Nobody Creates Fan Games Like ZVitor

Free game engines such as M.U.G.E.N and Open Beats of Rage (OpenBOR) give gamers an opportunity to put together their dream fighting games. M.U.G.E.N allows for the creation of an old school arcade fighting game with just about any character one can imagine. Built on the foundation of Streets of Rage, OpenBOR gives game creators the platform to create their dream beat-em-up game. As of right now, my favorite such creator is ZVitor.

Seemingly a big fan of the Super Nintendo era, ZVitor specializes in fan games that would have fit perfectly on the SNES platform. Recently, I played and completed Marvel Infinity War–an excellent beat-em-up featuring 80+ playable characters with a story mode as well as other options for fans of the Marvel Universe. Along with the playable characters, there are also many non-playable Marvel characters that can function as A.I. characters that help you on any given level or bosses that you must defeat.

I had only meant to play a few levels and stop but I ended up passing the story mode in one sitting. Because you are taken back to the character selection screen throughout the story, it allows for the player to be able to use different heroes/villains instead of being stuck with the same person for each level. As a result, I used at least 20 different characters which made my playthrough feel varied. Though the controls are the same for all the characters, the way they move, punch, and perform their special moves are all different. I appreciated this variety. Powerful characters such as Thanos knock enemies further away. Jean Grey could make any enemy attack another enemy. Deadpool has martial arts, his blades, and guns to attack with. This game is simply one of the best Marvel games I’ve ever played.

Marvel Infinity War isn’t ZVitor’s only work. If you’re a DC Comics fan, he’s got you covered as well with Justice League Legacy. This is the DC equivalent to Marvel Infinity War as you are presented with 47 playable characters that also include crossover additions such as Spawn and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Again, the work and attention to detail is phenomenal. Even if you aren’t able to play as them, expect to see many of the popular DC characters throughout the game. For example, Catwoman isn’t playable but is one of the first bosses you will encounter. Like Marvel Infinity War, you have a selection of villains that are playable such as The Joker, Harley Quinn, Lex Luthor, and Darkseid. Also similar to its Marvel counterpart, there are other modes besides the main story option that offer decent replayability.

ZVitor seems to be continually working on new projects and I had the chance to also play through Mortal Kombat Defenders of the Realm. The 1.0 version was released earlier this month. He takes the original Mortal Kombat trilogy and transitions it from a fighting game to a side-scrolling beat-em-up. You’ll be taking on lots of enemies with boss battles featuring the MK warriors at the end of the levels. If the character was in the first three Mortal Kombat titles, then they are in the game. And don’t think that because it is a side-scroller that fatalities have been left out. Nope. They are brilliantly implemented into the gameplay in a way that feels natural. To play through the original MK story in this way showed that a significant amount of thought and creativity went into the project.

There are some other games you can check out on ZVitor’s website that are based on M.U.G.E.N such as Street Fighter Z, Justice League Task Force, and Avengers vs X-Men. I wanted to take some time and give some recognition to ZVitor because I’ve been very impressed with his work. And what’s amazing is that all of his games are free. All of the games can be played on PC, but Justice League Legacy and Mortal Kombat Defenders of the Realm also have Android compatibility.

If you’re into Marvel, DC, Street Fighter, and Mortal Kombat, then ZVitor is worth checking out. If you have, then what is your favorite game that he created? Click HERE to visit ZVitor’s page.

-TVGA