Skullgirls 2nd Encore

Round one: the first night

Skullgirls has 17 tutorial lessons, and they teach the genre: blocking high and low, throws, combos, frame data in plain words. Many players who now play other games started here. Story mode is fully voiced with a short arc for every fighter, and there are Arcade, Survival, Challenge and Trials modes too.

The art is the other reason to look. Every animation is hand-drawn, with a 1940s cartoon look and a jazz soundtrack.

Seventeen tutorial lessons that teach you fighting games, not just Skullgirls.

Round two: online

It was one of the first fighters with rollback netcode, through GGPO, and matches still feel good. The player base on PC is small but dedicated, and the game is cheap enough that it is easy to bring a friend.

There is no crossplay, and the developers' troubles since 2020 mean updates are slow.

Round three: depth

The ratio system lets you pick one strong fighter, two medium ones or three weaker ones, with custom assists for each. It makes team-building creative in a way few games manage. The anti-infinite system stops endless combos, which keeps matches fair.

Eighteen fighters is a small cast, but each one is very different, from Filia's living hair to Big Band, a man made of brass instruments.

Round four: the bill

The game is £19.49 on Steam UK and the Season 1 Pass £27.79, so the full cast is about £47. Both are regularly cut by well over half in the big Steam sales, which is the time to buy.

There is nothing else to buy apart from a soundtrack and an art book.

The Season 1 Pass holds Annie, Umbrella, Black Dahlia and Marie, each also sold alone. No second season has been announced.

Who to pick first

Before your first ranked match

1. Do all 17 tutorial lessons. They take about an hour and help in every fighting game.
2. Start with a team of two. One strong fighter and one assist is easier to manage than three.
3. Learn one assist that covers your approach, then build your plan around it.

Is it for you?