Martial Arts: Capoeira

Game Website

So, I had high hopes, but was ultimately disappointed. The motion capture is good and the moves flow together nicely, but the controls are clunky (including a tutorial which can't be completed on most computer keyboards because of the combination of keys it requires to be pressed at once). Apparently, it was released for the Wii as well. I'm wondering if that one runs any better than the PC version.

Yeah, it looks like one of those games developed on the cheap, and reminds me of "The Deadliest Warrior". And I'm not seeing what you mean by fluid motions, because the hit detection on this one looks really wonky and the characters are oddly stiff when hit.

I have a copy of the game. Bizarrely enough, all of their example gameplay videos are worse than actual gameplay. One of the few online reviews I found indicated that the gameplay videos are 2-3 years old and probably from an older version.

I picked up a gamepad, and it looks like the tutorial doesn't work even once one rules out keyboard interference (inability to press certain keys in combination). Annoyingly enough, the game directional pad doesn't work on the character selection screen, and all of the gamescreen prompts continue to refer to specific keyboard keys. The gameplay itself is still kind of a mixed bag. Still no block key, still fairly limited ways to dodge. I can't get anywhere in the game, even on the easiest difficulty setting, but I think that's partly because I'm a button hammerer at heart, and I really get the impression that this game requires careful timing.

Oh, and different characters do have different moves, although he moveset is about as varied as your average wrestling game.

And... apparently apparently this is being released again. No idea what happened to the former publishers, but they seem to have taken their Facebook page down.

Weird I remember seeing the box art on DA and thinking it was just a nice artwork. No idea it was for an actual game!!!

But like do the characters play differently enough? That's a big deal.

At least in the 2012 version, they do play differently. The stats have an actual effect in game with larger and slower characters hitting harder, and also less hurt by blows while the smaller and more athletic ones can more readily dodge. The basic moves are very similar between character, similar to early Mortal Kombat where basic punches and kicks were functionally identical. The more advanced kicks, particularly at the end of chains, vary more. There really were no "special moves" like you might see in most fighting games. Rather, it was like most wrestling games in that it was a standard input where the actual moves varied but it was the same button pushes. Unlike most wrestling games, no customization.

I haven't played this new release. I picked up the one version in 2012 as a beta build, and I've since yet to find someone who actually bought a copy, so it may be that it was not officially released then. I'm tempted, but the 2012 version didn't thrill me and I fear that they just rebundled the old game under a new publisher.

So this is pretty much Capoeira meets UFC, minus the ground and pound? That's what the trailer led me to believe, anyway.

I guess mentioning Capoeira Fighter would be in bad taste? Well, someone had to do it, why not overly long screen name?

Huh. I hadn't realized someone had fleshed out that page. :) I do not consider it in bad taste for all that that is worth.

The fact that it's nothing but story tropes tells me the gameplay is lacking, sadly.

I like the idea and presentation a lot, but Capoeira Fighter 3 is sadly as close as we'll likely ever get to a good Capoeira game.

I have all kinds of ideas in my head as to what it would take to make a good Capoeira game, but my execution has been lousy. I suspect that doing it right would involve a system which dynamically handles balance and the game's algorithm adjusts to make moves transition smoothly. And, of course, if you wanted to actually model Capoeira, you should get points for just missing and moving along with the music rather than by pummeling your opponent. Probably the best way to model the movements would be through a control stick method with my visualized method involving two analog sticks like at the bottom of a PS 2 controller. The left would roughly govern movement and the right striking. The shoulder buttons would probably be used to modify the movements, changing between movement, strikes, blocking, ducking, etc.