Parents' Guide to Ultra Space Battle Brawl

Meld the two-dimensional gameplay of Pong with a dash of Street Fighter, and you have a throwback game that offers little variety but plenty of challenge. Ultra Space Battle Brawl uses the idea of a kid battling for glory (in the Story mode) by taking on others in an arena battle that's mostly borrowed from Pong. The Street Fighter elements come into play in the setup, the three-round match concept, the artwork, and its cheesy take on the background music. Where the game falters with story and variety of basic gameplay elements, it does attempt to make up for it with different maps and different skills that require fast thinking and quicker fingers to counter.

USBB also features pixelated retro graphics with bright and colorful art, and music that's a mix of Indonesian "house music" and 1980s-style synth. It works, but it gets old quick. There are a total of 10 playable characters, and players are tasked with working through the arena battles to unlock new places to fight across. But perhaps the biggest problem with the game is that while it works as a test of your reflexes and the maps do vary, the gameplay's the same thing over and over. That's great if you enjoyed Pong, but if you're a player that's looking for something a little deeper, USBB won't fit that bill for long. It's a good tribute game that's too shallow to keep you coming back for more.