GAME REVIEW | "Pocket Bravery" a Fun Nod to Neo Geo Fighters

Although the Neo Geo Pocket didn’t take the West by storm (it was discontinued less than a year after its release), it did have some pretty good games on it. Where it shined was in its fighter ports, including SNK vs Capcom: Match of the Millennium and Samurai Shodown! 2. Brazilian developers Statera Studio took those games to heart when they created their own nod to those old handheld fighters: Pocket Bravery. Surprisingly, despite some of its flaws, it does a very good job recapturing that 1990s fighter mentality.

Akin to the likes of SNK Vs. Capcom, Pocket Bravery allows players to experience the game in various modes. There’s your Story mode, which has you play the character Nuno Alves as he takes on his former gang leader. Arcade mode is your run-of-the-mill gauntlet, whereas the training mode will aid in you hitting various combos in a row. Multiplayer mode allows those to battle one another either in couch co-op or online, the latter of which has a pretty good netcode.

Where Pocket Bravery shines is in its Arcade mode. Just as you’d see in any Street Fighter or Mortal Kombat, you take on fighters one-by-one as you reach the final boss: Pack leader Hector Silva. As you climb the ladder, the fighters become more challenging. However, it never reaches next-to-impossible when it comes to the difficulty, something that I’ve seen far too often in fighting games. Instead, the difficulty increases slowly and gradually, as you become accustomed to the controls and the fighting styles.

Speaking of controls, it’s great that you can switch between playing in the classic arcade style to something more casual-friendly. For those who wish to play on a pro level, using the normal control setup would be ideal. However, those who aren’t fighter game savvy (or even if you have a physical disability of some kind) will be happy with the alternative control style that makes it easier to dive into combat. Either way, it’s a great aspect that opens the door to anyone who wants to fight.

For the fights themselves, the presentation is surprisingly good. Punches and kicks hit with good accuracy, whereas the heavier attacks showcase some excellent animation styles. (Arshavin’s arm bar takedown is beautifully detailed, with every moment captured in a realistic manner.) However, when it comes time to unleash the ultimate attack, the game takes a page out of the recent Super Smash Bros. games and goes into a wild cinematic mode.

From a visual standpoint, I love the Chibi-styled look for the characters during gameplay. It’s one aspect that strongly pays homage to the Neo Geo Pocket titles, giving the characters a look that’s both cute and badass. With that being said, when they were featured in cut scenes and the Story Mode, I couldn’t help but feel like the characters’ short stature was a little too goofy for a game that attempts to play it straight. (Perhaps next time, the characters could look more realistic in the cut scenes, which would help with emphasizing the tone of the situations.)

On paper, Story mode has some great ideas. The narrative of Nuno attempting to get revenge on Hector is very interesting, and I do love the arcade beat ‘em up style of some of the levels. However, adding in tutorials when there’s already a training section in the game puts a halt on the excitement the game has to offer. I swear, I took way too much time trying to break barrels in a specific way, with each Game Over I was greeted with giving me all sorts of frustrations!

Which does lead me to the game’s biggest frustration: online mode. As of this writing, there seems to be no one in the online lobby. Every time I checked, I was the only one that was playing Pocket Bravery. Either this means that the interest of the game has died down, or all of the players are asleep while I’m awake on Japan time.

PROS:

• Stellar arcade mode
• Great controls
• Nice character designs…

CONS:

• …but look odd in cutscenes.
• Story Mode tutorials are a pain
• No online players

FINAL THOUGHTS:

Pocket Bravery is a very good fighter, one that pays tribute to the Neo Geo Pocket in many right ways. Arcade mode is strong, and the controls are great whether you play in pro or amateur style. However, it does suffer from having a nonexistent online community, as well as having irksome tutorials shoveled into the Story Mode. With that being said, there’s a fine amount of potential in Pocket Bravery, enough that it could be its own franchise if it plays its cards right.

FINAL GRADE:

Promotional consideration provided by PQube Games. Reviewed on the PC via Steam.

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