That works!

I hadn't seen any of the previous ones; when I saw the sketchbook I started to get worried. My fears were quickly banished by some good ole-fashioned pointless humor. While I haven't the foggiest idea what was going on, it still made me chuckle. The music fit perfectly; and the style was just terrific. I loved this, now I'm gonna hafta watch the rest of them!

Surprisingly fun

A simple game that turned out to be surprisingly fun, despite its simplicity. Definitely a good way to kill 5 or 10 minutes, though there's not much to play for once you beat 35 seconds. Still, you should give this fun little game a shot, if nothing else to get your reaction time.

Objectivity (and length) follows

Let me go on and talk about what I liked about this piece first.

The interface is slick and smooth, and the presentation is among the best I've had the pleasure of seeing. The ability to customize your fighter is also a welcome touch. All of the animations and effects were of extremely high quality, and the overall look of the game was awe-inspiring.

However, there were several things that, while they did not directly detract from the experience, were noticeably absent from the game. I never did figure out how to throw reliably. The combo system was likewise confusing, as it at first seemed like my combo was resetting prematurely, but then sometimes I'd just drop the last hit of the combo from a dead start. I figured out in short order what the guard meter was, but all of these little issues would have been removed from the outset if instructions were included.

I won't touch too much on the gameplay as its been hammered on enough in the few reviews I went through before playing. Hold A, win, repeat. I can appreciate how hard an effective AI is to write, so I don't hold that against you. However, my fighter felt sluggish while moving, and the lack of an ability to quickly change position (jump/dash/sidestep/etc) made me feel like I was playing Urban Champion again. This was reinforced by my extremely limited moveset; combo, guard, throw, inch forward or backward. The ability to say, toss out that jumping back kick whenever I wanted to, or to crouch or attack low on my opponent would have likewise been nice. If my opponent is just going to be a glorified punching bag, at least let me pound him with more style.

I still gave this overall high marks because it is an extremely well-presented and complete game, even if the game itself is lacking in things I personally find essential to a fighting game. With some more work on the substance to go with the style, you'd have a monstrous hit on your hands, I believe.