Skullgirls is a 2012 fighting video game developed by Reverge Labs and published by Autumn Games, originally released digitally for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 and ported to various other home and portable systems afterwards. A 2D fighter, Skullgirls consist of team-based fights and revolves around the "Skull Heart", an artifact which grants wishes for women. If a wisher with an impure soul uses the Skull Heart, she is transformed into a monster known as the "Skullgirl".
The game was initially released through the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Arcade platforms, and received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised the animation and gameplay mechanics, while criticizing its initial roster size and online multiplayer features. The game was then ported to Windows, released through the Steam platform, before a dispute between Autumn Games and distributor Konami led to its removal from the console storefronts; it was re-released on both platforms in 2014 as Skullgirls Encore, before a PlayStation 4 port and a version for Japanese arcades under the retitled name Skullgirls 2nd Encore in 2015. It has since been ported to other platforms including PlayStation Vita, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S. A spin-off mobile title was released in 2017 for Android and iOS, developed by Hidden Variable Studios.
Development of Skullgirls 2nd Encore continues in the form of downloadable content. After Skullgirls's initial release, the core team of Reverge Labs reformed as Lab Zero Games and developed the game until its dissolution in 2020, with several of its members forming another indie studio, Future Club, who have been the Skullgirls developers since.
Gameplay
Skullgirls is a tag team-based fighting game in which players control characters, each with unique attacks and fighting styles, to engage in combat. Players must damage the opponent and completely drain their health, thus knocking them out. A player wins when all opposing characters are knocked out. If time expires before then, the player with the most remaining health is declared the winner. Players may select a single fighter or choose to form a team of two or three. A solo character possesses more health and deals more damage. Larger teams, while weaker, gain the ability to recover health when tagged out and perform "assists", also known as "ensemble attacks", where the on-screen character summons an off-screen teammate to perform a move. Players can assign custom assists in Skullgirls, further enhancing team customization.
The gameplay for Skullgirls was modeled after Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes, incorporating the latter's tag team mechanics, assists, and control scheme. The control scheme utilizes six buttons, consisting of light, medium, and hard punches and kicks. These basic attacks can be chained together to form simple combos. Using a combination of button presses and directional inputs, players can also perform "special attacks", which are slightly stronger than normal moves, and "blockbusters", which are cinematic super moves that deal heavy damage and can hit multiple times. Blockbusters require players to build and expend meter, known in-game as "dramatic tension". As the fight progresses, the players' dramatic tension gauge will fill. Up to five bars of dramatic tension can be stored, with more powerful blockbusters requiring more bars of tension to execute. Dramatic tension can also be used to perform other universal techniques, such as "outtakes", which force the opponent to switch characters, and "blockbuster sequels", which allow the player to use multiple blockbusters consecutively.
Skullgirls includes technical features to address system and balance problems common in fighting games, such as "infinite combo" detection and protection against "unblockable attacks". Infinite combos occur when a player is able to create a repeating, inescapable loop of attacks as an exploit. When the game detects an infinite combo through monitoring a player's actions, the opposing player can break free from it by hitting any button. Unblockable attacks occur when a player, for example, uses a low-hitting move and a high-hitting assist at the same time, making it impossible for the opponent to block. The game attempts to remedy the issue by offering a brief grace period after blocking which will guard against other hit types.
Modes Skullgirls has a variety of single-player and multiplayer game modes, including story mode, arcade mode, versus mode, tutorial mode, training mode, and online play. The story mode features small, non-canonical vignettes for each playable character, detailing "what if" scenarios playing out across alternate timelines. A canonical story mode has been teased, however, with the developers citing the inclusion of downloadable content (DLC) characters from the first season pass as necessary to tell their "true" story. The arcade mode lets players fight against waves of AI-controlled opponents before reaching the final boss character, Marie. The tutorials section teaches players the gameplay fundamentals of Skullgirls, in addition to covering concepts underlying the fighting game genre as a whole. Seventeen tutorial courses are available, explaining both basic and advanced topics. The training room gives players the opportunity to practice combos against an AI-controlled dummy, as well as access to advanced data, such as hitboxes. The training room was later updated in Skullgirls Encore to include online functionality, allowing players to practice with friends instead. Online multiplayer features ranked and unranked matches using the GGPO networking library, providing a smoother online experience.
Skullgirls Encore added "The Typing of the Skullgirls", a mode inspired by The Typing of the Dead. When enabled, teams automatically generate dramatic tension and all basic attacks deal negligible damage. Blockbusters give timed typing prompts to the player, awarding damage for typing accuracy. Skullgirls 2nd Encore introduced several new game modes, including challenge mode, where players fight against computer opponents under unique battle conditions; trials mode, which tests players' skills by having them perform combos under a button-by-button instructional system; and survival mode, which pits players against endless waves of enemies.
