Windjammers is an odd game, being something of a mix between fighting games and sports games. The combination may sound rough, but it works really well, surprisingly! The game has more to it than it seems at a glance.
There are twelve characters (Biaggi is my goat) as well as a hidden unlockable character, all of which have either more strength or more speed to varying degrees. The variation may seem imperceptible, but it actually really helps each character feel unique, even if their normal moves are the same. Every character also has unique specials. In addition, there's a wide variety of stages, each having their own unique scoring system, adding further variety.
In short, Windjammers is simple on the surface with a fair amount of depth for anyone willing to try to learn. The online is rather sparse, unfortunately, which may dissuade folks from picking it up, but even then its still a good game to pop in with a friend for a little while.
There are twelve characters (Biaggi is my goat) as well as a hidden unlockable character, all of which have either more strength or more speed to varying degrees. The variation may seem imperceptible, but it actually really helps each character feel unique, even if their normal moves are the same. Every character also has unique specials. In addition, there's a wide variety of stages, each having their own unique scoring system, adding further variety.
In short, Windjammers is simple on the surface with a fair amount of depth for anyone willing to try to learn. The online is rather sparse, unfortunately, which may dissuade folks from picking it up, but even then its still a good game to pop in with a friend for a little while.
Unlike the more famous fighting games in the industry which include a variety of mechanics that might seem hard to master to a newcomer, Windjammers keeps it simple. Me and my friends love it, we have the time of our lives whenever we play (Irene, Nick if you see this, I beat your ass any day you want! <3)
This game is currently in the Humble Choice for May 2023, this is part of my coverage of the bundle. If you are interested in the game and it's before June 6th, 2022, consider picking up the game as part of the current monthly bundle.
An Arcade Sports game, a sequel to the original.
On Neo-Geo, there was an interesting game called Windjammers where players would fling a disc back and forth to score points. Windjammers 2 came out of nowhere reviving a game that had a cult following. This is like a HD remake of the original, now with online play, and the same arcade mode.
Did you notice I didn’t say they made it better? This feels very much like a remake of the original, and I’m sure fans of both might be able to point to different pieces, such as four new characters and such. However, they also are the target audience. This game doesn’t have a good tutorial, amounting to about 20 static images. The Main game is just a line of battles with three difficulties, where nothing is explained when you reach the bonus games, and online is just play against an opponent and that’s it. The problem is there is enough strategy to the game that it could have used a small tutorial mode, but it’s clear the developer made this a very bare-bones experience, perhaps because if it wasn’t trial and error, it would be even more straightforward.
Pick this up if you want to play a sports game against friends. The computer is way too good at the game, but also, playing through the game against the CPU will only take 30 minutes once you’re good enough. This is meant to be played against other players and online had only 5 players when I started the game. Play this in local mode, or maybe just play something else.
If you enjoyed this review or want to know what I think of other games in the bundle, check out the full review on or subscribe to my Youtube channel: https://youtu.be/JFv65vCu_dw
An Arcade Sports game, a sequel to the original.
On Neo-Geo, there was an interesting game called Windjammers where players would fling a disc back and forth to score points. Windjammers 2 came out of nowhere reviving a game that had a cult following. This is like a HD remake of the original, now with online play, and the same arcade mode.
Did you notice I didn’t say they made it better? This feels very much like a remake of the original, and I’m sure fans of both might be able to point to different pieces, such as four new characters and such. However, they also are the target audience. This game doesn’t have a good tutorial, amounting to about 20 static images. The Main game is just a line of battles with three difficulties, where nothing is explained when you reach the bonus games, and online is just play against an opponent and that’s it. The problem is there is enough strategy to the game that it could have used a small tutorial mode, but it’s clear the developer made this a very bare-bones experience, perhaps because if it wasn’t trial and error, it would be even more straightforward.
Pick this up if you want to play a sports game against friends. The computer is way too good at the game, but also, playing through the game against the CPU will only take 30 minutes once you’re good enough. This is meant to be played against other players and online had only 5 players when I started the game. Play this in local mode, or maybe just play something else.
If you enjoyed this review or want to know what I think of other games in the bundle, check out the full review on or subscribe to my Youtube channel: https://youtu.be/JFv65vCu_dw
Windjammers is pretty much Pong spliced with the DNA of a fighting game. Anything about different movesets, combos, specials, etc you could say about beating up dudes and dudettes in a fighting game you could say about tossing a frisbee in Windjammers. It's certainly more on the accessible side, but considering how, uh, loud it can get as a couch multiplayer game I'm sure it could hold up pretty well in a more competitive setting.
