One step closer to the edge…
Following the incredible global success of Capcom’ Street Fighter II, it didn’t take any time at all before the market was awash in one-on-one fighters, fast eclipsing the scrolling beat-’em-ups and shmups that had dominated the scene leading into the 1990s. All of a sudden, seemingly every developer pivoted to competitive fisticuffs, with seemingly hundreds of Street Fighter-alikes hitting arcade centers — many featuring developers, IPs, and characters that seemingly came out of thin air.
And while a few of these releases would carve out a piece of the pugilistic pie for themselves — such as Mortal Kombat, Fatal Fury, and eventually The King of Fighters, there was a whole wave of titles that fell by the wayside. In most cases, this came down to the games being poorly produced, uninspired, or just plain bad, or the game itself being perfectly fine games, but there simply not being enough room in the market for the little guys. After all, if you are the proprietor of an arcade center and had an empty space in the corner, are you putting in Mortal Kombat II or World Heroes 2?
Breakers had a lot working against it. Not only was it an unknown IP from an exceptionally unknown developer (Visco Corporation), but it also stepped into the ring very late in the game, hitting the scene in 1996. By this point, most fight fans had adopted the 3D visuals of Tekken and Virtua Fighter, while 2D games had pushed into the realms of gems such as Street Fighter Zero 2 and The King of Fighters ’97. By comparison, Breakers seemed almost five years too late, and — in many ways — it was.
But something strange has been happening in the FGC lately. Players have been looking to the past for games that might have escaped the spotlight, titles that were released way before their time, or just the unsung heroes that have long resided in the Where Are They Now? file. And, somehow, in some way, Breakers has found itself plucked from decades of obscurity and returned to the underground competitive scene, powered by word-of-mouth, grass-roots establishment, and a quirky desire by die-hard players to walk the path of the warrior less traveled.
And so, some 25 years on from its quiet, forgotten release, Breakers is picking itself up off the canvas, and challenging the entire FGC to one more round. Stranger things indeed…
Breakers Collection (PlayStation [PS5 reviewed], PC, Xbox, Nintendo Switch)
Developer: QUByte Interactive
Publisher: QUByte Interactive
Released: January 12, 2022
MSRP: $19.99
Developed and published by Brazilian outfit QUByte Interactive, Breakers Collection is compiled of two mildly-different releases: Breakers (1996) and its remixed and readjusted follow-up, Breakers Revenge (1998). For those less inclined, think of Revenge as “Super Breakers” in regards to its actual status as a sequel. Perhaps the most well-known of Visco Corporation’s wares, Breakers very closely follows in the footsteps of Street Fighter II and its contemporaries, with players squaring off in 2D, one-on-one, best-of-three fashion. Gameplay-wise, however, Breakers is more similar to SNK’s Fatal Fury series.
The story, of what there is, concerns the Fighting Instinct Tournament, or F.I.S.T. tournament. The narrative does not, in fact, tell the tale of Sylvester Stallone forming a trucker’s union, but retreads the well-worn road of a deadly martial-arts tournament hosted by a mysterious benefactor. The winner of the F.I.S.T. will face the host and hopefully win riches beyond their wildest dreams — though each of the combatants has his or her own reason to face down the supernaturally-skilled head honcho.
And thus, the player chooses one of 10 unique combatants and embarks on a string of globe-trotting fist-flinging brawls, utilizing their chosen character’s bespoke fighting abilities and mastery of the spiritual arts in order to prove themselves the strongest warrior in the world, and the undisputed F.I.S.T. champion. It’s nothing new, and that’s fine.
The simple pleasures
From a gameplay standpoint, Breakers is surprisingly gimmick-free, given its late-’90s vintage. The fighter utilizes a four-button system, with the addition of throws, special moves, and multiple supers. Movement plays a big part in Breakers, with dashes and backsteps covering much ground, and an ability to reposition oneself when floored. There are no universal air dashes, double-jumps, parries, or even Fatal Fury-style “evades”. In fact, at first glance, Breakers seems frankly bland in its systems, especially when compared to the range of fighters available in ’95-’96.
