Final Slam 2 Reviews

A great opportunity squandered! This game could have been great fun if you bound somebody you utterly dispise to a chair and force them to play this non-stop for several hours. Unfortunately the law doesn't allow one to carry out such reprisals so this masterpiece of a game will never reach its full potential. I suppose it could be used against enemies of the state to extract confessions. The spanish inquisition would have loved this back in the day. See, even the target audience have all been dead over 500 years.

The Japanese have a term for very subpar video games; Kusoge. The '-ge' meaning 'game' and the kuso-' literally meaning 'shit' or 'shitty'. I actually rather like kusoge, finding a strange joy in seeing how hilariously bad games can be Final Slam 2 is not kusoge. Final Slam 2 is a game so lacking in quality and entertainment, that even after I made a character who leaps into battle with no pants and has a command list made entirely of head butts, and taunts by slapping his backside, I still failed to have any fun with this game This is the Star Wars Holiday Special of fighting games; watching that movie, or playing this game will make you feel equally dirty

This is an overall very unpolished game, something akin to a low-ish quality flash game you'd play online for free, and something that isn't worth your money, but if it we're free it would be alright. Cons: -clunky combat system where complex combos are kinda impossible(you need a move set that's just right, but even then...), jumping strikes are useless, super armor doesn't exist, moves feel stilted, and more. -graphics terrible: character models are clunky, female sprites are laughably just thin male body sprites with boobs, body parts and clothes clip and over lap in weird ways -game engine is terrible, a game with such a low quality of graphics and complexity has no right to go under 20 fps and crash (I can play ARK: survival evolved on ultra settings for crying out loud -speaking of bad engine the game has a moderate amount of bugs: sometimes characters get stuck in jumping animations, other times there bodies may contort during animations in ways that it definitely wasn't supposed to and more(thats off the top of my head) -story is like if you put every 2d fighter games plot combined into a confusing mess. Pros: -Quite an extensive character creation system that lets you make an original character and give them personality, this being done not just through taunts but the different move sets you can give them, this including some actual martial arts moves which is much apreciated. -Soundtrack is actually alright, and gives me some nostalgia on older games in this genre -Despite the bad animation, constant clipping of clothes and body parts, and pretty much everything doing with how this game looks LOOK terrible, I appreciate the cheesy art design filled with references of previous games in the genre, and am sad the sprites are so... bad. All in all, don't buy this game, but if you can get for free check it out. there some fun to be had here especially for character creation. I just hope the this game dev gets better and make a reboot or a sequel or a better one would place the character creation aspect done here onto a good game because its honestly pretty great, but unfortunate about the only thing that's pretty great about this game.