Apparently the game was big in France, and it was a French company that handled the Switch port and the subsequent sequel. The sequel is exactly what you want from any such thing. The basic moveset is unspoiled, and the new moves are integrated in a way that enhances the core. Ditto for the new court gimmicks. And since the company is French they made sure to make the new French character the hottest.
It's Windjammers 2 and it fucking rules.
Apparently the game was big in France, and it was a French company that handled the Switch port and the subsequent sequel. The sequel is exactly what you want from any such thing. The basic moveset is unspoiled, and the new moves are integrated in a way that enhances the core. Ditto for the new court gimmicks. And since the company is French they made sure to make the new French character the hottest.
It's Windjammers 2 and it fucking rules.
Follows the same line as the original NeoGeo AES release featuring over the top characters and locations, as well as fast paced gameplay. There are nods to not only the original game but the same time era and it's great. Just like the original, it offers fun and short pick-up-and-play sessions that are fun in short bursts.
- 🥏 -
Me mamo todo lo que rodea a esta secuela, nunca tuve la chance de jugar el primero, pero sin jugar el anterior siento que este es muy bueno, es demasiado rápido en sus controles y las partidas se vuelven una locura, tiene totalmente el espíritu árcade.
Lo unico que no me gustó como tal fue la apariciencia de la mayoría de personajes masculinos y un poquito la música.
Me mamo todo lo que rodea a esta secuela, nunca tuve la chance de jugar el primero, pero sin jugar el anterior siento que este es muy bueno, es demasiado rápido en sus controles y las partidas se vuelven una locura, tiene totalmente el espíritu árcade.
Lo unico que no me gustó como tal fue la apariciencia de la mayoría de personajes masculinos y un poquito la música.
this game is as addictive to play as the first one and ive gotten a few friends on board with this game and the first one and now its our go to competitive casual game to play together. for as addictive as the game is though, some of the new additions are just weird to me and im still flip floppy on how i feel about them.
the new characters are all a lot of fun, and the fact that theres a secret character in the game with disc man when you spin the stick in circles on the character select is really cool. some characters have supers that are a little bonkers but eventually you figure them out unless its the polish bodybuilder lady or disc man who i still dont really understand. at the same time some characters have supers that are just way too telegraphed and suck for that exact reason. these telegraphed ones are powerful when youve literally never played the game before, but they dont really ever work when youve played the game for a couple hours. the new mechanics are also a lot of fun too, but theyre also where i feel so conflicted about this game from a design standpoint. while mechanics like being able to strike the disc back before catching it or being able to jump and spike the disc down can feel cool to pull off they can just feel a little useless or way too hard to effectively use and in turn you just end up failing half the time you try incorporating them into your gameplay. not to say these moves have no practical applications at all, far from it, i think you can catch someone off guard with a spike or a well positioned strike every once in a while. the main issue for me is that it feels very easy to forget some of these additional mechanics when you're autopiloting to just using the standard throws and rolls all the time. considering how fast this game moves, when presented with many options it's easy to just default to the ones you know work the best and have been working the entire time, but it just sucks because it feels like due to the situational applications of these moves, it can sometimes feel hard to justify using them in those split second decisions you have to make. also, with the new stages, i think theyre all fine additions, nothing super crazy (except for casino that shits a meme and me and all of my friends hate it), but one thing that will drive me insane for the rest of the time that i play this game is the fact that some stages give 4 points for dropping the disc and some give 2. i get maybe from a competitive standpoint this gives players some options for stage counterpicks and strategy for some stages being more beneficial for certain types of players and matchups, but personally i just wish it was a consistent 2 points for drops on all of the stages with a little bit more variety in the layouts themselves because being able to sometimes get more points for dropping the disc than regularly scoring just feels so lame, especially when its a drop from just accidentally rolling past where the disc is gonna land
on the complete other side of the spectrum in terms of power, and its the one mechanic i have the most gripes with but also kinda like, there's the new super meter in this game that can really save your ass in a tight spot and it definitely adds a new layer to the game, but at the same time can feel stupid. for one, the offensive super is just a powered up version of your super that you can use whenever as long as it's full, even after the game resets when someone scores a point which just feels shitty because most of the time the supers in windjammers feel like they need to be earned and in this game you just have one button that does it for you whenever and better than the standard version. while super meter moves are flashy and cool, and not that hard to counter, it just feels a little unsatisfying at certain times. then, theres the defensive super which is easily the most powerful option in the game and also the most frustrating one for me to come to a conclusion on. while i do love the ability to catch a disc that flies past me by popping it up in the air or saving a disc that nearly dropped on the ground, it just feels like a get out of jail free card that makes the game way way too safe. since the defense super pops the disc up in the air, youre usually guaranteed a standard super, if not at least a return, or just any other option you choose like a jump or strike. the worst part of this super though is when both players have full meter and its just a test to see who uses it first, because if both players just use their defense supers on consecutive volleys, the second player that uses it just has an automatic advantage since the other person already used theirs first. this is one of the biggest headaches about this mechanic that leaves me uncertain on how to feel about the super meter as a whole and kinda makes the game feel a little more lame compared to the first when you think about some of the new additions
