Kizuna Encounter Super Tag Battle Feels Light In All The Best Ways

Tag Fighters are weird, man. Like, nowadays, a lot of tag fighters tend to follow the natural selection of traits that have been proven to succeed: Some form of active tag, a focus on air combos, big rosters. At all times you can smell the presence of either Marvel vs Capcom 2 or Blazblue Cross Tag Battle. 

Yet, with the re release of Kizuna Encounter Super Tag Battle, you can now go back to a time where that wasn't necessarily the case. Kizuna Encounter feels very much like a bizarre proto mesh of all the things SNK would later become known for- specifically in really fun and cool ways. 

Title: Kizuna Encounter: Super Tag Battle

Developer: Code Mystics

Publisher: SNK

Platforms: PC

The Joy Of Proto SNK

One of the things I'd immediately noticed playing Kizuna Encounter was just how un-SNK the controls feel. To me, SNK controls are dogmatically bound to the 4-button layout that Fatal Fury uses. Combo structure is also tied to it- two jabs followed by a special move, old reliable. Even if that's not necessarily how the game wants you to play, it always works just enough to get you progress. 

Yet, here that's not so much the case. The combo system feels much more akin to anime fighters, letting you chain between Punch, Kick and Weapon attacks. Heck, I'd believe it if you said that Guilty Gear got its initial inspirations from Kizuna Encounter- the combo structure feels that identical. 

In fact, it's to the point that despite the title, the game isn't a tag fighter in the traditional sense. The universal law of "call assist and jump" doesn't apply here because you're literally more about tagging out your characters than assists. Instead, you want to be switching characters as more of a means of survival. You don't have to manage a barrage of characters on the screen anymore- instead it's about controlling the fight so that if you're getting low on health, you can retreat to your "tag area" and call in a second body to swap health bars with. 

It's so weird because you keep seeing all these cool and unique ideas showing up- weapon dropping from Samurai Shodown is here, punishing you for wasting special moves. Similarly, Fatal Fury's line system is also somewhat present, letting you sidestep or even cross up characters- a necessity when control of your tag area is so important. 

Combine that with its other more specific quirks, like rewards for choosing certain teams in the form of Surprise Attacks or the proximity grabs and you've got yourself a very unique break from the typical SNK formula. 

Kizuna Encounter Super Tag Battle Verdict

If you're an SNK fan and like seeing some of the series best mechanics come together, you owe it to yourself to check out Kizuna Encounter Super Tag Battle. The new release has a lot of fun modes, like up to 4 player versus for those couples who insist on doing everything together as well as a training mode for labbing some optimal King Lion setups.

Admittedly if you're viewing this as a tag fighter, the roster may seem a little small. By modern standards, the roster is closer to 2XKO than Marvel Vs Capcom. 

Despite that, it makes up for it with some of the most gorgeous character design in any fighting game. I mean, half this roster look like Fist of the North Star characters, a high praise for any fighting game. Seriously, if you want some classic arcade action, check this one out. 

Game reviewed on PC. Review code provided by SNK