TLDR: This game is of the "so bad its good" variety, You can play this game for free on the internet, the locked story mode and season mode are not worth fussing over. I personally like the game, but I cannot recommened it for people to purchase. Ok, sit back and grab some drinks, this is gonna be a long one. Along time ago on the interwebs, Josh Tam made a 2D flash fighting game called Final Slam. It is a low end run of the mill fighting game you would play during school lunch period or a coffee break at the office if you have nothing else to do and just want to kill time. If you played one flash fighter, you played them all. The original Final Slam is no different, being a newgrounds circle jerk and discount 2 button mortal kombat type of fighting game (no fatalities mind you, just the fighting system in general). So why am I telling you this? Well Final Slam 2 is the sequel to the original Final Slam. It is the same game but on a much grander scale with improved graphics, soundtrack, gameplay, and deviates from the special guest cameos and opts for its own universe. Is it a good game? Well... no not necesarily. Its not good, but then again its not terrible or awful, just not good. And you do not have to pay money for this in the first place, because you can find and play the same game in a browser for FREE. Thats right, this is a free flash game, being sold in the guise of a "Gold Edition" which... is pretty much the same game with the exception of allowing to play the main story mode (which is the same type of deal as the prologue story that is available for free, just with more characters to play around with) and participate in a "career mode" where you can choose a character or create one yourself and fight to go up in rank and win championships. The gameplay is improved from the orginal title, I could summarize it as a 2-dimensional and 2 button tekken style fighter. You move from left and right on a 2d plane, you can jump or crouch, and you use the punch and kick buttons to deliver basic attacks, using the arrow keys for alternate attacks respectively, you move backward or crouch to block when the opponent attacks you, and you have a grab button where you can perform a wrestling move. Special moves can be utilized through input combinations (such as the famous down, forward, punch for a fireball). You fight the computer opponent until either its health bar runs out or yours do. Pretty standard run of the mill fighting game mechanics. But in no way is this a deeply crafted fighter with unique characters and playstyles, quite the opposite. In fact Final Slam 2 has what I would like to call a "cookie cutter" roster. Take a generic model, add visual bells, whistles, and color pallets, and decide the types of animations they woudl use for their attacks. Do this about.. 30 more times with different variations and you have the roster of Final Slam. Hell you can probably make an exact copy of a character if you want to (have not actually done or tested it but given how the character creator is built, I bet it is very possible). But with the way character creation is set up, you have alot of oppurtunities increase the generic mass produced roster even further with your own generic as hell characters with pretty colors. Even the game itself admits this as each character you create provides a special code which is a set of algorithms which you can write down on a piece of paper, and input the code on another computer to play as that character, or share it with a friend so they can play the character you made. Its just as exciting as it sounds. (its not exciting). There are 2 story modes, one is a prologue and the other is the locked main story exclusive to the gold edition. It is nothing to write home about honestly, you play a set number of characters, fighting in matches against specific opponents, with character portraits and text dialogue among the background stage placed in between the fights to give the player context of what is happening in the "story". You can finish it in 2 hours or less depending on how well you do against the AI. The other mode is a career mode, called Final Slam mode (cough). Think of it as a season mode that you would play in those old WWE wrestling games where you pick a character, fight in matches, climb the rankings, win titles, and defend said titles. Thats pretty much it. If your good enough against the AI (or make a incredibly cheap character) you can also "finish" the mode and win all 3 championships in 2 hours or less. Fun fact: I used the game's default custom character Denver Sloan, and took his generic butt on a journey to wear all three belts at the same time. It was enjoyable for a bit. Then I got bored. The only other form of gameplay is the versus mode. It is exactly what it says on the time. You can choose anyone to fight anyone in any stage. Is there online? Hell no. The only way you can play with another person is to share a keyboard. Remember this is a flash game.... that you can play for free... in a browser.... without paying money.....at all. So in summary, Final Slam 2 is a run of the mill flash game fighter being sold on steam that you can play free of charge on the internet. Now, I have told you all the bad stuff and complaints I had to say about this game. This is a bad game, no doubt about it. But...... This is a bad game that I actually like. This may come as a shock to you, but I respect this developer not for what he did, but what he made. Josh Tam had a vision with Final Slam 2, you can tell instantly from the dynamic anime-esque intro that alot of effort and love was put into this game. It shows through that intro and the game in general. Josh Tam wanted to make a martial arts fantasy/science fiction series with lots of content that would pique the interest of martial arts enthusiasts (like myself). The game prides itself in showcasing the many fighting styles of Kung Fu, Karate, Taekwondo, Boxing, Brawling, and Wrestling. Especially the wrestling, I was astonished to find how many possible Pro Wrestling moves you can choose from for a created character. The story is incredibly ridiculous, its the typical save the world sthick and defeat the evil villain who is after real ultimate power with magic, sci fi, and superhero stuff. But so much effort was put into it, despite being cookie cutter create a fighters, being actually well crafted enough to be distinctive. Final Slam 2 has recieved so much love and care in how to present its self and its cookie cutter roster, that for a good while I fell into the supension of disbelief and actually believed I was playing an All American martial arts hero fighting a big purple demon with a beer gut the size of a medicine ball in a pro wrestling ring. You cannot take this seriously, and you shouldnt in the first place. I cannot recommend this game for people to buy on steam, but I can applaud the love and effort Josh Tam put into what he tried to create. With the artwork I have seen, especially the animated intro, I believe Josh Tam should just make Final Slam into a animated flash cartoon series instead of a game. Theres serious potential in that concept, but that potential is completely blocked and hindered by it being a mediocre flash game. Thats the end of my review, if you made it this far then I hope you use this information to make an informed decision about deciding to actually purchase this product. Good luck to you Josh Tam in your future projects, peace.

