Rushdown Revolt; the Interview

~ Author: Jacob Bullard

Rushdown Revolt is a platform fighting game made by “Vortex Games” that has finally had their official release of 1.0. Fighting games have heavy competition and devout fanbases, meaning that any title that releases has some serious work to do to even get noticed. Be it unique mechanics, characters, or style a game in this genre needs aces in all three to go up against industry veterans and long standing franchises. Does Rushdown Revolt (RR) have what it takes to last? After logging some hours in game, personally meeting members of Vortex Games in 2022, and conducting an online interview with “CAKO” (@CAKOvalik on Twitter) I have all I need to write this piece.

RR’s main mechanic is the “Rush” feature which allows you to follow up attacks with a rush, and continue a combo. This greatly increases the speed of gameplay and raises the skill cap superbly. Along with rush you can also cancel out of moves, and spend a “breakout” point you get once per life to break out of combos. This leaves some leniency for slip ups and doesn’t let you get punished too hard for making a single mistake. If you’ve been on the receiving end of a Mortal Kombat Flawless Victory, you can understand how helpful these features are. With the speed and features available the gameplay needs to be tight and sharp, in which RR holds up flawlessly. So the gameplay is different from the competitors, but what about the main draw of any fighting game? The characters!

With a cast of 12 characters, it isn’t the largest roster you’ve ever seen, but I would say that’s for the best. No character feels like a clone and everyone plays differently, no fox and falco’s here, each fighter feels unique! Another upside is none of the fighters seem overpowered or “broken” from what I can tell. The latest characters released were “Reina” a sword/chain whip fighter, and “The Torment” a heavy melee monster! Reina can switch stances and alter her playstyle completely, and my personal favorite so far The Torment is a large heavy hitting stage hog with big sweeping attacks and punishing grabs.

When I asked CAKO about the inspiration for the fighters and universe he had this to say.

CAKO: “We worked with Narrative writers so we had a foundation for the world they are all a part of, but a lot of the design of the characters emerged as we worked on them.Its only really in the last few months leading up to Version 1.0 that we found a clear personality emerge from our characters. Interestingly, the characters also started to infuse a bit of the players' personalities. As they played the characters, we would notice how they would play the characters and what kind of things they would do with them.”

With the mechanics and characters down I wanted to know about the difficulties of finding the style for RR, and what were the hardest parts of development? CAKO explained.

CAKO: “From the very beginning, we didn't know yet where we wanted to go, but we did know where we didn't want to be (where we started). Then it became a ton of trial and error. What works? What isn't working but could be made into a better version of itself? We started with a game that was going to look a LOT like Multiversus. At that time we focused on Tag Team. Then we discovered and leaned into the Dash Cancel System, but that homogenized all of our characters. So THEN we had to go back and repolish our characters, maybe over 20 different versions. Usually a good place for such things is "what's something so crazy that everyone tells you it's a horrible idea." Of course, they're basing their judgment on the context of games today. However, you have the opportunity to shape the context around your game so you can make even bad ideas become really unique and cool ones.Personally, I've made so many big and bad ideas and mistakes along the way. I learned a lot about myself and our team in the process.”

With the game officially released in 1.0 I wanted to know what was next for RR. Any big plans for esports? Was there anything that he wished had made the final cut? He had this to say.

CAKO: “It'll be what the community makes of it. We are focused on making the most fun game possible to play with friends in as many different ways as possible. We're taking inspiration from all of our favorite games to do so. As for what becomes competitive, we've learned it's best to let the community decide and run with it rather than try to force any particular plans or mode.”

And

CAKO: “I wouldn't say we're at the final cut even now. There's a lot we're working on and it's really exciting to see where the game will go from here.”

With my curiosity sated and a new understanding of what led this game to where it is, I can’t wait to see Rushdown Revolt gain more traction and make it to the big leagues. I believe it’s a great alternative to “Super Smash Bros”, and a much better contender than “Multiversus”. There’s a lot of heart, style, and fun in RR that I hope you all check out. I’ve been waiting to do this piece for a while now, and I’m glad I was finally able to put words to paper. Before I ended the interview I had one final question for CAKO. What was your favorite character to play or make?

CAKO: “To watch? Reina. To play? Zhurong. To make? The Torment.”