Slightly Miswired Robot Ragdolls Shuffle About
(Rate this game! 191 votes, average: 4.04 out of 5)
Loading...If Sumotori Dreams is a game about sumo wrestlers learning to walk, Kaneko’s NekoFight is a game about capoeiristas struggling with melancholy. NekoFight is a simple ragdoll fighting demo, but the participants seem to be as much victims of world-weariness as of a gravity simulation.
The Saddest Control Set
The game and documentation are in Japanese, but the controls are simple enough that players who can’t read the language shouldn’t have a problem. The arrow keys cause the Blue fighter to shamble around the arena forlornly. The X and C keys control the left and right legs (respectively). Tap X for a moment, and Blue’s left leg will twitch. Hold X for longer, and the sullen polygon model will whirl into wild spin kick.
Holding X and C at the same time causes Blue to spring into a mighty backflip, usually flying out of the arena and into the moat around it (the game’s only disqualifier). Tapping the keys just right causes Blue to fall over and lie prone on the ground. Then use the arrow keys to make Blue grope around wearily.
I Just Want a Hand to Hold
Probably the most interesting of the game’s mechanics is the grab. When the Yellow enemy fighter is close, press and hold the Z key. Blue will reach out and take Yellow by the hand, or leg, or head, whatever’s available. Now the two are joined into a single ragdoll, each affected by the motions of the other. Drag Yellow by the head, wrestle. Use a kick to launch Blue into midair, then release Z to send Yellow flying. Lie down near the water and, when your opponent shambles close enough, grab an ankle and tug it over the edge.
(NekoFight Game Screenshots)
What’s the Point of it All?
NekoFight provides little in the way of direction or challenge, and your opponents are as eager to off themselves as you are. This is another game (or toy) that requires one be willing to create one’s own amusement. Try playing without using the arrow keys. You can effect a kind of walk by alternating between the X and C keys. Better, try to force your opponent from the arena using only the grab button.
You can also turn gravity off by toggling the third option on the pull-down menu. In the midst of a kick, this might send the fighters careening around the arena. More often, it will leave them floating in space, flailing their limbs, forever.
For players who think they might enjoy the antics of robot ragdolls who got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning, NekoFight is good for hours. And it’s totally free.
Download NekoFight (12.0 MB)
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My name is Matthew Wegner, and this site is dedicated to physics games.
on January 3rd, 2008 at 11:28 pm
Wow, the game is great. Reminds me a lot of Sumotori. Control feels unexpectatly realistic.
on January 3rd, 2008 at 11:29 pm
Awesome game, but what I’m more impressed with is this blog is actually still active! I thought anyone ever remotely related to this site had jumped off a cliff or something.
But not only was there a post about a bulldozer game recently, but another post in close succession! I hope this blog continues to have updates frequently again.
I really like the game, though. It’s not one I want taking up space on my computer, but it’s a neat one to casually play a bit.
on January 4th, 2008 at 8:06 am
…that looks like the worst game ever…I like it!
on January 4th, 2008 at 8:50 am
Nice game. You know what would make it better? Few more arenas, 2player mode and health for the fighters.
on January 4th, 2008 at 10:18 am
My brother played this like 3 months ago. It’s ok.
on January 4th, 2008 at 12:51 pm
And now we know what will happen if we give Marvin super combat abilities.
Absolutely nothing.
on January 4th, 2008 at 2:20 pm
Umm.. anyone noticed one thing?
Thursday, January 3rd, 2008 by Ancil in Physics Games
Who is Ancil?
and the power shovel etc was from
Tuesday, January 1st, 2008 by Andrew in Physics Games
btw, good game.
on January 4th, 2008 at 4:35 pm
@Skibiliano: yes, i’ve noticed it.. i guess it’s the new reviewers that Matthew where talking about.
Great game, i love it! It doesn’t matter if you are just flying around the arena, cconatantly falling to the ground. It looks fun, and it is fun!
on January 4th, 2008 at 5:40 pm
we have bios at the bottoms of the reviews, you know.
on January 4th, 2008 at 6:45 pm
pretty good game, if looks unorganized though, but if you press certain button combinations, some moves almost look like jude…like once i flipped the guy over my shoulder with holding z, then tapping x and c
on January 4th, 2008 at 7:23 pm
Great, I’ve been waiting for a physics-based capoeira game! This should be interesting, even if all we get to play with are a couple of sad, twitchy ragdolls. :p
Very entertaining review, by the way – I’ll be looking forward to reading more from you. :)
on January 5th, 2008 at 2:27 pm
The description of the controls reminded me of the PS2 robot game “Robotic Alchemic Drive” (link: http://www.mobygames.com/game/ps2/robot-alchemic-drive-rad). It’s really not much like this after playing it a bit, but the game used a successful combination of player-driven physics and ragdolls. It had more direct control than this does, a little more like controlling a giant robot on a one-to-one basis (which is what the game is about, actually) and was from a third-person perspective. It wasn’t 100% physics driven all the time, but anyone interested in bipedal physics simulations should still check it out.
And yeah, this game really needs a 2-player mode. I’d think implementation of that would be easier than a 2nd player AI.
on January 5th, 2008 at 3:00 pm
it needs blood and falling off of limbs and grabbing onto the blocks in the middle. 2p is needed as well.
on January 6th, 2008 at 1:52 pm
also,i would buy this game if it went as far as cortex command did to make a commercial version (i know that CC is not fully commercial yet but build 20 is out and its close) with weapons, better graphix, mods, online play, 2 player,maybe punching, jumping, running on walls basicly matrix without guns (maybe there can be guns!) objects to throw,being able to crouch down, and more. that would be AMAZING if i had all that which i highly doubt though…
on January 7th, 2008 at 7:47 pm
alrighty, i have been made happy at fun-motion again!
on January 9th, 2008 at 11:32 am
Wow, there’s so much potential in this game. With just a little tighter and more realistic physics and controls, maybe a replay feature and 2-player support, this game would be pretty much insanely awesome. It is awesome as it is, but it’s a bit rough all around…
on January 10th, 2008 at 8:58 pm
This is probably the funniest fun-motion post ever.
on January 11th, 2008 at 11:27 am
What I’m quite surprised about is that no one have asked what the music in the video was. So here I am, what was it? :)
Awesome game, by the way. ^^
on January 19th, 2008 at 8:37 am
it’s swan’s splashdown by perry and kingsley.
on January 19th, 2008 at 10:02 pm
Hey, guys, this game really is great. I was once pwn at this game. My skills suck now, but I made a video some time ago and I thought maybe it would inspire people here to try and become good at this (or at least flashy).You can do a lot more than kick and grab… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpKJOJzMEys