April 1st is indeed a special day for Fighting EX Layer, considering that the entire game started out as an April Fools’ prank two years ago. The joke turned a bit too serious, though, leading to the game actually being released for PS4 in 2018, with a PC port coming in the same year.

While the name Fighting EX Layer might be unfamiliar to some players, it was made by Arika, the same studio behind the outstanding Street Fighter EX series as well as several others of Capcom’s fighting games. Now, Akira has brought Fighting EX Layer to mobile devices under the name Fighting EX Layer Alpha, also as an April Fool’s prank.

Fighting Ex Layer Alpha 01 696x383
Fighting Ex Layer is coming to mobile under the name Fighting Ex Layer alpha

Yet even though it is a prank, this new mobile port is fully playable on both Android and iOS, and it’s actually a pretty good game too. The joke here is, there will be no virtual joystick like you often see in mobile fighting games. Instead, you’ll move your character around by swiping left or right on the touchscreen and tap to attack. You can also perform combos by repeatedly pressing buttons as well. Right now, there are only 4 playable characters: Allen, Darun, Blair, and Skullomania.

Fighting Ex Control
Unique control scheme

Akira has also shared a video to showcase this mobile port, in which CEO Nishitani Akira also talks about the studio’s future plans for Fighting EX Layer. According to Nishitani, a new character, Area, was expected to come to the game in May, but due to several reasons she has been delayed until June or July. You can check out the full video below:

Fighting EX Layer Alpha is currently available on Google Play and the App Store in all regions. It is actually a pretty interesting take on the control scheme for the mobile fighting genre, so it’s something you should definitely check out if you are a fan of these games.

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