Blood Fighters Impressions

If you like Street Fighter 2 or Marvel vs. Capcom, you’re probably going to love Gameloft’s Blood Fighters. This 2D fighter has all the hallmarks of a Gameloft product, from gorgeously drawn, abundant sprites to facile gameplay. It even includes a simple combo engine, one of the first for mobile fighting titles.

Blood Fighters puts two of eight weapon-toting warriors into one of six battle locations and lets them wail the snot out of each other. This looks to be exactly as much fun as it should be, thanks to Gameloft’s uncomplicated control scheme. All you have to do to pull a killer combo is hit a two-button sequence, like “5, 6, 5,” and your armor-clad fighter will automatically turn his opponent’s spinal column into a xylophone. Plus, there’s a special charge meter you can use to pull off some really crazy attacks--none of which we had a chance to witness, unfortunately.

Blood Fighters is due out in Q2 2004.