overall, even though i ripped into this game and broke apart why i do and dont love some of the aspects of it, its still fuckin windjammers and its a hype ass game. just sitting there with a friend cranking out short ass games that only last like 1-2 minutes each and going again over and over and over for the course of 2 hours is something i havent gotten to really feel with a competitive casual game like this in a while and it makes me happy to share an experience like this with other people. its extremely simple to pick up and getting a hang of the mechanics doesnt take too long so you can introduce this to anyone and theres a good chance youll get them invested in it. the big thing that just brings this game down a little bit is that when you're in the middle of or just finish a session of playing this game for a while you think about the game's balance and why it's maybe not the greatest it makes it hard to put it up there as an utterly perfect competitive game
edit:
i hate to make an edit to a review that's already as long as this one, but i just wanna say that some of what i couldn't make my mind up on i think i've come to appreciate more and ultimately like. that mainly goes for the jump-spike and strike/bunt mechanics as i think they actually have a pretty good place in this game.
the jump-spike is actually amazing for scoring easy points since the other player only has so much time to react and have the ability to pick up the disc since it's already flat on the ground. it's also a good way to get people to burn their super meters for a defensive super so they can pop the disc back up. you can also always jump and then just not spike the disc down too which is a nice little mixup to throw in there.
as for striking and bunting, considering the ruleset i play is 30 seconds first to 12 points, every second is extremely valuable, so much so that catching the disc can deny you the ability to throw the disc back since the animation can eat a second or two before you're able to throw it when the timer is about to run out. by having a move that makes it so that you can return the disc without having to catch it and waste precious time is genius. not to mention these mechanics greatly control the flow of the game as a well placed strike sends the disc back at full power and a bunt sends the disc at a very slow pace closer to the net on the opponent's side.
those are pretty much the main things i wanted to revise about this review. i think my feelings on the other mechanics are mostly the same, maybe a little less loose on some of the dislikes as its just a thing that you warm up to the more you play
the new characters are all a lot of fun, and the fact that theres a secret character in the game with disc man when you spin the stick in circles on the character select is really cool. some characters have supers that are a little bonkers but eventually you figure them out unless its the polish bodybuilder lady or disc man who i still dont really understand. at the same time some characters have supers that are just way too telegraphed and suck for that exact reason. these telegraphed ones are powerful when youve literally never played the game before, but they dont really ever work when youve played the game for a couple hours. the new mechanics are also a lot of fun too, but theyre also where i feel so conflicted about this game from a design standpoint. while mechanics like being able to strike the disc back before catching it or being able to jump and spike the disc down can feel cool to pull off they can just feel a little useless or way too hard to effectively use and in turn you just end up failing half the time you try incorporating them into your gameplay. not to say these moves have no practical applications at all, far from it, i think you can catch someone off guard with a spike or a well positioned strike every once in a while. the main issue for me is that it feels very easy to forget some of these additional mechanics when you're autopiloting to just using the standard throws and rolls all the time. considering how fast this game moves, when presented with many options it's easy to just default to the ones you know work the best and have been working the entire time, but it just sucks because it feels like due to the situational applications of these moves, it can sometimes feel hard to justify using them in those split second decisions you have to make. also, with the new stages, i think theyre all fine additions, nothing super crazy (except for casino that shits a meme and me and all of my friends hate it), but one thing that will drive me insane for the rest of the time that i play this game is the fact that some stages give 4 points for dropping the disc and some give 2. i get maybe from a competitive standpoint this gives players some options for stage counterpicks and strategy for some stages being more beneficial for certain types of players and matchups, but personally i just wish it was a consistent 2 points for drops on all of the stages with a little bit more variety in the layouts themselves because being able to sometimes get more points for dropping the disc than regularly scoring just feels so lame, especially when its a drop from just accidentally rolling past where the disc is gonna land
