. Unlike most sports, the playing field can vary. Dimensions stay the same, but points scored per area change, and some areas even have obstacles. There are powerful EX moves that basically act as a finisher as well, near guaranteeing the score of a point.
The arcade feel of this game is unfortunately a detriment as much as a bonus. Much like starting a new fighting game in the arcade and having no idea what to do, then button mashing till you get it right, there is absolutely no tutorial in Windjammers 2. Sure, there’s a menu to go into that shows you all the moves, but text and a static picture of some character doing a move is tremendously different that a tutorial, and there’s honestly an overwhelming amount of different moves that would make more sense if you had a chance to see them in action. My first few games I was insanely whipped because the CPU had all the moves mastered and the best I could muster was “throw the Frisbee back” until some of the move sets happened naturally in game. Also, much like an arcade game/sports game, storyline is sparse. There is a bit there but it doesn’t amount to much. Core gameplay is in the online and local versus modes. If you are a solo player, you might enjoy what the game has to offer, but it won’t have near the lasting power.
Overall, though, Dotemu should be praised for finding amazing ways to bring back sprite based classic games in a fresh, new way. I’m greatly looking forward to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge title coming out soon as well as anything else they have to offer, as it is an excellent way to pay homage to sprites and bring them into the modern era. Windjammers 2 is a well-polished game that feels like a true arcade game, warts and all, and is a wonderful recommendation for fans of one-on-one sports and fighting games alike.
Pros:
-Beautiful presentation
-Plenty of upgrades to the formula for a true sequel
-Fun gameplay once you “get it”
Cons:
-Lack of tutorial mode means it takes a lot to “get”
-Arcadey stylings means lack of storylines, modes
-Definitely more fun with more than one player
Special thanks to Dotemu for providing a code for review!