Setting Skullgirls takes place in the fictional Canopy Kingdom, a country reminiscent of 1940s post-World War II United States, which is ruled by the Renoir royal family and plagued by the Medici mafia. The kingdom is populated by humans, anthropomorphic animals, giants, and other species. Magical items, creatures, and entities exist that grant their users and hosts various superhuman abilities, such as "Parasites" and "Living Weapons". A large part of the kingdom follows the religion of the Trinity, a trio of extraterrestrial goddesses consisting of Venus, Aeon, and their mysterious Mother. Numerous individuals and organizations seek to obtain the Skull Heart, a sentient artifact with reality-warping powers created by the Trinity. The Skull Heart appears once every seven years and grants a woman a single wish. If the woman's wish is impure, she is transformed into an undead monster known as the Skullgirl. The Skullgirl and Skull Heart are devices used by the Trinity to wreak havoc on the world. Humanity has fought against many Skullgirls over the course of history, establishing agencies to build weapons to confront them, the most notable of which is Canopy Kingdom's Anti-Skullgirl Labs, a black-ops research institution spearheaded by the scientist Brain Drain.
During the Grand War, a battle fought between the Canopy Kingdom and two neighboring nations, Queen Nancy Renoir nearly brought the world to ruin when she attempted to use the Skull Heart for the sake of peace. The three countries formed an alliance to bring down the Skullgirl, signing a peace treaty thereafter. Seven years later, a slave girl named Marie Korbel has emerged as the newest Skullgirl and begun to terrorize the Canopy Kingdom to exact revenge against the Medici. The game's story mode follows several fighters and their journeys to confront Marie and claim the Skull Heart. Each fighter has their own motive for seeking the Skull Heart, whether to destroy it or use its power for their own interests.
Characters The Skullgirls roster initially consisted of eight playable characters: Filia, Cerebella, Peacock, Parasoul, Ms. Fortune, Painwheel, Valentine, and Double. Following the conclusion of the game's Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign in 2013, an additional five DLC characters were developed: Squigly, Big Band, Eliza, Beowulf, and Robo-Fortune. In 2014, a clone of Filia, named Fukua, was added in a free update. Fukua reuses assets from Filia and was designed as a nod to palette-swapped characters in fighting games. She was originally intended to be a temporary inclusion for April Fools' Day, but was kept in response to fan feedback. From 2021 through 2023, four more playable fighters were released as part of the Season 1 Pass: Annie, Umbrella, Black Dahlia, and Marie.
Development
Skullgirls was originally conceived as several stray character designs that illustrator Alex "o_8" Ahad had been creating since high school. While attending college, Ahad had the hypothetical idea to use the character concepts for a fighting game roster. The idea would later become a reality when Ahad was introduced to fighting game enthusiast and tournament-goer Mike "Mike Z" Zaimont, who had been working on a fighting game engine during his own spare time. Early work on their new Skullgirls project began in 2008. Engine development and pre-production began in 2009. Ahad drew the art style and character designs based on a wide variety of his influences and inspirations, such as the works of Mike Mignola and Bruce Timm, Gainax's FLCL, Tex Avery's Red Hot Riding Hood, Capcom's Darkstalkers, and artists George Kamitani and Daisuke Ishiwatari. Ahad and Zaimont pitched Skullgirls to several companies, eventually teaming up with recently founded independent developer Reverge Labs in 2010. They later went on to sign with publisher Autumn Games. In April 2011, Reverge Labs licensed OtterUI as its user interface solution for the development of Skullgirls. At the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2011, Japanese developer and publisher Konami announced that they would help distribute the game.
Following the game's release, the Skullgirls team began teasing future content for the game, including new voice packs, color palettes, and downloadable characters. However, shortly thereafter, Autumn Games was hit with a series of lawsuits regarding Def Jam Rapstar, which "gummed up everything related to Autumn's funding." The entire Skullgirls development team was laid off by Reverge Labs in June 2012 after Autumn Games and Reverge Labs allowed their contract to expire without agreeing upon a new one. This prompted the team to reform under a new moniker, Lab Zero Games, to continue work on the PC release and downloadable content. Autumn Games, revealed to be in full possession of the IP, claimed it was "fully behind the new studio" and promised to "continue to work with [Lab Zero Games] in the future on all Skullgirls-related endeavors."
From January through February 2013, fighting game website Shoryuken hosted a charity donation drive to determine the final game to be featured in the 2013 Evolution Championship Series' (EVO) tournament lineup, with all proceeds sent to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. The Skullgirls community raised over , placing second to eventual winner Super Smash Bros. Melee, which raised over $94,000. Although the game did not win, Shoryuken announced that EVO 2013 event organizers would support the Skullgirls side tournament by providing prize money and exhibition support due to their effort in the fundraiser.
Crowdfunding and publisher transition