on the complete other side of the spectrum in terms of power, and its the one mechanic i have the most gripes with but also kinda like, there's the new super meter in this game that can really save your ass in a tight spot and it definitely adds a new layer to the game, but at the same time can feel stupid. for one, the offensive super is just a powered up version of your super that you can use whenever as long as it's full, even after the game resets when someone scores a point which just feels shitty because most of the time the supers in windjammers feel like they need to be earned and in this game you just have one button that does it for you whenever and better than the standard version. while super meter moves are flashy and cool, and not that hard to counter, it just feels a little unsatisfying at certain times. then, theres the defensive super which is easily the most powerful option in the game and also the most frustrating one for me to come to a conclusion on. while i do love the ability to catch a disc that flies past me by popping it up in the air or saving a disc that nearly dropped on the ground, it just feels like a get out of jail free card that makes the game way way too safe. since the defense super pops the disc up in the air, youre usually guaranteed a standard super, if not at least a return, or just any other option you choose like a jump or strike. the worst part of this super though is when both players have full meter and its just a test to see who uses it first, because if both players just use their defense supers on consecutive volleys, the second player that uses it just has an automatic advantage since the other person already used theirs first. this is one of the biggest headaches about this mechanic that leaves me uncertain on how to feel about the super meter as a whole and kinda makes the game feel a little more lame compared to the first when you think about some of the new additions
overall, even though i ripped into this game and broke apart why i do and dont love some of the aspects of it, its still fuckin windjammers and its a hype ass game. just sitting there with a friend cranking out short ass games that only last like 1-2 minutes each and going again over and over and over for the course of 2 hours is something i havent gotten to really feel with a competitive casual game like this in a while and it makes me happy to share an experience like this with other people. its extremely simple to pick up and getting a hang of the mechanics doesnt take too long so you can introduce this to anyone and theres a good chance youll get them invested in it. the big thing that just brings this game down a little bit is that when you're in the middle of or just finish a session of playing this game for a while you think about the game's balance and why it's maybe not the greatest it makes it hard to put it up there as an utterly perfect competitive game
edit:
i hate to make an edit to a review that's already as long as this one, but i just wanna say that some of what i couldn't make my mind up on i think i've come to appreciate more and ultimately like. that mainly goes for the jump-spike and strike/bunt mechanics as i think they actually have a pretty good place in this game.
the jump-spike is actually amazing for scoring easy points since the other player only has so much time to react and have the ability to pick up the disc since it's already flat on the ground. it's also a good way to get people to burn their super meters for a defensive super so they can pop the disc back up. you can also always jump and then just not spike the disc down too which is a nice little mixup to throw in there.
as for striking and bunting, considering the ruleset i play is 30 seconds first to 12 points, every second is extremely valuable, so much so that catching the disc can deny you the ability to throw the disc back since the animation can eat a second or two before you're able to throw it when the timer is about to run out. by having a move that makes it so that you can return the disc without having to catch it and waste precious time is genius. not to mention these mechanics greatly control the flow of the game as a well placed strike sends the disc back at full power and a bunt sends the disc at a very slow pace closer to the net on the opponent's side.
those are pretty much the main things i wanted to revise about this review. i think my feelings on the other mechanics are mostly the same, maybe a little less loose on some of the dislikes as its just a thing that you warm up to the more you play
Like, it's fucking mad this exists.
My enjoyment simply came down to whether I had people in the room to play against: when I did, it's probably the best thing I'll play this year; in any other setting? It's an exceptional sports arcade title that just lacks enough in its single-player campaign (and I have no time for online play - call me a coward idgaf).
The best thing about WJ2 is how it doesn't fuck around with the formula - if you spent any time with OG WJ you know what you're getting, just with a cleaner presentation, new characters and arenas.
With all this said, I only want to play it when I’ve got an opponent in the room with me - which isn’t all that often.
My enjoyment simply came down to whether I had people in the room to play against: when I did, it's probably the best thing I'll play this year; in any other setting? It's an exceptional sports arcade title that just lacks enough in its single-player campaign (and I have no time for online play - call me a coward idgaf).
The best thing about WJ2 is how it doesn't fuck around with the formula - if you spent any time with OG WJ you know what you're getting, just with a cleaner presentation, new characters and arenas.
With all this said, I only want to play it when I’ve got an opponent in the room with me - which isn’t all that often.
Windjammer 2 is a game with an absolutely fantastic concept with a fun artstyle and characters bogged down by an absurdly high barrier to entry. Despite being one of the better day one releases on Game Pass this year, it's sad to see this flop all because of its lackluster tutorial and bare bones content. If there had been an easy to get into tutorial, a practice mode, some challenge modes and a sizable online experience I think this game could've done amazing but as it is, it's just going to be a game most people pass on because it felt like the fighting game community would love it by default. Sad to see this spiritual successor to a NeoGeo classic go unloved but that's just what happens when you don't put that passion needed to make a game truly great.