Them’s Fightin’ Herds is a fighting game based on the animated TV series “My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic” Initially, it set out to include characters from the show, but Hasbro stepped in and said, “absolutely not.” Naturally, as any good fighting game player would do Mane6, the developer, adapted the groundwork and created Them’s Fightin’ Herds.
Game Name: Them’s Fightin’ Herds
Platform(s): PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S (reviewed), Switch, Steam
Publisher(s): Modus Games
Developer(s): Mane6
Release Date: October 18th, 2022
Released on Steam in 2018, Them’s Fightin’ Herds has been building a budding secret community and offline events. Some new updates will turn that secret offline community into a Fighting Game Community (FGC) phenomenon for anime fighters as Them’s Fightin’ Herds is finally getting a console release, complete with online cross-platform play! This title will make its way to the PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and Switch on October 18th, 2022.
Instead of just ponies, the game is filled with all hoofed animals who chew the cud and some who don’t. Such as Arizona, the Calf; Oleander, the unicorn; Paprika, the llama; Pom the lamb; Tianhuo the Longma — for those not in the know, a Longma is a fabled winged horse with dragon scales in Chinese mythology. Velvet the Doe, and finally, the latest character added to the roster in 2020, Shanty the literal Goat. Shanty is so rambunctious, and I’m in love with her and her Jamaican bandana. She sounds like a pirate more than anything, but we’ll take what we can get for Caribbean representation.
This 2D anime fighter video game includes other game variations like a top-down RPG style for story mode and another mini-game in a dungeon. Here, you race to collect the most mines and can also fight other players in the dungeon and collect rewards, like skins, for winning.
The fighting game portion is basic, filled with directional inputs and light, medium, heavy, and magic attacks represented by the letters A (light), B (medium), C (heavy), and D (magic), and should be familiar to those who play SNK and ArcSys fighting games. What would a fighting game be without a meter? There is a super and magic meter—the magic meter fuels magic-based attacks, which can be combined with regular attacks, complimented by the super meter, which allows players to unleash super attacks.
Story mode’s top-down view turns into a side-scrolling platformer while learning or using skills. You won’t get through the story mode without learning and mastering basic skills like attack, movement, and jump-ins. It turns out that starting the story mode is an achievement only 2.9% of the community has unlocked. With it coming to consoles, that number could go up.
Them’s Fightin’ Herds quickly drew the attention of top fighting game players like Kizzie Kay, a competitive player on the esports team Panda. Along with its original audience Bronies, the adult male fan base of My Little Pony. Kizzie Kay talks about why the community is thriving with its offline events, “The learning curve is great. It’s very easy for people who’ve never played a fighting game before and easy for people who have played a fighting game before.”
He makes a good point. Them’s Fightin’ Herds has a number of difficulty modes when it comes to the single-player content. These difficulty modes range from being perfect for those who’ve never touched a fighting game in their lives, medium-difficulty modes for those who’ve dabbled in fighting games and are attempting to knock the rust off, while hardcore fighting fans will be happy with the hard-as-nails difficulty mode setting that I’d only recommend for the hardcore fighting game fan who’s looking to see what Them’s Fightin’ Herds is all about.
Now, I’m not trying to scare you away, as Them’s Fightin’ Herds is beginner friendly and will allow you to ease your way into it. It’s similar to what Capcom is attempting to do with Street Fighter 6? This attempt to appeal to a broader audience could bring more gamers into the fold, which is essential for the game’s overall health. Going further, Them’s Fightin’ Herds, again similar to Street Fighter 6, also has a replay function that allows you to watch recorded matches frame by frame to see where you can improve.
Them’s Fightin’ Herds does just that; it has tools to help beginners learn the basics of fighting games, while helping seasoned players get better and stay on top of their game.
Perhaps in 10 years, we’ll be listening to interviews from EVO champions, and they’ll be saying how they won Mortal Kombat 21, all thanks to their starter fighting game, Them’s Fightin’ Herds.
To recap all the modes of Them’s Fightin’ Herds:
- Streamlined Combat – 4-button fighting mechanics, magic system, enhanced super attack, and juggle decay to prevent infinite combos.
- Story Mode – An episodic adventure filled with exploration, combat challenges, minigames, and boss fights!
- Local Versus and Online Matchmaking – Fight opponents offline or battle across the globe with GGPO’s powerful rollback netcode.
- Tutorial and Training Modes – Learn the ropes with guided tutorials, practice combos in the data-rich training room, test your skills with premade combo trials or create your own to share with friends.
- Replay System – Record your matches, then review every detail frame-by-frame!
- Pixel Lobby – Explore a top-down visual lobby and meet other players. Customize your avatar using resources collected through the hidden Salt Mines, a dungeon crawl minigame that pits players against waves of NPC predators… and each other!
- Dynamic Music System – Rockin’ battle music adapts to the characters to make every match feel like a clash of champions.
Them’s Fightin’ Herds Deluxe Edition is available on all consoles for $39.99. The base game is available for $19.99.
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Summary
For a fighting game that came out in 2018 and is finally reaching consoles, along with the cross-platform play function following the console release, it’s a really cute game. It really grew from one concept to another but still managed to keep the basis of it which is cute hoofed animals duking it out with magic players.
