Overview – developed by MrPr1993 and published by Shady Corner Games, Dancin’ Divas is a retro styled brawler inspired by the classics of the genre. As one of four tough as nails cabaret singers, set out to reclaim your treasures from the mysterious moustachioed villain Van Bad, while causing chaos along the way. This title is available exclusively for the Steam service, with a link to the game at the bottom of this review.
Disclaimer: before I get into the review, I would like to thank the rep at Shady Corner Games for providing Dancin’ Divas for this piece, via the Keymailer Service. The provision of this software has not influenced the contents of this review, all thoughts and opinions contained within are my own.
Now with the introductions out of the way, let’s get into the review, starting with the story. I will only be covering the game from a single player perspective. Please note, I was given the chance to play and playtest an early version of the game, with my name in the credits. So I will not be giving the game a score at the end of the review.
Story – four songstresses from across the world have come together, ready to perform their greatest show ever at the Beat St. Club. With them, they brought their greatest treasures, which catches the attention of the mysterious Van Bad who wants them for himself. While at the club, the divas are attacked by the minions of VanBad, who steal their treasures and run off. Enraged, the Divas set off to get their treasures back.
Gameplay – Dancin’ Divas is a scrolling brawler, in the style of genre classics from Konami, Capcom and SEGA, with the ability to play solo or with up to 3 friends. At the start of the game, the player will need to select the difficulty they want to challenge the game on. Each of the options that can be selected affect the experience, with more lives and credits available at lower settings. at higher settings, the game will be significantly more challenging.
After selecting the difficulty, the player will select the save slot, which records progress then go into the character select screen. Here the player can select their character from the four Divas, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. Each of the characters share three stats, separated into Power, Speed and Reach, which affects how they handle during the battles across the game. The Divas that the player can select from are as follows;
- Viva – the blonde bombshell in blue from Las Vegas, who is the most balanced of the fighters, she can harness the power of Lightning and rapid blows to take out hostiles. The perfect choice for players of all skill levels and play styles.
- Hina – the red head in the red dress who hails from Japan, she has mystical powers that allow her to stretch her limbs, giving her an extended reach to take down her enemies. She can breathe fire, as well as summon a mighty dragon to reduce those in her way down to ashes.
- Bahati – the powerhouse from Nigeria clad in bright yellow, this crooner is deceptively agile for her size, while also using her raw strength to slam her foes into the ground. She can shake the ground with her power, with mother earth aiding her in her battles.
- Sofia – the feisty latina from Mexico in a fetching green outfit, who is the fastest of the four and able to quickly dispatch of those who come up against her. She harnesses the power of the winds itself, creating tornadoes and hurricanes to blow away the opposition.
Once the player(s) select their character, the game will start with a cutscene, setting up the action of the adventure and kicking the game off at stage 1. This is a roaming brawler, so the player will be able to move in 8 directions, as enemies will start to fill the screen. When the enemies gets within range, the player will be able to use their standard attack to fight them, with the ability to chain together several strikes at once.
The enemies will have varying amounts of health, with smaller enemies needing less damage to kill, while appearing in higher numbers. This makes them just as deadly as the larger foes, who take a considerable amount of hits to defeat. The heavy foes hit much harder, dealing big damage, but the smaller opponents will swarm players chipping away at their health quickly. Thankfully, the characters have skills that can make it easier to deal with them.
All characters have a charge attack that is related to their powers, which is done by holding down the attack button until they glow. Once they start to shimmer, releasing attack will unleash the powerful attack. But be careful as enemies will be able to interrupt the charge, with any damage cancelling it out. The charge attacks are related to the power of the elemental power that the character uses, hitting several foes at once.
Alongside the standard combos and strikes, there are several power attacks that the player can unleash for their Diva. There are several jump attacks, which can be used to dodge enemies, while also knocking them down. Then there are the input attacks, with each of them having special qualities, like Viva having a flying uppercut and Hina having a bounce attack. These unique moves can really expand the chaos in the stages.
Then we get the special attacks which are tied to the powers of the Divas, but they come at a cost. There are special power attacks that the player can use with lightning strikes, wind blasts and more, but they will use up the health of the Divas. These powers come in useful against all foes, but can be risky, so use them sparingly. If these attacks are overused, the player will become vulnerable to the point that one attack will kill them.
