Summary
Toys and video games have crossed paths many times before, and the upcomingindie titleKnock Offwill feature action figures battling it out to see who is the toughest in the toy box. FromStreet FighterandMortal Kombatfigures to the newly announced crossover betweenSonic the HedgehogandTransformers, many video game characters have been released in plastic form over the years, and popular lines likeG.I. JoeandTransformershave been adapted into video games of varying quality.
Indie developer Mechaghidora previously announced its action figure-fighting game mash-upKnock Offearlier in 2024, with a free playable demo available on the game’sofficial website. The premise ofKnock Offharkens back to many gamers' childhoods, when kids played with their toys and created epic battles using their imagination.Knock Offturns this nostalgic concept into a 2D fighting game similar toStreet FighterandCapcom’s line ofVs. crossover titles, with a colorful cast of plastic playthings taking each other on using all manner of attacks and combos.
Earlier this week, a full trailer forKnock Offwas shown at the Latin American Games Showcase, an annual event dedicated to highlighting upcoming projects from developers in Latin American countries. This brief trailer showed off more ofKnock Off’s gameplay and cast of characters, all of which seem to be based on popular action figure characters of the 80s and 90s. As noted before, the 2D combat appears to borrow fromCapcom titles likeStreet Fighter, with players trading blows and outlandish special moves to see who can deplete their opponent’s health bar first.
Knock Off Combines Childhood Nostalgia with Street Fighter-like Combat
The old-fashioned fighting gameplay seems to fit well withKnock Off’s premise of recreating favorite childhood play sessions, and there is already a fun variety of characters to choose from. Tearing his way out of the box first is Kronan, an armored warrior similar to He-Man or futureMortal Kombat 1guest fighter Conan the Barbarian, who is seen challenging the reptilian Wolfgang. Rayzenger is a robot that wouldn’t be too out of place inGundamorMazinger Z, while Grimrot seems to take inspiration from Skeletor. Finally, Lockjaw is a sea monster, while Oozebite is some sort of ape-like mutant.
From the gameplay footage shown so far,Knock Offseems to run as smoothly asthe classic 2D fighting gamesit draws influence from, and its core idea is one that can resonate with many of the gamers from that era. Right now there is no set release date forKnock Off, but it will launch on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC via Steam.
