Toribash taking a turn on WiiWare
by JC Fletcher 
{ Jan 27th 2009 at 2:00PM }
Toribash is an exceptionally bizarre game: a turn-based fighting game controlled by positioning a fighter's limbs into an attack move and then unfreezing time. The resulting melee is stilted, awkward -- and unexpectedly, graphically violent. The version shown here and in the video after the break isn't the final Wii release, but it is a promising work in progress. Oh, and we feel obligated to state this explicitly, because it's often important to a lot of Wii fans: hey, check it out, it's a violent game on Wii.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
mr mobius @ Jan 27th 2009 2:04PM
Errr..... What the hell?
Markez (Rubberband Banjo till Death) @ Jan 27th 2009 2:09PM
I agree.
But am intrigued...
schuyler @ Jan 27th 2009 2:08PM
I wonder if they're gonna leave the blood in the game.
Moptimus Slime (Leader of the Ryan Scott Defense Force, Ultrastiq Revolutionary) @ Jan 27th 2009 5:52PM
No, they'll just replace it with "sweat"
Apollo @ Jan 27th 2009 2:21PM
Reminds me of the crash dummies
Archon @ Jan 27th 2009 2:23PM
I just realized something. I miss the 'Tagged' and 'Filed under' parts of the news. I used to browse through the front page by those, so I could find content that interests me, more easily...
Also, I played the game in question in its original form and I don't think that it will be something everyone will like. It's very hard to master. The controls, while not complicated require you to synchronize your moves to create wicked moves and combos. It's very fun once you get a hang of it, though.
Birn @ Jan 27th 2009 2:25PM
I think I get it...It's like rock em sock em robots 2.0?
RockMan_Forte @ Jan 27th 2009 2:48PM
It looks like a 2 minute fight in the game will take 30 minutes real time.
Eeeew.
*crosses fingers for a 'Turbo' edition*
WiredKnight @ Jan 27th 2009 2:51PM
In the PC version, you can choose how long the fight lasts, how long each move takes, and how long players get to choose their moves.
At the end of the fight, they show a replay of the whole thing in real-time.
With the level of control they give the players, there's really no way to rush making moves.
xeleion @ Jan 29th 2009 4:14AM
Sure you don't wanna wait for 10 years and just get the HD Remix of it?
WiredKnight @ Jan 27th 2009 2:49PM
This game is awesome!
Not sure how well it will work on the Wii though. I think it'd be better for the DS so you can use the touchscreen to adjust the joints.
mongoos32 @ Jan 27th 2009 2:52PM
I remember playing this on my computer with my best friend. It's super fun to play against people and very strange to work with. After getting used to it, you'll have no trouble ripping people's heads off, doing front-flips, and all in all tearing people apart limb by limb --all the while it's intriguing visual style.
scar_maker @ Jan 27th 2009 2:58PM
People who have played this will know that the video up there is pretty shady. Look for decent Videos on youtube, and pretend its for the wii, youll get a better picture, trust me, it can be rather intense.
Mr Khan @ Jan 27th 2009 3:03PM
Neat, and a welcome turn for WiiWare, often limited to less violent fare
Billqvist @ Jan 27th 2009 3:12PM
Det var som fan, Hampa.
ChromeAlchemist @ Jan 27th 2009 4:10PM
Toribash is very much welcome on WiiWare, hopefully an enhanced version will be on the way, as it is quite an addictive game but more features will make it all the better.
Moptimus Slime (Leader of the Ryan Scott Defense Force, Brushed With FAME) @ Jan 27th 2009 4:35PM
Cool, hope it hits the $10 sweet-spot.
SilverChaos @ Jan 27th 2009 4:41PM
I just feel like the controls won't work very well, unless they make turns take a long time, which would grow boring quickly. And the entire point of Toribash is playing online, where the Wii's online is very lacking.
WiredKnight @ Jan 27th 2009 4:56PM
It doesn't get boring, because both player's take their "turns" at the same time.
It's not really a turn-based game, it's phased-time. Each player decides their moves and then both characters move at once.
gst @ Jan 27th 2009 5:42PM
So its like a game of rock, paper, scissors, backflip, facepunch, roundhouse, suplex, wild-limb-flailing?
SilverChaos @ Jan 27th 2009 5:47PM
Oh I know how it works, I still play TB on the PC.
When I really look at it, I suppose it would work fine.
I'm just a M+KB guy.
WiredKnight @ Jan 27th 2009 9:39PM
I hear ya. I can't imagine how they're going to figure out the control scheme.
skulfuk @ Jan 27th 2009 5:34PM
This might sound a tad biased coming from one of the community admins but here goes.
As it stands the Wii version has features that aren't even in the PC version yet, so don't worry about it being a half-assed port.
Yeah the main part of Toribash is the online play, and to look at it might seem boring - you have to think of it as a cross between chess & Mortal Kombat. There's a lot of tactics required, and the learning curve can be quite steep but it's worth it.
The possibilities are endless, players can texture their 'tori', choose new joint colours etc. And although the movement on the short video clip looks kinda robotic - more experienced players will produce results more fluid in motion.
A good example of this can be found here:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=dfu6YkqYG3k
If you want an idea of what to expect give the PC version a go.
Personally I can't wait until I can play from the sofa. ^_^
Blue_Falcon @ Jan 27th 2009 5:50PM
Between Cave Story, Super Meat Boy, Defend Your Castle and this...it seems like WiiWare becoming the destination for the free indie games getting onto the consoles. I wonder how long until Desktop Tower Defense, the Knytt series, La-Mulana, or anything from devs like Cactus or Annie make it to the WiiWare.
gst @ Jan 27th 2009 5:57PM
Minor issues: The characters' limbs appear to break off a bit too easily. It seems like playing Chess + Mortal Kombat except with maybe 1/10 of an average health bar. I can just see getting annoyed both with being kicked in half within the first move of the game and the enemy player dying just as fast,
Hopefully there is a option to turn up the health a little and make the duels last a little longer than they appear to (and yes I know there are breaks in time to set up moves, but still).
The blood effects are actually kind of distracting and annoying. There is something unnerving about stick figures spurting blood from their monochromatic limbs, and, from a practical standpoint, there is just so much of it that it gets in the way. I often can't tell in the videos whose limb has just come off or what limb it was due to the blood.
I am hoping it can be turned down/turned off. If not, there was a video where the blood was a light blue... didn't look as much like blood and wasn't as unnerving or distracting.
Srrwb @ Jan 27th 2009 7:05PM
well there currently exist options in the PC version that increases the dismember threshold, on the other hand that hit looked really weak, and shouldn't have dismembered, but a weird glowey effect came from the shoulder, so maybe there are power-ups or something.
Erik Sagen @ Jan 27th 2009 10:32PM
Good news to me. I played the first Toribash and while I never could get the hang of it I found it to be fun to tinker with.
Anonymousaurus @ Jan 28th 2009 1:24AM
i wonder if they'll have the sword mod in this wiiware version.