
It also adds power-ups: periodically a floating goal will appear at the top of the screen that will gobble up the ball and spit it out in a different form. And don’t worry, if you smash the ball, your opponent still goes down in one shot. Here, if it’s moving slowly, it’ll just take a slice off your health bar, so you’re more likely to get up to high speeds. In the original, you’d get knocked out if the ball touched you no matter how fast it was travelling. The addition of a health bar is a masterstroke. Blaze makes three major additions: two that I love, and one that I’m not so sure of. If you were good at the original, you’ll still be good at this, but it’s not mechanically identical. Things get pretty fast in Lethal League Blaze
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The community are already discussing advanced moves and producing guides on how to improve. Mix all of this together, throw in some mind games, double jumps and dodges, and you have plenty to learn if you want to climb the online leaderboards. They, on the other hand, can counter that steal by parrying, which creates a forcefield around the ball, stunning anyone trying to touch it. You can also steal the ball right off your opponent’s bat/skateboard/giant fist (the cast are a varied bunch) by swinging in the same spot as them just as they release the ball. For example, the smiley Candyman can phase the ball through the arena’s walls so it goes off one side of your screen and comes back on the other. You can grab three friends that have never played before and have a good time in a free-for-all match, but it’s deceptively tough to master: you could play 50 hours and still get mashed by online opponents.Įach of the 13 characters, three of whom are new, have a special ability, and you’ll have to learn when to use them. Nailing a ball that’s pinging wildly around the screen and watching the game react with flashing lights and special effects is a fantastic feeling, and with each hit the tension grows. The trick is to judge when – and where – your opponent will hit it, and swing a millisecond early to ensure you make contact.


When you hit a fast-moving ball, your character freezes for a moment, and a bar at the bottom of the screen tells you when the ball will start moving again. The joy of playing Lethal League is in mastering the timing of these simple actions. You can also bunt – which kills the speed of the ball temporarily, popping it up in the air to make it easier to hit – or grab it mid-air to fling it forward. It has no complex button combos to remember: you just get near the ball and swing away, changing the angle of your strike by jumping or aiming with the left stick. If you’re a newcomer, you’ll get the hang of it in minutes. It’s just a shame that Blaze’s peripheries don’t match up to the core action: the tutorial is half-baked, the computer AI is too easy, and single-player modes feel like an afterthought.įighting has an abstract feel as you fight against the ball rather than each other The formula is the same here, but the small changes – the new 2.5D visuals, the funky soundtrack and some mechanical twists – make matches even more frantic and enjoyable.

It’s the sequel to 2014’s Lethal League, which introduced this bizarre fusion of baseball and Street Fighter. So as long as someone else is in control, you’re in danger of getting KO-d.
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Only the last player to hit the ball is immune to damage if it touches them. You and up to three opponents swat a ball around an enclosed arena, and every time you hit it, it gains speed. Part fighting game, part future sport, Lethal League Blaze is pure brilliance. So yes, Lethal League Blaze can always go faster. The boom grows louder, colours meld into a psychedelic haze and that streak of white, now impossibly quick, slams into the side of your character’s head, bouncing them off-screen. It’s usually when somebody swings so hard that an echoing boom shakes the ground, the entire arena turns red and the ball streaks away, a blur.Īnd then, somehow, another player will perfectly time their own strike, catching the streak of white mid-flight. There will come a point in your first competitive Lethal League Blaze match where you’ll think the ball can’t possibly go any faster.
