NIS America and SNK have teamed up to create a fanservice fighter that checks all the right boxes if you’re into ecchi-based brawling. If you are a fan of SNK’s roster of female fighters and don’t mind seeing them objectified in a fighting game, SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy is a game you should consider picking up.
SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy features a standard range of modes to choose from such as Story, Versus and Online. The Story Mode, while quite short, is worth playing through for the unlocks. Players will choose their tag team which consists of one primary attacker and a backup supporter. This tag team will face off against other SNK tag team heroines trapped in an alternate dimension where the story takes place. The evil mastermind behind the alternate dimension is a shady character known as Kukri, and while he seems to be absolutely crazy, his character is in reality quite laughable. That said, the story itself is almost non-existent anyway so Kukri’s schemes serve as a basic plot device at best.
Playing through the story means you will unlock various things throughout based on your success in battle. These unlocks can be cutscenes, ending videos, sound bite, and credits which can be used to buy cosmetic items for your characters.
The gameplay in SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy is fairly basic when it comes to fighting games but is still quite enjoyable. Light and heavy attacks are easy to pull off and can be combined for some serious damage to an opponent. A Special meter is charged up as the battle goes on and this is the key to victory. Triggering a special attack move is the only way to win. Your opponents overall HP can be reduced down to zero but victory lies in pulling off a special attack which serves as a finishing move. These special attacks are generally quite flashy but they do get old quite fast. Especially when the only way to end a battle is via the special attacks your characters use.
The character selection is not as varied as one would expect but the range is adequate given that these are only SNK heroines. Fan favourites such as Mai Shiranui from King of Fighters and a gender-swapped Terry Bogard are featured along with numerous other notable SNK heroines. Thankfully, NIS America and SNK opted to not follow in the footsteps of other fighting games recently and are not going to split their game’s community with DLC characters.
The Japanese voice acting is great and thankfully, the game’s soundtrack features some adrenaline pumping arcade-esque music to do battle too. There’s also a great upbeat jpop ending theme to round off the package once you’ve finished the story mode. Graphically, SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy would have benefited greatly if the game stuck with 2D anime graphics throughout. If a game like Dragonball Fighter Z can pull it off, so could this. Instead, gamers will be left with 3D models of their favourite SNK heroines that don’t look as crisp or beautiful as the 2D images used elsewhere in the game. The game isn’t exactly an eye sore but sticking with the gorgeous 2D anime aesthetic would have been a better choice.
Overall, SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy is a blatant fan service orientated fighting game. The combat is simple but enjoyable and the story mode is worth playing through to view the ending cutscenes. The character customization with accessories, outfits, and colours is a nice touch and even though the game is clearly aimed at a specific niche audience, it is fun. If you can look past the short story mode and the shallow nature of the game itself, you’ll enjoy this fighting game until you get bored and move onto something else with more substance.
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