But the joys of Breakers and Breakers Revenge lie within this simplicity. With a varied cast of characters, high-damage attacks, and smooth, if deliberate action, Breakers might not be the most option-filled scrapper on the block but, despite its stripped-down nature, it’s just a hell of a lot of fun. Breakers has the all-encompassing “X” factor that makes its gameplay both engaging and satisfying, in much the same way that Super Street Fighter II Turbo remains a riot to this day, despite its vintage.
Breakers meter system rewards players for smart defensive and offensive play, allowing the fighter to build up multiple Super moves in a row. A typical combo will see a normal canceled into a special, which can be canceled into a Super — However, should the player have more than one super, then Supers can be canceled into themselves for ridiculous damage, accompanied by explosive visuals.
Juggling also plays a huge part in Breakers, with full special-to-super combos being applicable to almost any falling opponent. Juggling is one of the keys to victory in Breakers, clearing passage to perhaps the fighter’s optimal damage. While there is no strict “combo breaking” tool for those on the business end of a powerful combo, Breakers has its own mechanic for top-tier play. Known to the community as “Breakering”, this system allows a fighter to leave blockstun early provided they know the exact gaps in their opponent’s chain. It is a combination of mete-management, juggle optimization and Breakering knowledge that forms the core of the fighter’s depth
Haven’t I seen you somewhere before..?
Aesthetically, Breakers is a delightfully retro-looking, if admittedly dated title. And that’s not “2022” dated, Breakers was already looking its age on launch day. This is somewhat balanced out with fun character designs and loud, colorful stages, as well as some splendid special effects. Every member of Breakers’ wild roster is suspiciously familiar, but each combatant is viable and fun to play, whether you lean towards the flamboyant Pielle Montario, the rubber-limbed Alsion III, or the Flashdance-looking-ass of Tia Langray — who is essentially what happens when Chun-Li, Ken, and Sakura fall into the pod from The Fly. My personal favorite has always been the Amazonian wild-woman Rila. Beast Goes Rawr.
A fun side-note, all mirror match characters, despite being typical pallete swaps, have their own names and backstories. An absolutely baffling, but very funny feature that is perhaps unique to Breakers.
For Breakers Collection, QUByte Interactive has, within its small team limitations, attempted to deliver as solid a package as it is able. Breakers and Breakers Revenge both feature their standard Arcade Modes and Online Vs. battles, as well as an all-new two-on-two tag feature. A brilliant “smart replay” feature allows players to interrupt the playback to experiment with other options. This is a fantastic tool, and hopefully will be making an appearance in future fighters. A Training Mode is included, which features hitbox, input, and damage data displays, as well as recording slots. Frustratingly, however, it does not appear to have a 1-hit-block stance for its CPU dummy, which is a necessity.
While the servers were not live at the time of writing, My experience with the recent beta found slick online and clean connectivity. QUbyte understands that the key audience for Breakers Collection is its dedicated competitive community, and has thus ensured that this release is up to snuff in regards to its online options. Breakers Collection utilizes rollback netcode and supports crossplay on all platforms — a key feature in grouping together the games’ audience. Player lobbies and a spectator mode are also on deck, as are custom player profiles and leaderboards, further encouraging community engagement.
I didn’t hear no bell…
Breakers Collection is, admittedly, a title produced with a specific audience in mind — namely the tightly-held Breakers fan community, which has, for many years, been forced to go down the path of emulation, arcade hardware, or Neo-Geo locals in order to play these off-radar releases.
For die-hard Breakers, this new collection absolutely delivers — offering a polished accessible format with which to play their favorite scrappers with like-minded fans from all over the world. Importantly, Breakers Collection also offers a forgotten classic its first real exposure to a global audience in decades — and at a relatively modest price point. This will hopefully help the aforementioned community to grow, assuming that new players are willing to take the chance.
Breakers Collection offers veteran fans and newcomers alike the opportunity to relive one of the finest entries from myriad Street Fighter II clones, brought bang-up-to-date with modern rollback netcode, crossplay support, and polished gameplay. While first-timers may be initially taken aback by its deceiving simplicity, Breakers remains a fun, exciting, and compelling scrapper, deserving of its unpredictable resurgence in the modern fighting game scene. Breakers may have dated somewhat over the past 25 years, but solid scrappin’, much like Tia’s legwarmers, never goes out of style.
[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]
