Worlds collide, as a selection of estrogen-fuelled heroines from across major SNK titles battle it out in two on two combat. So how does SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy live up to its classic gaming origins?

The story in SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy is especially thin on the ground and even for a fighter thats saying a lot. The general gist is that all of our heroines have been kidnapped - taken to a mysterious old mansion - wherein theyre forced to team-up and battle their way through their kidnapped-kin if they want a chance to escape. Its basic and albeit a little creepy, but its a simple premise; one that manages to give reason for the various costumes and situations that the over dozen characters find themselves in.

Growing up, my fighting games of choice were always Tekken and Dead or Alive, mainly due to their sheer popularity at the time, so having never dug my teeth into an SNK fighter - one in the King of Fighters vein anyway - its fair to say I was a little apprehensive. Not knowing any of the characters - well besides Mai Shiranui for, well obvious reasons - or their movesets, I was pleasantly surprised that SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy is very welcoming and easy to pick up for a newcomer like myself. Meaning pretty much anyone regardless of fighting game experience can pick up the controller and find some fun in SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy.

At the center of this newb friendly welcoming, is the battle system in SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy, which is much more basic than your standard fighting game fare. You won't find much in the way of combos, with the majority of commands consisting of a simple punch, kick, grab along with a special move for good measure. Most of the heroines combos can be boiled down to pressing the special attack in conjunction with a directional button - youll find no mad button combos to memorise here. Conversely if youre looking for an in-depth fighter, then SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy definitely isnt the game for you.

There are a few new mechanics mind you that SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy does introduce to separate itself from its fighting game ilk. The first is its tag system; at the start of a match youll select two characters and at any point during a fight you can press ZR (on the Nintendo Switch) to swap with your secondary fighter waiting in the wings. Youll regularly use this to your advantage in combat, with the prime example being to chain attacks or use the 'special' meter which your support character builds whilst in-waiting. Depleting your opponents HP wont win you the fight however. The unique method of victory in SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy requires you to lower your opponents health until the bar glows pink, then youll be granted the ability to press L1 to activate a flashy finishing move suffice you have enough of the aforementioned special meter. Last but by no means least in SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy you have the option to use items during combat. These are shown in boxes just under your health bar and are activated using the right analogue stick. From items such as walls that block the opponent, springs that send them flying and bombs that cause damage; theres a good variety here that makes use of both offense and defense. But whilst playing through SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy, I honestly didnt find much use for them when playing offline against CPU characters, but Id imagine theyd be very useful online when playing against other people in a more competitive format.

Along with the few new mechanics, SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy offers a slew of game modes to play through. Theres the aforementioned Story Mode where you can find out what contrived reason all these different characters are fighting each other for, Survival wherein you and your tag partner face one battle after another until you lose or a standard Versus mode to select a matchup against any team of two you wish. If youre more competitive minded then SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy also includes both local and online multiplayer, but unfortunately as of writing I couldnt find a match to test the online mode - hopefully that changes upon release.

The various characters themselves in SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy are well modelled - if a little plastic looking - using what looks like a mild cel-shading technique in parts, but on the larger whole following a far more realistic art style than I would have expected for a game of this type. Whilst the characters look and animate great, its the stages themselves I have a niggle with. Fans have become accustomed to stages including all manner of madness taking place in the background of their fighting arenas, from rowdy spectators or moving objects telling a story of their own, unfortunately thats not the case in SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy. Instead youll merely find both tag partners dancing around in the background of what is an otherwise very boring stage. Now this may improve the experience for you if youre a fan of less distractions, but it definitely leaves the battle arenas looking a bit empty and cheap.

In addition to the sparse stages are the character customisation options. Simply put, there isnt a whole lot. As you play through SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy youll unlock three costumes per character - using an in-game currency that you earn - and thats it, really not giving you much of a reason to put in tens of hours and failing to take advantage of a constant unlock addiction' which casts and hooks many a gamer. For a game built on fan service this apparent stinginess is at odds with what I feel should be an celebratory affair, with fans expecting it to be a perfect excuse for their beloved characters to show off the crossover potential. Instead I fear we may see downloadable cosmetics down the line for what should really be in the game day one. Along with costumes, you can also use the in-game currency to purchase accessories like gloves and backpacks that you can pair these with any of the unlocked outfits.

Quite possibly my favorite aspect of SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy though, is its narrator. When skipping through the menu - going over Story, Versus etc - youll be greeted with the corresponding voice line that plays when you click on the specific option. The thing is, is that the narrators voice is so over the top - gravelly and sinister all in one - that its hard to take seriously. Now, like me you may think this is fine - and even a standard in fighting games - for the main menu items like Versus and Survival, but when youre just trying to change the audio options in SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy it begins to sound so ridiculous it had me in stitches every time.

In terms of performance the Nintendo Switch version of SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy runs great both docked and in handheld mode, with no noticeable framerate drops with either choice. But whilst in docked mode, the one thing I did notice was the character models were a bit aliased around the edges, whether that is because the elements on screen are larger and more visible on a bigger display Im not sure, but it was noticeable. I personally preferred playing SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy in handheld mode - or at least had a better experience with the joycons - this was because the Pro controller on the Nintendo Switch - which I tend to use when my Switch is docked - has a single D-pad as opposed to the joycons multi-button directional buttons, making controlling the characters more difficult than it needed to be.

Overall, SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy is a decently fun, if a little basic fighter. By no means will it shock the fighting game world - or contain the depth needed for highly competitive play - but its good fun nevertheless, that appeals to newcomers with its simplified battle system.

Existing fans of the SNK characters Im sure will enjoy the team up combinations, but may be disappointed with the lack of customisation options on offer to keep them playing.

Review copy of SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy provided by the publisher for the Nintendo Switch.