Popping up out of nowhere, Flappy Fighter looks like some sort of joke or a Flappy Bird rip-off at first glance. However, if you give it a try, you’ll see that this is a dead serious, competent fighting game that has been cleverly designed for the mobile platform. It sports a superb pixel art style and is very clearly influenced by Street Fighter (and Flappy Bird, of course). Check it out in the trailer below:
The ingenuity of Flappy Fighter is shown in how the game manages to simplify the mechanics down to very basic actions yet still deliver a fun experience. These actions include dashing to the left or right dashes, blocking, and only 4 special moves. You can’t even jump directly, but there are some special moves that take you off the ground, so jumping toward or away from the enemy is still actually an option.
Not only that, but all the movements, physics, and impacts are also spot on. Combined, everything resulted in a hectic yet unexpectedly strategic fighting game. The main issue with Flappy Bird right now is that it is currently pretty lacking when it comes to content. There is only 1 playable character, an extremely elementary Training mode, and an Arcade mode with 3 difficulty options in which you try your best to defeat the AI bots as many times in a row as you can. That’s about it. It’s practically a demo at this point.
That said, it’s still a pretty decent start, and the developer has promised that new characters will be coming to Flappy Fighter every week, so it’ll be quite interesting to see how the game will evolve in the future. The game is available on the App Store for free right now, though of course that means it does contain some ads. You can remove them with an IAP if you want, and doing so will also unlock some new outfits for your character.