Fighting game enthusiast Adam Heart has been touring expos with his pet project DiveKick for some time now. Due to overwhelmingly positive feedback and a growing fanbase, the Chicago developer has decided to take the game that started out as a parody to Kickstarter for a month of crowdsourced fundraising.
Heart is a writer for fighting game blog Shoryuken, as well as the director of the Ultimate Fighting Game Tournament Series (UFGT), an annual gaming event hosted in Chicago. The creator admits that DiveKick was originally conceived to parody the gameplay of the fighting genre, but quickly became a much more intricate game.
“DiveKick is a game born from humor, but the grip it will have on you after you try it is no joke,” reads the Kickstarter page. “Intense depth, strategy, and action have all been packed into just two buttons.”
The gameplay of DiveKick requires a joystick and only two buttons: one to dive and the other to kick. Players aren’t able to move in a regular manner, but must use the dive and kick functions to propel themselves to and away from their opponent. The game features the traditional health bars at the top of the screen, though landing one successful divekick will result in a KO. The victor is crowned after five rounds of divekicking action.
“As simple as this sounds, you’ll have to trust that it is not. Movement is unorthodox, and players are unable to guard against incoming attacks,” writes Heart. “Finding the optimal spot to stand in order to score a counter is key, but actually standing in that position is a lot harder than you’d think.”
The gameplay is fast-paced and unforgiving. After watching some professional play from the latest UFGT, it’s easy to see how patience and quick reflexes can be crucial to besting seasoned divekickers. To see more sample gameplay, along with some serious tournament commentary, check out the video below.
Heart is aiming to raise $30,000 to create a PC port of the fighting title, with extension goals along the way that will add online play, additional characters, and even a story mode. With $10,000 already in the bank and nearly the full month left to go, it looks like PC gamers will be raining death from above in no time.