Remember: this game was made in Flash by one guy in the early 2010's. For what it is, it's actually quite impressive. This is all the work of one man, a fighting game with a Fire Pro Wrestling style creation suite, and a season mode that procedurally generates fighters. Imagine what would happen if a company picked this IP up! Unfortunately, the creator seems to have dropped off the face of the planet, so we may never see a Final Slam 3, but people need to give this game a fair shake.

I bought this game a few years back so I went ahead and got it on steam since it was so cheap. The thing I really like about this game is how immersive it is in the simulation. It tells results of the other fights in your league and how the health can drain after a match so there is always a fighting chance. Fighters seem to retire from the league and new ones come in. You almost look forward to the chance of getting to fight some of these guys and can follow there progress. This gives the game a real world feel kinda like the very first Smackdown game. Graphics I can look past because I focus more on how the mechanics work with in the individual game. The only thing I don't like are exploits like leg sweeps that you can do over and over and kill the pc for a cheap win. Other than that I wish more fighting games would use the concept of a league season where health can give you some flukes.

You know what, I actually like this game, Runs a bit 'better on Newgrounds, Flash Game, There's a floating cursor and some delay on the Steam version for me, but the Gold version is fun to play, become world champion, build custom fighter looks, custom movesets, custom AI, price is cheap. Game feels more about positioning and timing of moves than combos, dodge mechanic is a bit interesting. I know some people complain about the art, but I like it, has a style to it.

It's honestly not the best, but for a fighting game that started its life as something on Newgrounds, it's pretty nifty. I was impressed by the character customization (which, again, is overshadowed by a lot of other games of its ilk), and it still feels fun when you know the nuances (of which there are only a few).

I don't like putting the thumbs down but it forces you to choose one or the other, it pains me to do it because I understand the work that must have gone in to this but I can't give it a thumbs up. This game needs a lot of work, it's not half as smooth as a fighting game demands. It's a very ambitious game and you get the feeling the devs are focusing more on grandiose atmosphere rather than fluid gameplay. No controller support, this is vital, it felt awkward as all hell on keyboard, especially with the clunky moves and hit boxes the flash engine brings, other titles like Castle Crashers have done brilliantly in transitioning from flash to steam, this game just doesn't do it right. I do see what they're going for, I like the overall idea, it's just executed in a way that makes it hard to play. I hope I can turn that thumb around some day.

Highly Recommend! A great game well worth your time and money if you have an imagination, and want a quick and easy to use custom fighter maker. If you like Fire Pro Wrestling, but want fewer features so you can make a custom fighter in 5 minutes instead of 5 hours this is a good choice. There are better and prettier fighting games and sims on Steam, so as a pvp fighter with custom features it looks shabby. The STRENGTH of this game is never mentioned. I compare it to Fire Pro Wrestling, because it is rare that fighting games at any price point have CUSTOM AI SETTINGS with this level of detail.. The people leaving negative reviews need to engage with reality and stop sniffing glue. This is a $4 game. It. Is. A. Four. Dollar. Game. If you rate it against Mortal Kombat Ultimate Edition, the problem isn't this game, it's you. Call it janky, but many of the best, most fun games for under $5 on Steam have the same unpolished, retro charm. It's not a negative if you enjoy that for what it is. Of course it doesn't look like a Pixar film, it looks and handles like a Famicom bootleg. But it costs less than a fast food value meal, and you won't get this much fun out of a Happy Meal. Are there better games on Steam that cost less? Sure, this game could arguably be $2 cheaper. But a pretty Idle Sim fighter like Punch Club costs $10 at full price, I don't find FS2 unreasonably priced. There's lots of $.99 treasures on Steam; that doesn't necessarily make this game over-priced. Tekken 7 and Soul Calibur 6 are both 5yrs old but still cost $40 on Steam. That's over-priced. Sure big brands like Square, Tecmo, and Namco make visually beautiful, awesome games but the per character DLC business model is robbery. Games like Final Slam 2 offer a fun, inexpensive alternative to "Big Gaming's" market manipulation. Negative reviewers say dozens of games just like this are online for free. True, but online games usually try to get you to make "In-App Purchases" like all freemium games do. Or Russian Hackers will give your computer STDs looking for your Paypal password. You could play a game like this for free on Newgrounds, but I think it's well worth $4 to avoid malware and pop up ads for hentai. Plus you don't have to be online to play it, which is important when your family or roommates are using up the whole damn internet binging Netflix.