Smack Studio Review

Smack Studio is a platform fighter developed by ThirdPixel Interactive. I knew about the game months ahead due to stumbling upon it while scrolling through YouTube Shorts one day. It surprised me from a technological standpoint, so I instantly jumped on the chance to play the game as soon as it was available. So, what should you expect if you decide to pick up this game?

I may have downloaded a few characters...

Well, let’s start off with the gameplay as currently, all you can do is either play locally or online. If you’ve played Super Smash Bros. or Rivals of Aether before, you should be familiar with how you actually win a match: send your opponent flying off the stage by any means necessary. The only somewhat unique mechanic is the Ultra meter, where filling it up will allow you to unleash a powerful attack. It supports up to eight players for chaotic party goodness. There’s nothing too much wrong I can find here. It’s nothing special… but that’s not why I got interested in the first place.

Smack Studio’s defining feature is its Editor, which allows you to create any character you want using pixel art and turn it into a 3D model, or at least does its best to interpret the image to create a 3D-like effect. I actually tried it out using an old drawing I did as a teenager, just needed to separate the limbs to create a sprite sheet before importing it, which wasn’t a difficult process. Although, as it turns out, having a very dark character makes it very difficult to turn into 3D. Still, the tools you have to create a character are amazingly detailed and easy to understand, allowing you full control over animations and hitboxes. The game links to a YouTube playlist teaching you how to use it, which shouldn’t take more than an hour or two to get through and have a fully-rigged character ready to animate at the end. It’s incredible what’s possible with the Editor, and how quickly you can get into it.

When Spider-Man, Shovel Knight, Dante from Devil May Cry, and other Spider-Man... I forgot where this was going.

However, if you aren’t interested in making something yourself but still want to play as Sora from Kingdom Hearts, Danny Sexbang from Game Grumps, or stationary from… stationary, Smack Studio comes with Steam Workshop support with thousands of player-created characters and stages already available. You can create unique mechanics per character, too. For example, the Kiryu I downloaded has style switching, giving him different strengths and weaknesses and unique Ultra attacks per style. However, the base characters are still very fun to play as and can serve as a basis for your own characters.

It definitely needs a training mode, though, so I can try out moves and combos before I launch into a real match because with so many characters you can potentially download, you’ll need at least some practice to get a good feel.

Either use a sprite sheet or animate your custom character in-game and upload it to the Steam Workshop.

Actually, speaking of feeling, I do think that the controls feel a little stiff. It’s a bit sluggish, and that’s not because I keep choosing slower fighters. It just didn't feel like I could play at my own speed, although that could be because of my controller settings. I did need to remap my controls because it mixed up my sticks and buttons for some reason. But again, the options are quite detailed, allowing you to adjust the dead zones of your sticks and turn on some optional controls.

As mentioned before, Smack Studio has an online mode so you can fight with your friends or with random people all over the world. Custom characters can be used freely without any worry, so don’t be afraid to use your favourite fighter. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to test it out because I couldn't get into any games (mostly because the servers were empty), and the one person I did encounter when starting my own lobby left before I could even select a character.

I regret downloading Ultra Instinct Goku.

After spending quite a bit of time with Smack Studio, I can safely say it can be a fun time playing it casually, and has the great potential to get someone into animation with the Editor. That being said, I think the gameplay options and controls could use some improvement, and the menus could be better. Overall, it’s a nice time wheen you can both play with friends and express your creativity.

Credits to nagamer, SpyKids3D, Strident, davidkimball, Bread on Fire, Gabrielosaurus, and Mr_Ovatsu for creating the custom fighters seen in these images. They're amazing!