Seeing the rich resurgence of Windjammers of all Neo Geo games over the past few years has been something else. Known as Flying Power Disc in Japan, the series never found a ton of success at arcades or the home market. However, its surprisingly deep gameplay that is essentially Pong meets Street Fighter, plus the advent of emulation, allowed it to develop a cult fanbase that led to an online-enabled port in 2017 and now a sequel 27 years after it was released in arcades. It’s a lot to live up to but Windjammers 2 maintains the rock-solid foundation and adds a few flairs of its own, resulting in a worth-the-wait sequel to a beloved classic.
While the gameplay of Windjammers is quite simple with the goal of throwing a frisbee in the other player’s goal to score points, there has always been a surprising amount of layers. Using standard fighting game inputs, players can add spin to the disc and pull off special moves as well. Everything from the original carries over here, although there are also quite a few new mechanics that add even more depth to the action, such as the ability to jump and perform spike shots and a quick deflection move that quickly bats the disc back at the opponent.
These new moves initially feel like an unnecessary overcomplication of the original gameplay. Windjammers is simple at its core and wasn’t begging to have more mechanics, making it a little difficult to want to incorporate these new tactics at first. However, these tools can serve as strategic mix-up opportunities that can keep the opposition on their toes and end up being welcome additions. Dotemu’s confidence to contribute to the established formula and put its own spin on it is appreciated, granted established players can push past their stubbornness and the basic, non-interactive tutorial. A mission mode of sorts would’ve been a far more effective way to introduce these mechanics.
The character roster sees the return of all six original (and redesigned) participants as well as four new additions. There’s a chubby Canadian with a mullet that is another great power variant for veteran players, a Chinese character with balanced stats, a sporty French woman that favors speed, and a quick Brazilian that is the fastest character in the entire game. The global and diverse character roster has always been a strength of the series, similar to ’90s fighting games, and Dotemu has done a wonderful job of creating a roster that will fit any playstyle.
Players will get quite familiar with all of these characters and the game’s returning and new course layouts (the highlight of which is a casino stage that randomly assigns the number of points for each volley) in the arcade mode. Despite offering three difficulties, Windjammers 2 offers a solid challenge for seasoned players even on easy and can quickly destroy almost any out-of-focus player. However, it serves as a great testing ground for players and the sharp difficulty incentivizes trying out the new mechanics in order to get an upper hand.
There are also two mini-games locked to the arcade mode that mix up the core gameplay and give Windjammers 2 a faithful arcade feel: one that tasks players with breaking discs that are shot out from a machine and another that lets users throw a frisbee for an adorable dog. Successfully completing the mode will unlock a fun ending cinematic that adds some depth into the in-universe lore, although there sadly isn’t a gallery where you can easily rewatch them like in Tekken and other games of that ilk. It’s just a small missed opportunity but speaks to the larger issue of its overall bare-bones presentation.
Of course, the game truly shines in local and online matches against other humans. Considering the ongoing pandemic, it is even more important than ever for the netcode to be solid and for online play to work well. Thankfully, Windjammers 2 passes this test and feels great to play online even when matching up against players from across the country. There are a few minor user interface quibbles — it needs a quick rematch option that doesn’t dip back into the character lobby — but it gets the job done.
Windjammers 2 feels like a proper sequel to the original. The hand-drawn graphics are gorgeous to see in action, the gameplay is faithful while offering up new mechanics that can either be ignored or embraced by longtime players, and the new levels are filled with novel variants that keep matches fresh. Clearly a passion project, Dotemu has made a great sequel that is geared toward more hardcore players that won’t mind the lack of frills.
SCORE: 8/10
As ComingSoon’s review policy explains, a score of 8 equates to “Great.” While there are a few minor issues, this score means that the game succeeds at its goal and leaves a memorable impact.
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