Iji

My brother sits not two inches away from me, our elbows brushing and occasionally jabbing each other. With my laptop appropriately nestled in my lap we lean forward and stare at an abstraction of two grizzled swordsmen locking blades, hunting for an opening. After a quick exchange of blows, all blocked, we retreat to our respective corners. For a moment we wait. Rushing towards the center, I blast an attack his way. With my sword about to connect my brother raises his weapon in defense, only to realize (too late) that I threw a feint. I seize this opportunity and deal the killing blow, splattering copious red stuff across the screen. And my score count just went up one.

The Black Heart reminds me of being four and playing Ninja Turtles Tournament Fighters, this is something equally pure. This is a demake of PS1 hit Bushido Blade, and I actually like it more than the original title. It takes the rock, paper, scissors trichotomy of attack, block, and feint, merges it with precise timing and adds a good measure of hostility by letting you take only one hit. It turns into a mental exercise once you quickly get the controls down, leaving you to guess what your opponent will do and acting accordingly. This is multiplayer laid bare, in the trappings of an Atari title. Not bad for a game made in two hours.

There isn't a single player mode or any of that other glitz, but you don't need it. All this game requires is a friend, foe, or sibling and for the two of you to agree on when the game ends (my brother and I play first to 10, but we did a first to 100 once). Play and see how well you know each other.

N.B. The game's in a .rar archive, but hopefully that shouldn't be a problem for you. If it is I linked to WinRar, which should help you out. And if Dessgeega or Increpare are in attendance they should plug KotM, as it's cool stuff.