Arcade Archives The Outfoxies Review (Switch 2)

Released in 1995 – just as the 3D revolution was starting to take over thanks to the launch of the PS1 and Saturn – Namco's The Outfoxies never really stood a chance of finding mainstream success.

Its frantic arena-based combat was an entirely fresh concept for a generation of players raised on the likes of Street Fighter II, and the chance of it finding a home on the consoles of the period was slim. It quietly slipped into commercial obscurity and remained there until it was rediscovered a few years later via the wonders of MAME.

Now, after 30 years of being in the wilderness, The Outfoxies has finally been given an official home port, thanks to Hamster's Arcade Archives series. As before, this is a straight emulation of the original coin-op, which includes bonus features such as screen filters and additional modes – including High Score, Caravan and Time Attack.

The premise in The Outfoxies is outlandish, but simple; you assume the role of one of seven assassins (each with surprisingly sinister and fleshed-out backstories) and your aim is to kill the remaining six across a series of dynamic locations using either your fists or the assorted weapons which respawn throughout the bout. These include everything from rocks to rocket launchers, as well as bowls of soup and fruit baskets.

It's worth highlighting The Outfoxies' cast of unique characters, because Masateru Umeda and his team at Namco deserve plenty of credit for not simply falling back on the usual fighting game archetypes. For example, Betty Doe, a well-dressed businesswoman (and former hitman) who is surprisingly nimble in her stilettos, rubs shoulders with Dweeb, a tuxedo-wearing chimpanzee. You've also got fallen movie star Eve (who is accompanied by her pet lizard) and the wheelchair-bound Professor Ching.

The camera is constantly zooming in and out to ensure both characters remain on-screen, and this can sometimes make things difficult from a gameplay perspective; it's often hard to spot exactly where your avatar is on some of the busier stages, for example. The levels are all unique and many of them change during the battle; one stage, for example, takes place in a high-rise building, and as the floors crumble amid the carnage, both combatants gradually move further and further down the building – working through ballrooms, aquariums and kitchens.

Another level is set in a military plane (complete with gun turrets you can use) thousands of feet in the sky, and this tilts up and down due to the explosions caused by your weapons. If you're unlucky enough to fall off, you latch onto a nearby helicopter, which returns you to the top of the plane so you can keep on fighting.

The ever-changing nature of the stages is one of The Outfoxies' most appealing aspects, as it not only keeps things fresh and exciting but also constantly ensures that neither contestant has the upper hand for too long. The tide of battle can instantly be shifted thanks to a falling helicopter or one of the fighters being taken out by the roof of an incoming tunnel on the railway level.

There are moments where your jaw drops at the absolute madness that's occurring on-screen, but at other points, The Outfoxies can appear somewhat ugly; the scaling effect works well for the most part, but when it's fully zoomed out, everything becomes a hard-to-parse pixellated mess – adding to the aforementioned difficulty in spotting exactly where your fighter is amid the glorious wreckage.

Comparisons with Nintendo's Super Smash Bros. series are apparent, and while it doesn't play as fluidly as any of the instalments in that particular franchise, The Outfoxies remains chaotic fun – as long as you've got a second player involved, at least. Playing against the CPU is undeniably entertaining for a short while, but this is one of those games that truly comes alive when another human is providing the competition.

Even then, The Outfoxies cannot entirely escape its arcade lineage. While there's arguably a lot of stuff to find here – the changing nature of the levels means tactics and strategies don't become apparent until you've been playing for a while – the game was designed with short-burst play in mind and doesn't really provide a deep home console experience.

Having said that, for $15 there's enough entertainment value here to make this a recommended purchase – it's arguably one of the best "post-pub" multiplayer games ever made.