Last are the Showtime super moves, which devastate all enemies on screen, especially against the super powerful opponents. To use these attacks, the player will need to charge up the Showtime bar, which is below the health bar. This is charged by damaging the enemies and can be filled by taking damage. When this move is used, a special animation will play out, including a lightning storm and even a fire breathing dragon being summoned.
Throughout the stages, there will be boxes and structures that can be destroyed, with many of them dropping items that can be used. The various items that can be found include healing items, which will restore varying amounts of health when picked up. But the most important are the weapons, which can be used a limited amount of time before being thrown away. There will also be weapons that can be dropped by enemies, including several projectile weapons.
At the end of each stage and at points during them, the player will encounter powerful main and sub bosses. These battles will push the player to their limit, as they will use big powerful attacks that will hurt the player a lot. The bosses will also summon minions, which will support them and try to kill the player quickly. In some stages, there will also be more than one boss for the player to fight, putting them in even more danger during the encounter.
When the boss is defeated, there will be a cutscene that plays out, pushing the story along with the Divas. During these sections, there will be three selections that the player can choose from. This is where the branching paths for the game come into play, as each of the choices that the player selects will lead to a different stage for them. By choosing different branches, the player will be able to make each playthrough unique.
If the player runs out of lives, they will need to continue using up one of their limited credits. When continuing, they will get to change their character and be able to keep playing. If the player doesn’t have any credits left, they will be sent back to the main menu and need to load their save to get back into the action. If the player wants to try a different route, they can delete the save and start over from the beginning.
When the game ends, either through running out of credits or by clearing the game, the player will earn money. This money can be used in the shop, which will allow players to unlock various new features, like new color pallets and gallery items. But there is more than that, with cheats that make the game easier, special unlockable features and more. Players can even unlock special single and multiplayer content, including minigames that appear during arcade mode.
Any of the stages that have been cleared will appear in the stage select, where the player will be able to play them individually. This will give the player a chance to play through them to get the best score, earning additional funds when playing through them. There are also several multiplayer modes for players to enjoy, but I was not able to test these out.
Now with the gameplay covered, it is time to discuss the other aspects of this game, starting with the controls.
Controls – this game has an easy to pick up control system, with only four buttons needed for the player to get into the action. The attack, jump and special moves are all on the face buttons, making them easy for players to use. There are additional inputs for players to use, giving the player a taunt move and back attack. The game supports keyboard and controller, with the ability to modify them freely to fit the input players are using.
Difficulty – from a difficulty perspective, this is pretty well balanced for the most part, with the challenge gradually increasing as the game progresses. There are some unfortunate difficulty spikes, which usually occur when the bosses or super heavy enemies attack. Luckily the difficulty settings that are chosen at the start can make this more manageable for players, with the unlockable cheats further easing the difficulty.
Presentation – Dancin’ Divas is a true love letter to the 2D brawler, with excellent sprite work for the characters, enemies and environments, which pop with color throughout. The cutscenes and set pieces are also done well, pushing the narrative forward, with highly detailed cinematics and animations. Last is the sound, which contains midi tracks that enhance the experience, as well as voice work from many talented independent voice actors.
Final Thoughts – having followed the development of Dancin’ Divas, being able to try the early playtests and give feedback during the early stages, I was excited to play the full game. I am happy to say that excitement was not misplaced, as the game has significantly expanded from that snippet I played long ago. The combat is fun and frantic, with the ridiculous expressions of the enemies, with the exaggerated cartoon villains that appear.
This is a true love letter to the genre, with many references to other games, alongside filters/frames which make it look like a classic arcade game. There are also dozens of cameos from fan characters, as well as collaborations with publisher Shady Corner Games. I even have my mascot appearing in part of the game, which was a surprise when I saw it and made me happy. I feel that everyone who is looking for a fun brawler should check it out.
Dancin’ Divas is one of those rare games, which doesn’t try to do too much and overstay its welcome. It has that timeless quality, which makes it feel like it could have come out at any time, lacking things like references to pop culture, which often make games feel dated. If you want to check it out for yourself, a link to the game will be below.
Link to Steam version (HERE)
W.Kohaku Media 