#IDARB is a 2D platformer mixed with soccer, hockey,
basketball, and a little Super Smash Bros thrown in for good measure, and it is
one of the must fun and addictive local multiplayer games on Xbox One. It is crazy in all the best ways and well
worth a look. See our review for
details.Game Details
- Publisher: Other Ocean
- Developer: Other Ocean
- ESRB Rating: “E” for Everyone
- Genre: Platformer, Sports
- Pros: Awesome multiplayer; great controls; fun concept; tons of character sprites
- Cons: Inflexible online offerings
- MSRP: $15
#IDARB is a multiplayer 2D sports game where teams try to
score points by getting the ball into the opposing team’s goal. The basics of the game are that taking shots
from further away, and by connecting multiple passes between teammates before
shooting, the goals are worth more points.
The game is playable and pretty fun with just two-players one-on-one,
but really picks up in 2-on-2, 3-on-3, and 4-on-4 matches where teamwork and strategy
can really pay off.
There is a single-player “story” mode that lets you play
with and against A.I. but it just isn’t nearly as fun as playing with other
real people. You’re far better off
playing in multiplayer either locally or online with up to 8 people. One thing worth noting is that online play
is limited to how many local players you have, so if you’re by yourself you can
only play 1v1, or if there are two local players you can only play 2v2. Its kind of strange that you can’t join
teams of other players.
Gameplay in #IDARB is ridiculously fun because the controls
are really intuitive and responsive.
Running around and jumping from platform to platform, throwing the ball,
and sending out a pulse to interrupt opposing players are all just a super
simple button press away. The game also
just plain feels good to play.
“Responsive” really is the perfect word to describe it. You’re always in full control, which makes
skillful play very satisfying to pull off.
The game is fun with just two players, but get a full 4v4 game going and
#IDARB gets really, really nuts.
An interesting feature of #IDARB is that the game has a
number of customization options. You
can make your own sprite-based characters and even make custom background
music, all in the game itself. You can
share your creations and download other players’, which is awesome. The game also comes with a huge number of
pre-made sprites with characters from Telltale Games titles, Halo, Rareware,
Divekick, and much more.
The game also has extensive social media integration and you
can even see a live Twitter feed of tweets about the game scroll across the
bottom of the screen as you play. There
are even things called “hash bombs” where random passers by can influence your
game based on the hashtags they use. It
is totally nuts. There is even a
Twitch-focused fantasy gambling mode where you and your Twitch viewers watch
two teams of A.I. players battle it out while dropping hash bombs on them.
The presentation is pretty appealing in #IDARB because it
chose a theme – blocky oldschool sprites – and stuck with it. The arenas and characters look great and it
is always easy to tell what is going on – until you have 8 people going at it,
at least.
