Combo Crew is a beat-em-up inspired by 90s hits like Final Fight and Streets of Rage, except it lacks a d-pad and buttons. Instead, you perform various finger swipes to punch and kick the plethora of goons crowding the screen, and as the title implies, achieving combos is the best way to dispose of your enemies. A novel concept, but here's the thing. Despite The Game Bakers' best efforts, we developed wrist fatigue in roughly 30 minutes of play. Suddenly, the lack of a d-pad became more of a hindrance than benefit.
Combat reminds us of the recent Batman console games in the sense that your character quickly moves between bad guys via simplistic gestures. What it lacks is an effective countering system, with the result cheap hits and even worse, unfair deaths. You'll know an enemy is about to attack given the exclamation point above its head, but responding effectively and in the quickest time possible is hit or miss.
That doesn't bother us as much as the touch controls. Rapid swipes only increase alongside the number of thugs, and quite frankly, the appeal of doing this with two fingers to kickstart combos grew old within minutes. Maybe it's more of a personal preference, but mashing buttons the old-fashioned way sounds more appealing; you can also switch to an "all thumbs" mode, but we found it to be less effective.
There is, however, a solid foundation in place for a quality experience. Combo Crew has four playable characters with unique movesets, and users customize their brawlers' attacks as they progress. The title also comes with a slew of Boosters and Perks that grant that all-important edge, from a burger that replenishes a fighter's health to a green chili that refills the Super Combo gauge; prepare for lots of grinding to afford these items. There's also light social integration, where players can call on their friends and vice versa to save them in battle.
These features notwithstanding, the brawling still needs work, or at the very least a virtual d-pad. We understand The Game Bakers' vision with Combo Crew, but the initial game requires some tweaks to become special. For now, it lags behind those old school beat-em-ups it tries so hard to emulate.
Review code provided by The Game Bakers.
Download Combo Crew: iOS|Android
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