Bounty Battle Reviews
Bounty Battle might be the most ambitious cross-over event in indie gaming history. It unites 22 indie games under one banner and has their heroes duke it out in Smash Bros-esque fashion. This project might have been too ambitious though as the touted story mode is missing, the existing single player content is mundane, the AI needs work and the fight stages lack variety. Still, the game looks first-rate and with friends, all the mechanics are there for a good night of scrappy indie combat.
Bounty Battle's core fighting mechanics doesn't feel very satisfying and the lack of story mode for a cross over like this, makes it even more disappointing. The only part that the actually achieves something of value is the graphics and the visual design, it's just sad that the rest of the game didn't get as much attention and the whole potential of a Smash inspired game for indies feels totally wasted.
Review in Persian | Read full review
With smoother action, a deeper story mode, and a little TLC, the game could evolve into a decent substitute for Smash Bros. Right now, though, it's simply not ready for center stage.
Bounty Battle is one of the very worst video games we've ever played. It's got an amazing premise, for sure, and Dark Screen Games' has somehow managed to procure the use of all of these fantastic indie characters, but that's as far as the positivity goes. Everything else about this appalling mess is absolutely broken. Janky menus, awful combat, a shocking framerate, crude animations and poorly explained mechanics leave this one in a hole that's surely impossible to climb out of; a hole that should be boarded up and forgotten about. If you're considering picking this one up on the strength of that enticing indie Smash Bros. premise, trust us, run away.
I am beyond disappointed. Bounty Battle has such a fantastic premise and such an amazing roster, but calling this half-baked doesn’t even scratch the surface of its issues. It looks bland, its sound department is mediocre at best, it features an underwhelming selection of modes, it’s a bit glitchy, and to top things off, its gameplay is just not fun.
To be perfectly honest, I could probably write another 1,000 words explaining just how hollow this experience is. When you figure you have a bland indie fighter, set in largely linear stages, that has, at best, three modes to play, it's not an attractive experience. Toss in stiff animations, extremely frustrating stages, underwhelming characters and it's hard to find something redeeming in Bounty Battle. Heck, I unlocked every costume and can only seemingly use them in one mode, which brings into question why even bother. The really unfortunate thing is, a lot of the problems can be fixed and likely was the goal when it got delayed sometime back but in its current state I struggle to find something positive to say and that is really unfortunate.
There's no doubt that making a game that's meant to compete with the likes of a juggernaut title from Nintendo is always going to be tough, and the likely results aren't going to live up against the massive team and budget the Big N put together...
A staggeringly inept attempt to clone Super Smash Bros. and populate it with indie characters, whose only achievement is to make you appreciate the real thing even more.
Bounty Battle is not the celebration of indie game culture that I was hoping for; it is an embarrassment that should have been delayed.
Bounty Battle is one of the coolest ideas for a game I've seen in some time, which is partly why I feel like part of my soul has been crushed. This game is an absolute mess. It's presentation is terrible, the character models are laughable, the systems are confusing, and it made me wonder half the time if my PC was broken. Given the rich roster of wonderful indie characters, this should have been a contender. Instead, this fighter's career is over before the bell even rang.
Bounty Battle is a disappointment through and through. On paper, its concept is fantastic; many players will be tricked into picking up the game so they can see their favourite indie characters in action. But in reality, it’s a mess that will only serve to disappoint.
Bounty Battle is a disappointment from start to finish. It completely squanders a sincerely impressive character roster with a mixture of convoluted gameplay and poor technical performance. If you're looking for indie Smash Bros., you're better off grabbing the Undertale and Cuphead costumes in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and making the Shovel Knight Assist Trophy the only item.
"Please slap my face."
Review in Finnish | Read full review
Bounty Battle is not the ultimate indie 2D fighter. It’s mediocre at best, with the only saving grace being its cast of familiar characters to freely use in training mode, a dope chiptune soundtrack, and decent simple level design. However, I do believe this 2D fighter has the potential to shine with a little more polish and added features.
Sadly, Bounty Battle plays about as well as it looks. The goal is to empty the health bar of your enemies, but character animations are so basic and stunted that it's near impossible to tell what's going on — especially during three or four player fights. The controls are responsive enough, but the release is riddled with stuttering issues on PS4 — combat just never feels smooth, and that's a nail in the coffin of any fighting game.
The proposal to join characters from other indie titles is noble, but its execution is terrible. With poor gameplay and performance issues, Bounty Battle is far from living up to its potential. Unfortunately, it was not this time that we saw the main heroes of the independent developer scene shining together in a fighting game.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Bounty Battle is offensively poor. An impressive selection of beloved indie characters are paraded around with none of the charms that their independent games have. I never thought I’d miss the cold, calculated way AAA equivalents are designed to make me part with my money, but I’d take a thousand carefully planned cash grabs over this staggeringly inept Smash Bros. clone. I don’t say that the game is almost unplayable flippantly. The sheer disappointment I felt playing this game was almost worse than the horrendous controls and the lack of gameplay options.
Bounty Battle's character roster is the only thing it has going for it as everything else comes across like a school project gone wrong.
Bounty battle is great on paper, a great casto ut of the very best indies, unfortunately it doesn’t reach it’s potential due to limited engine, poor interface and clumsy gameplay.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
From what I can tell from the excellently animated introduction, Bounty Battle brings a whole host of iconic Indie stars into battle. A strange portal appears in each of their worlds, dragging our heroes into a void and bringing them to another world entirely. There, a bounty is placed on each of their heads, and each character must fight to claim the bounties on each other.