Rivals of Aether

Release Date: March 28, 2017

Fighting, platformers, 2D, indie games, splitscreen, multiplayer, singleplayer, internet

8.8

OpenCritic

96%

Steam

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Inspired by such titles as Super Smash Bros., an unusual fighting game with platformer elements. The action takes place in Aether, a war-torn fantasy world in which people from various civilizations can manipulate the elements – Fire, Water, Earth, and Air. The heroes we control try to learn about the roots of the endless conflict, which takes loads of fighting.

Videos and Screens

[2:20] Rivals of Aether trailer #1

8.8

OpenCritic Rating

Game is Recomended by 98% of Critics. There are 8 Critic Reviews.

OpenCritic

Nintendo Wire: 8.8 / 10

Overall, the fighting system in Rivals of Aether is far better and tighter than any other indie platform fighter I’ve played.

Full Review

Nintendo Life: 8 / 10 by PJ O'Reilly

Rivals of Aether is a deep and addictive platform fighter that borrows its base concepts from Super Smash Bros. and then runs off in its own direction, resulting in a surprisingly complex indie alternative to Nintendo's brawling behemoth. There's a fantastic roster of characters here each with their own special moves and unique abilities to dig into, every one of which is wonderfully animated in the game's crisp and clean 16-bit graphical style. Solo and local party play are well served with a bevvy of fun and flexible modes for up to four players and, if the developer can get the currently problematic online aspects of things in order, this all amounts to a game that can stand shoulder to shoulder with Smash or any other platform fighter we've played on Switch thus far.

Full Review

Destructoid: 9 / 10 by Nick Valdez

Instead of dancing around the "is it a fighting game or not?" question plaguing Nintendo's major mascot title for years, Rivals of Aether goes full throttle into the genre and delivers an experience the platform fighting genre deserves.

Full Review

96%

STEAM Score

All Reviews: Overwhelmingly Positive (30,501)

STEAM

Rivals of Aether for XONE and PC is a retro 2D fighting title with platformer elements. The game is created by Dan Fornace, an independent developer and former Microsoft employee who worked on such titles as Trials Evolution, Mark of the Ninja, Joe Danger 2: The Movie, Dust: An Elysian Tail, and Ori and the Blind Forest.

Plot

The action takes place in a fantasy world of Aether in which each civilisation can manipulate the elements of Water, Fire, Air, and Earth. The player takes control of one of the races and, by fighting, tries to unravel the mystery about the roots of the conflict that devours Aether.

Mechanics

The mechanics of Rivals of Aether draw inspiration from the Nintendo’s Super Smash Bros. series and combine elements of old-school 2D fighting games and classic platformers. Gameplay consists in fighting battles on diverse, two-dimensional arenas. However, these are not flat all the way – they feature loads of different platforms, like walls, roofs, tree branches. You can use them during combat by jumping from one ledge to another, just like in classic platformers. The characters available are immensely interesting – representing Aether’s races, they are crosses between different animal species. Apart from basic abilities and attacks, each possesses three powerful offensive skills that draw on one of the elements.

Game modes

The production by Dan Fornace offers a number of diversified game modes for single and multiplayer. In the Story Mode, you combat lots of AI-controlled enemies and in the meantime unfold Aether’s story and mysteries. In the Abyss mode, alone or with friends, you need to fend off waves of opponents and try to survive for as long as possible. In the Versus mode, available for local and Internet clashes, you combat other players in 1v1 or 2v2 modes.

Technical aspects

Released on XONE and PC, Rivals of Aether utilises old-school, 2D graphics inspired by 16-bit computers and consoles hits. The pixelled visuals are pleasant and provide extremely dynamic and smooth animation.

Last updated on April 13, 2017