CHIKARA: Action Arcade Wrestling PC Review

Get back into retro gaming in CHIKARA: Action Arcade Wrestling. In this indie retro game, you’ll go head to head in a One vs. One with a friend, all the way to a five vs. five matchup where all ten players will fight off to be the number one smackdown champion. With a small indie dev group over at VICO Game Studio releasing a 3D side angeled arcade game that will put your skills to the test during your world tours while becoming the best wrestler around. CHIKARA brings an exciting category back to life when it comes to arcade-style games on the computer. Having simple controls and a list to come features for the game, CHIKARA: Action Arcade Wrestling is the game to get if you want to go back in time with friends.

With such a small group of developers bringing us a game like CHIKARA that has a list to come game-modes and online support up to ten wrestlers at once, you know you’ll get the arcade wrestling feel that you’ve been waiting to see. I was able to get a sneak peek of CHIKARA at this years 2019 Twitchcon and got an in-depth look into their character customization system, and the list of combo moves you’re able to use with their current official list of thirty wrestlers. Each wrestler has their stats and the ability to learn over time with simple controls allowing the players to think before every move.

The developers over at VICO Game Studios wanted to push the release of CHIKARA to enable the players to be apart of their game with it’s; Wrestle factory creation suite. This free to play factory on Steam allows the players of CHIKARA to create their wrestle from the ground up to help not only the progress of the games wrestlers list but to get the full wresting experience. After playing only a few matches against the leading developers of CHIKARA, I was able to learn the controls fast and understand what is ahead of my wrestling career.

Gameplay

Your first match in CHIKARA may feel a bit wonky at first because you’re using simple controls, but rest assure that after you learn a few of your wrestler’s combo moves, you’ll be doing smackdowns left and right. With just about thirty official wrestlers in CHIKARA at this time and a free to play factory version of CHIKARA allowing you to make your wrestler being just the start of the game’s career, the arcade-style gameplay is what makes the game stand out to me. After being able to play the first hand at Twitchcon 2019, I was able to feel the simplicity of the game’s controls, which isn’t a bad thing, to learn all of the combos I need to take down my fellow foe that I’m about to smackdown. With a list of game-mode options allowing you to select if you want a basic one vs. one smackdown to a battle royal mode where all wrestlers in the cage must use combo’s to the bell to become the victor. CHIKARA has a lot of potentials if you’re into sitting back and having a good time in an arcade-style matchup.

Graphics & Sound

CHIKARA gives off a beautiful looking arcade arena that sets your camera from side to side while moving and sometimes top-down when pinning your foe. With not a whole lot of activity going on in the audience while wrestling, the world can seem the same between each of your matches, with the arena only changing a little bit each time. Still, once you’re able to get the hang of the different types of wrestlers and the combos you’re ready to use, you’ll be too busy pinning down each other. CHIKARA has about thirty official wrestlers already built into the game. With an infinite amount to come if you’re one of the players making your own in CHIKARA factory on steam, which gives the game a new look and feels each time around because of all the customizes looks the game developers have brought to us. The audience roaring sounds don’t makeup enough to put you in the singlets, but with the different types of moves and announcements that are made during your smackdowns in CHIKARA will make up for it.