Divekick

Divekick is a 2D competitive fighting game originally developed by One True Game Studios, an independent collective made up of a group of competitive gamers. A demo of the game was showcased at several competitive events, and after a positive reaction, the group created a Kickstarter campaign to fund the creation of a full version for release on Microsoft Windows. The Kickstarter project was canceled after it was announced that developer Iron Galaxy Studios had agreed to co-develop and release the game. The name “Divekick” is a reference to a common mechanic in many fighting games (particularly those created by Capcom) in which some characters can jump in the air and do a diving kick with a sudden increase in momentum. In fighting games, dive kicks are usually very powerful, abusable tactics. The gameplay in Divekick revolves entirely around this mechanic.

Divekick is a comedic parody of fighting game motifs and contains many humorous references to games (especially those in the Street Fighter franchise) as well as inside jokes from within the competitive fighting game community. Unlike most fighting games which are played using many buttons for many different kinds of movement and attacks, Divekick is played using only two buttons, Dive and Kick. Pressing Dive causes the character to perform a vertical jump, with each character having different jump height and speed. After Diving, the player can do a Kick (with a different angle for each character). Pressing Kick while standing performs a backward evasive hop for most characters (called a “kickback”). Using these moves is the only way to move, evade, attack, and dodge. Each character also possesses two unique special moves, activated by pressing both buttons at once; one used on the ground, and one used in the air. The game features a health bar for each player, but it is only there for humorous and stylistic purposes, as the round is lost after being hit only once (though the game will randomly give out Perfects, even on a Double KO). Performing a divekick fills a meter that can be used to activate “Kick Factor”, a reference to the “X-Factor” mechanic in Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3. It can be activated by Kicking when the meter is full, giving the player a temporary speed boost and a slightly more advantageous kicking angle. Some characters also gain special properties, such as invulnerability, while in Kick Factor.