Tag team fighters seem to be all the rage this year, but with the ones we've seen recently, this isn't a bad thing. The tricky part with any trend is to trying to find a way to make the particular game feel unique compared to the all the others without resorting to some lame gimmick. SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy is a game where you would be forgiven for dismissing at first glance for going the gimmick route, given that it features a female cast in skimpy outfits, but doing so would be a mistake as there are some unique gameplay elements that separate this from the other tag battle games.

SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy has a roster that has not fully been announced but we have seem female fighters that originated from titles in the Art of Fighting, Fatal Fury, King of Fighters, Psycho Soldier and Samurai Shodown series of games. The story mode will feature changing dialog depending on which characters are actually fighting, so experimenting with different character combinations could possibly lead to some interesting outcomes. There will be additional costumes along with over 100 various cosmetic accessories and items should the player want to play dress up, such as cat ears, glasses and face paint. It's noticeable that the characters in SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy are wearing skimpy outfits. This wardrobe decision is actually relevant to the plot and during the course of the story it will be explained why each character is wearing a revealing get up. Also, this title was originally billed as being an all-female cast, but Terry Bogard recently being announced as a playable character causes some confusion. Will he be in drag, will he somehow become a she or will he simply be a token male character?

Gameplay mechanics are a bit different than typical tag team games. The player will select two characters, one will be the fighter and the other will be the support character, making it different than just randomly selecting two characters and swapping them in and out during battle. In order to win a fight, the player cannot keep using normal attacks until the opponent's health bar is depleted, they need to execute a Dream Finish when they have charged up the appropriate meter and reduced their opponent's health bar. If they charge the meter before reducing the opponent's health they can execute the Dream Finish for substantial damage but will need to recharge the meter before ending the fight, making victory strategy slightly different than most other fighters.

Outside of those specific changes, SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy plays just how one would want a 2D fighter to play. The controls have been streamlined and simplified so the battles can remain flashy and fast paced with players of all skill levels. The actual fighting feels intuitive and fun, and the new challenge of incorporating the Dream Finish makes this title feel unique. The graphics on a technical level might fall short compared to some other titles but the bright colors and cute character designs make this an attractive title regardless.

SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy will release on September 7 for PlayStation 4 and Switch. Players will be able to take part in up to four player multiplayer mayhem online or locally and there will also be an online spectator mode to watch other people fight. To state the obvious, the sexualization of the characters was intentional, but despite the greater exposure of flesh the characters will remain true to their original concepts, with the possible except of Mr(s). Bogard.