Divekick Review

In an effort to bring in new players, recent fighting games have trended toward lower barriers to entry with easier controls and inputs. But how simple can a fighting game really be? That is the question in Divekick, One True Game Studios’ loving roast of the fighting game community.

Originally released in 2013, Divekick is a 2D fighting game that foregoes the traditional six button layout pioneered by Street Fighter in favor of two buttons: dive and kick. With no combos, counters, or quarter circles, Divekick’s laughably minimal approach to the 2D fighting genre results in a game that’s easily approachable by casual fans but offers a level of depth that will satisfy any fighting game veteran.

Gameplay

Divekick’s gameplay may seem simple at first glance, but make no mistake, Divekick is a fighting game through and through, with the same level of depth and strategy the genre is known for. Each character has a health bar at the top of the screen, but it’s just for show as one kick will kill.

Landing a kick will win you a round, and the first to win five rounds wins. The two buttons, dive and kick, offer more control than one might think. The dive button causes the character to jump straight up in the air and pressing the kick button while airborne sends the character back down at an angle with their signature divekick. Pressing “kick” on the ground doesn’t perform a traditional kick like other fighting games, but rather a kickback: a short hop backwards.

Each character has different properties for their dive and kick, changing the speed and height of the dive or the angle of the divekick. This all adds up to a tense one-versus-one showdown where a hasty button press can lead to a divekick in the face. Add in a special meter activated by pressing both buttons together, and a world of options opens up with each character having their own special moves.

To master the art of diving and kicking, one must know their opponent’s range, their abilities, their habits, predict their next move, bait them into making a mistake, control space, manage meter… and hey, what do you know, sounds like a real fighting game to me. Of course, with only two buttons casual players can jump in and have fun without needing strong fundamentals, but button mashing won’t always work against seasoned fighting game players, and that’s really who this game is really for.