Not only is that the premise, it turns out to be a shockingly fun, totally addictive one. Of course, that’s partly because playing rock-paper-scissors is only the first thing you notice. Lucky Fighter is packing more of a punch than you might think at first glance. Literally.
It’s not RPS that will crown you or crush you in Lucky Fighter—this funny little game is really strategy disguised as action disguised as a puzzler. See, your hero faces off against a gang of 100 bullies, and they aren’t the type to settle things with reasonable conversation. Instead, it’s a slapping, punching, ass-kicking duel. Only it’s 100 such duels in a row.
Rock-paper-scissors is how you “roll” to determine who gets to land a blow. The villains line up for your beat-down (or to beat you down, depending on how “lucky” your fighter really is), and you tap the icon representing how you’ll throw down. Lose, get a punch in the nose. Win, land your own slap. But really, the RPS factor is secondary—it’s those three item slots on the lower right that will determine the final outcome.
That’s where the strategy aspect comes in. After all, you can’t really do much to affect your wins and losses in RPS against an AI. Lucky Fighter’s programming is not going to be taken in by the psych-outs you can pwn your little sister with. Your real goal here is for your HP to survive the onslaught. To earjn your Game Center bragging rights, you’ll have to make good use of the in-game special items. These give you the ability to peek ahead at opponents moves, recover hit points, and deploy your secret weapons, among other goodies. Your secret weapons are two ninja ringers that will come in and play for you for a while. And when you win, you can brag it out on Twitter or other social networks, and post a pic. Not some generic game still, either, but your own customized character against any background you can aim a camera at. You can insert your face over the character’s and pose the hero anywhere you want… there’s potential for some hilarious photos here, folks.
Lucky Fighter stands apart from the competition in another way. The art direction. It’s a gritty, comic book style that gives Lucky Fighter an entirely different vibe than most of the other casual games out there. And we’re talking indie alternative stuff, not Marvel. The bullies you’re up against are huge variety of freaks and thugs complete with multi-colored hair and fishnets and super creepy expressions. Somehow, this plays well with the cute stuff, making Lucky Fighter’s style serendipitously chaotic.
For only $0.99, Lucky Fighter doesn’t ask much of an investment, and this unique, addictive, fun little title deserves the chance to reel you in. It’s in the iTunes App Store right now!