It could be seen as a little unfair to put a free flash game up in the same list as games with multimillion dollar budgets. Flash games are generally pretty simple affairs involving at most a few people; studio-produced games can take years and a lot of man hours before they see the light of day. But at the end of the day the key question that links a free flash game and a full price AAA release is: is it fun?
Electric Man 2 is a flash game with a pretty simple idea - you take your Electric Man (with some customisation available) through a fighting tournament until you become the champion. There are two sets of attacks - the basic punch, combo, kick and throw and a powerful 'slow mo' version of each - and a dodge that you use to fight increasingly numerous and tougher opponents. Your ability to use slow mo attacks (and for those of you having Matrix spasms - it's not that bad) is determined by a constantly recharging 'battery' that stops you from spamming the more powerful versions of your attacks.
And that's it. If you've played a 2D fighter in your life, you'll know the basics. Where Electric Man 2 excels is in the execution. Your attacks are contextual - if you are running and hit the kick button, you'll do a jump kick or slide. Opponents either side will see you attack each direction. Choosing when to do a slow mo attack takes on increasing importance as you advance through the levels and it ability to forcibly kick / throw your opponents into the walls of the 'arena' doesn't wear out its welcome.
Yes, Electric Man 2 is limited and if you were to stack it up against the latest AAA fighter, it doesn't have the same range of features. But for the 30-odd minutes it takes you to play through it, it's a fun game that shows a very polished simplicity.
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Rating: Play It (
here)
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