Lethal League Blaze
Released on October 24 2018 for PC (Windows, Mac, and Linux) and other consoles (Xbox, Playstation, and Switch) on July 12 2019, Lethal League Blaze is a game that I return to from time to time. As the time continues to go by it seems to almost come across as a fine wine, getting better with it's age. While there has been a lack of updates since the game studio's latest release (Bomb Rush Cyberfunk), it does not mean there is a lack of replayability.
The Story
The story for this game is a bit hard to follow, certain aspects have to be read about online on team reptile's twitter or found on the wiki. Stuff like the fact that in the game's universe nothing outside of shine city exists and that religion got retconned. (RIP Dice's Buddhism) The main gist of the story is that in Shine City there was a unnamed ball game that grew popular due to not much else going on. The game became illegal because someone died while playing it. Now the current players compete with each other in street games and tournaments to keep the game alive. They are called the Lethal League.
Gameplay
Lethal League Blaze has a gameplay loop that makes neurons activate and adrenaline start pumping. You hit ball, ball starts to move. Opponent hits ball, ball moves faster and can hurt you. Ball smacks you upside the head, you get up and learn. Rinse and repeat until you manage to get the ball moving at speeds of one million and both sides lose their shit and start screaming whenever the other side hits it. This game gets intense and is not for the faint of heart however I have very fond memories of playing it.
Outside of hitting balls and screaming, each character has a unique playstyle that has to be accounted for. Different characters will hit the ball at different angles and each character has a special move that can turn the tide in their favor or backfire if their opponent predicts it. Theres a lot of maps with cool visuals and funky fresh beats to listen to. Depending on if the match has them enabled or not, power ups are also a thing. Some of the power ups are not so fair lol. They are fine for playing with friends but I would not want them in a tournament.
How to play
You can buy Lethal League Blaze on Steam, Switch, Playstation 4 and 5, and Xbox. This game was released in 2018 on a ton of platforms so it is very accessible and not something people need to worry about archiving at the moment. However this could change at a moments notice, I will try to update this section if it does.
This game has online functionality. Steam Users can view the Steam Charts Page to get a idea of how many players are online.