Skullgirls (v2020.06.26 & ALL DLC)

Dark Deco cities, theatrical monsters, and a cursed wish-granting artifact give every match a personality far beyond the usual arcade brawl. Skullgirls is a lightning-fast 2D fighter built around an eccentric roster of fighters, from the living-weapon wielder Filia to the undead musician Squigly and the unpredictable Peacock. Its hand-drawn animation remains the immediate attraction: attacks stretch, squash, explode, and snap into place with a level of expressive detail that makes even a failed round fun to watch. Beneath the cartoon energy sits a surprisingly grim setting, with character stories tied together by the dangerous Skull Heart.

Fights use a familiar six-button layout, but each combatant has an unusually deep set of normals, command moves, supers, air options, and character-specific tricks. Players can enter alone for maximum damage and health, build a two-person pairing, or assemble a three-character squad with tag-ins and carefully selected assist attacks; choosing a smaller team makes every individual fighter stronger. Training mode, tutorials, trials, story content, local versus, and online play provide plenty of ways to learn, while the systems reward both basic fundamentals and high-level combo routing. A built-in combo limiter stops players from repeating the same sequence forever, so matches emphasize adaptation, resets, pressure, and smart defensive decisions rather than endless scripted loops.

What separates Skullgirls from many indie fighters is how successfully it balances wild presentation with serious competitive design. The animation looks like a lost 1930s cartoon reimagined through anime action, while the music and voice work reinforce the world’s jazzy, macabre charm. Its flexible team system offers the strategic depth of Marvel vs. Capcom-style tag fighters without requiring newcomers to immediately manage three characters at once. Fans of Guilty Gear, BlazBlue, or fast assist-based fighters find a dense lab game with enormous room for mastery, while solo-team options and strong teaching tools make it one of the more approachable entries for fighting-game newcomers.