Skullgirls

Skullgirls is a 2012 fighting video game developed by Reverge Labs and published by Autumn Games, originally released digitally for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 and ported to various other home and portable systems afterwards. A 2D fighter, Skullgirls consist of team-based fights and revolves around the "Skull Heart", an artifact which grants wishes for women. If a wisher with an impure soul uses the Skull Heart, she is transformed into a monster known as the "Skullgirl".

The game was initially released through the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Arcade platforms, and received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised the animation and gameplay mechanics, while criticizing its initial roster size and online multiplayer features. The game was then ported to Windows, released through the Steam platform, before a dispute between Autumn Games and distributor Konami led to its removal from the console storefronts; it was re-released on both platforms in 2014 as Skullgirls Encore, before a PlayStation 4 port and a version for Japanese arcades under the retitled name Skullgirls 2nd Encore in 2015. It has since been ported to other platforms including PlayStation Vita, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S. A spin-off mobile title was released in 2017 for Android and iOS, developed by Hidden Variable Studios.

Development of Skullgirls 2nd Encore continues in the form of downloadable content. After Skullgirls's initial release, the core team of Reverge Labs reformed as Lab Zero Games and developed the game until its dissolution in 2020, with several of its members forming another indie studio, Future Club, who have been the Skullgirls developers since.

Skullgirls is a tag team-based fighting game in which players control characters, each with unique attacks and fighting styles, to engage in combat. Players must damage the opponent and completely drain their health, thus knocking them out. A player wins when all opposing characters are knocked out. If time expires before then, the player with the most remaining health is declared the winner. Players may select a single fighter or choose to form a team of two or three. A solo character possesses more health and deals more damage. Larger teams, while weaker, gain the ability to recover health when tagged out and perform "assists", also known as "ensemble attacks", where the on-screen character summons an off-screen teammate to perform a move. Players can assign custom assists in Skullgirls, further enhancing team customization.

The gameplay for Skullgirls was modeled after Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes, incorporating the latter's tag team mechanics, assists, and control scheme. The control scheme utilizes six buttons, consisting of light, medium, and hard punches and kicks. These basic attacks can be chained together to form simple combos. Using a combination of button presses and directional inputs, players can also perform "special attacks", which are slightly stronger than normal moves, and "blockbusters", which are cinematic super moves that deal heavy damage and can hit multiple times. Blockbusters require players to build and expend meter, known in-game as "dramatic tension". As the fight progresses, the players' dramatic tension gauge will fill. Up to five bars of dramatic tension can be stored, with more powerful blockbusters requiring more bars of tension to execute. Dramatic tension can also be used to perform other universal techniques, such as "outtakes", which force the opponent to switch characters, and "blockbuster sequels", which allow the player to use multiple blockbusters consecutively.

Skullgirls includes technical features to address system and balance problems common in fighting games, such as "infinite combo" detection and protection against "unblockable attacks". Infinite combos occur when a player is able to create a repeating, inescapable loop of attacks as an exploit. When the game detects an infinite combo through monitoring a player's actions, the opposing player can break free from it by hitting any button. Unblockable attacks occur when a player, for example, uses a low-hitting move and a high-hitting assist at the same time, making it impossible for the opponent to block. The game attempts to remedy the issue by offering a brief grace period after blocking which will guard against other hit types.

Skullgirls has a variety of single-player and multiplayer game modes, including story mode, arcade mode, versus mode, tutorial mode, training mode, and online play. The story mode features small, non-canonical vignettes for each playable character, detailing "what if" scenarios playing out across alternate timelines. A canonical story mode has been teased, however, with the developers citing the inclusion of downloadable content (DLC) characters from the first season pass as necessary to tell their "true" story. The arcade mode lets players fight against waves of AI-controlled opponents before reaching the final boss character, Marie. The tutorials section teaches players the gameplay fundamentals of Skullgirls, in addition to covering concepts underlying the fighting game genre as a whole. Seventeen tutorial courses are available, explaining both basic and advanced topics. The training room gives players the opportunity to practice combos against an AI-controlled dummy, as well as access to advanced data, such as hitboxes. The training room was later updated in Skullgirls Encore to include online functionality, allowing players to practice with friends instead. Online multiplayer features ranked and unranked matches using the GGPO networking library, providing a smoother online experience.

Skullgirls Encore added "The Typing of the Skullgirls", a mode inspired by The Typing of the Dead. When enabled, teams automatically generate dramatic tension and all basic attacks deal negligible damage. Blockbusters give timed typing prompts to the player, awarding damage for typing accuracy. Skullgirls 2nd Encore introduced several new game modes, including challenge mode, where players fight against computer opponents under unique battle conditions; trials mode, which tests players' skills by having them perform combos under a button-by-button instructional system; and survival mode, which pits players against endless waves of enemies.