While it would be more than fair to say that we here at iFanzine already loved the amazing iOS based beat’em up Combo Crew (our review), the amazing people over at The Game Bakers recently went and did something no one would ever hare dare expect in a thousand years. They somehow licensed the rights to use Viewtiful Joe, the lead hero from the cult-hit game series of the same name, and included him as a fully playable character in Combo Crew! Now players everywhere can add Joe – and his repertoire of viewtiful techniques – to their beat down cadre for a mere $1.99, a completely reasonable sum when you consider that such a feat surely wasn’t cheap for The Game Bakers to pull off.
On the matter of Joe’s addition, The Game Bakers’ creative director Emeric Thoa had this to say:
Capcom games had a huge impact on my generation and on me personally, as gamer and designer. If I’m perfectly candid about this, Viewtiful Joe is one of many games, along with God Hand, Final Fight or Street Fighter, that have influenced our direction. Many new-gen indie developers have their classics at heart; to get the chance to pay due tributes to a hero of your youth is a true bliss. We’re so grateful to Capcom for letting Joe fight along the Combo Crew cast.
I can assure you that everyone over here at iFanzine is also glad that Capcom let Joe in on the Combo Crew cast, for the scarfed hero hasn’t appeared in a proper beat’em up since 2005’s Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble for the DS.
Of course, they didn’t stop there and also added – completely free of charge – the one and only Lester Knight Chaykin from Eric Chahi’s Another World (or Out of This World as it used to be known in the US). I know what you’re probably thinking in response to this: since when was Another World – or Lester Knight Chaykin, and his primarily blaster driven antics – ever something that belonged to the beat’em up genre?! I will personally assure you all that he actually makes for a wonderful addition, and his various moves – such as his charged attack – are all filled to the brim with references to the original adventure game.
Beyond that – which is already a lot – Combo Crew has furthermore added a variety of other features that did not yet exist when we originally covered the title, all of which are awesome. Chief among these are an additional five levels to the game’s story based Tower-Mode – culminating in the ultimate defeat of Mr. Boss once and for all – as well as the addition of special objectives to each of the story based stages. Where as extra moves were originally unlocked merely by completing Combo Crew’s story mode, these new challenges – asking players to do things such as finishing the stage via a super combo – really mix things up and keep the experience fresher for longer.
Furthermore, I want to report that the setup of Combo Crew’s call on a friend option – which we previously declared to be awkward to use – actually makes far more sense when you realize it allows for cross platform play. Not many mobile games on the iOS will ever let you call upon your Android using buddies to help you out, and The Game Bakers actually deserve a medal for successfully implementing such rarely seen functionality. The fine folks over at The Game Bakers – when it comes to making engaging mobile experiences – are truly well within a class all by themselves, and we eagerly look forward to whatever they might be baking up next.