Super Homebrew War Review – A Fun Single-Screen Fighter if You Have Multiple People To Play With!

To say that Super Smash Bros had an impact on the gaming industry is a huge understatement. It’s famous for having Nintendo characters beating each other up in a great 4 player romp. I even like one of its early commercials a ton (YouTube)! So, it’s no surprise that some homebrew developers would want to do the same thing for their favorite Indie characters. The game that does this is Super Homebrew War on the NES and Indie Heroes Collection 1 on the Evercade.

It’s a single-screen Fighter/Action Platformer hybrid that includes dozens of Indie characters from Indie Heroes Collection 1 and other games. Some include Henry from Flea!, Kubo from KUBO 3, Dinky from Twin Dragons, and more. In fact, one of the coolest things about it is that this Evercade version has exclusive characters not found on the original NES cart. Plus, if you play it on the Evercade VS-R, up to 4 players can battle it out together. I was able to play it in 3-player mode with 1 additional CPU opponent.

Game Modes

Once you have chosen your characters and level, you then pick the game mode. Some available choices include Survival, King of the Hill, or just who can defeat a certain number of opponents the quickest. The variety of modes is pretty impressive. There’s even one called “Chicken” where you need to survive as long as possible as a chicken to win. It’s pretty funny!

Concerning the fighting itself, the game starts at a fast pace. There’s no countdown timer. You just start jumping on each other’s heads to defeat them like in Super Mario Bros. There’s also “!” Blocks to hit that give power ups. There’s a good variety of these, with some including a punching bag from Super Bat Puncher, the hot chili from Twin Dragons, and more. These are particularly useful, although some are less exciting. Such as a lightning bolt that slowly falls down the screen repeatedly or the paper airplane that does the same, except it flies from left to right.

However, the power ups are not a big focus in some other modes, such as King of the Hill. That one has a square that is shown on the screen at certain times and every second you’re in it you get a point. Whoever gets to the specified score first wins the game. Speaking of which, all the game modes start with 10 points to win, with you being able to change this value up to 50 for those who want a longer game.

Enemy AI

Sadly, two modes demonstrate a weakness in the game, that being poor AI. Even if you have a lot of AI characters playing, they will always just try to defeat each other by jumping on their heads. Nobody stays away from the action in Survival mode to preserve their lives. Likewise, in King of the Hill computer-controlled characters are blind to the indicated square area. They don’t actively seek it out, or jump into it repeatedly to score points.

Other Things I Like

Still, regardless of which mode you’re playing, Super Homebrew War is loaded with tons of references to other Indie Games. I actually liked watching the title screen because different characters would walk across with their name and the game they’re from listed. It was great to learn of earlier Indie releases through it. And of course, I’ve already mentioned the special weapons that are from other titles as well.

These can really turn the tide of a battle if used effectively, especially depending on the game mode. After finishing a fight, you can press a button to just replay it with the same settings and characters, go to a new map with the same mode but different CPU opponents, or exit to the menu This was really appreciated because it shows a good deal of thought concerning the game’s design and making it an easily playable party title. In that regard, I believe the game does that really well.

Music and Sound Effects

Beyond the game modes and characters, I want to recognize that the music is quite good. It’s popping and fits with the graphical style and tone of the game. It was something that I enjoyed a good deal as I played it by myself and also with my family members.

Graphics

Since this is a NES-developed title, the graphics are admittedly a bit limited. There’s no parallax scrolling and all of the stages just take up 1 screen. The diversity of the character sprites is probably my favorite thing about the game’s look. Some characters are tiny while others are pretty large. Concerning the stages again, I believe there are 8 stages in the game and they look all right. Although, what I enjoy about them is how they play quite different from each other.

Control

And as you move around in the stages, it’s worth noting that you are able to go from one side of the screen and appear on the other. Thanks to that, and the game’s high speed, there’s a good deal of mobility in the game. I didn’t have any serious issues with the control of my characters, with one button jumping and another having you use an item if you have one. Part of me does wish the game was a bit slower, though. Even so, at least the speed of the game isn’t too while that it becomes difficult to play. I think most people will be able to play it and have a pretty good time, at least in multiplayer.

Fun Factor

The reason why I say pretty good time is that I don’t think Super Homebrew War is incredibly enjoyable. It’s difficult for me to put my finger on why that is the case, really. The only “big” issue I found was that I think the hit detection is a bit lacking. There were many times where I was crushed by a character when I thought it would go the other way. Still, I liked the game a good deal, but I am not sure about its longevity in a party setting. Even with so much going for it.

Of course, one big reason I liked the game is because I played it mostly in a multiplayer setting. If one plays the game as a single player only, I could definitely see why people wouldn’t like it. There’s nothing to unlock. Nor is there a story mode. Plus, it isn’t flashy. Players who don’t have someone else with them will likely just play a few rounds of it and move on to something else. Especially since the AI doesn’t adjust for the King of the Hill and Survival modes.

Summary

Still, I cannot overlook the game’s quality design with the menu system, large number of characters and good range of stages. I even like the music a good deal. Again, I didn’t think the game was tons of fun, but I think it deserves a positive rating. For those who will only play this as a single player, I’d recommend viewing this game as Mixed instead.

Super Homebrew War is available at Itch.io for free. Note: There are at least three different versions of this game. See this page from Moby Games for links to info on each edition of the title.

For those curious, my last two reviews on Evercade hardware include FoxyLand and KUBO 2, with Air-Sea Battle on the Atari 2600 being my most recent review.

Title: Super Homebrew War (Itch.io)
Genre: Single-screen Fighter/Action Platformer
Year Released: 2018 and 2021 on the Evercade
Developer: Nathan Tolbert (X), also known as gauauu (Itch.io)
Available On: NES, Itch.io, and Evercade on Indie Heroes Collection 1
Price Paid: $1.14, or $16.00 for Indie Heroes Collection 1

Remember, we can have different opinions about the games we play. If you like something more (or less) than I do, both of our perspectives are valid.