Hyperbrawl Tournament has been an Apple Arcade exclusive for about a year now. The arena-based brawler has now opened up to those not owning Apple Arcade with releases all across the gaming spectrum including PC and consoles.
Mortal Brawling
Powerful druids have spent 1000 of years looking across the universe for the best of heroes. Apparently finding such a hero and determining which ones are best suited to protect the universe is done by completing a Hyperbrawl Tournament. A Hyperbrawl Tournament is basically a handball tournament with no rules. You’ll battle in different types of arenas in 2v2 matches to reach the highest ranks in order to win all the accolades needed to be eligible as the protector of the universe.
Heroes and Artifacts
With twelve intergalactic heroes to choose from, you’ll have plenty of possibilities to find the ultimate 2 person combo in order to reach the top of the leaderboard. Each hero has different classes and abilities. Tank, Swift, or Core class have the biggest influence on gameplay. A swift hero is faster and more agile, while a tank is much stronger and packs a meaner punch. A core hero is more well rounded than the others. Each hero has specific abilities that can alter the way you play the game.
Besides some careful character selection, you’ll also need to pick an artifact for each hero in Hyperbrawl Tournament. These artifacts are essentially weapons to use at your own convenience during the matches. Using the slam hammer can really level the playing field – pun intended – while the grapple gun offers a more tactical way of catching the ball or pulling opponents out of the way. With all these possible combinations, you’ll have plenty of experimenting to do in order to choose the ideal setup to suit your style.
Different arenas
As you play Hyperbrawl Tournament, you’ll encounter many different arenas including their own features. All are surrounded by walls that can be used for bouncing the ball of if needed. Most have a few distinctive obstacles that can alter the gameplay slightly. These different arenas are a fun change of pace but don’t offer as much difference as I would’ve wanted. The gameplay more or less stays the same regardless of a few moving obstacles more or less which is a missed opportunity.
Hypermode and hypercurve
Hyperbrawl Tournament starts out with a tutorial. The tutorial introduces you to the different concepts the game offers. Hypermode and hypercurve being the most original. Hypermode can only be activated after suffering from a few hits. When hypermode is activated, your hero becomes faster and stronger. While hypermode is on, you’ll even be able to punch an opponent out of the arena (for a brief time). Hypercurve is the ability to influence the trajectory of the ball after releasing it for a shot. This mechanic sounds great but because of the pace of the game is very hard to use effectively.
Conclusion
Hyperbrawl Tournament has a solo campaign mode and an online mode that are enjoyable for a brief period of time. Herein lies the biggest problem I had with Hyperbrawl Tournament… Every aspect of this game sounds great on paper but after a few matches, the gameplay starts to feel very bland and stale. A few tweaks here and there only change a few aspects of the game but ultimately returns the game to its repetitive gameplay. The game looks fun but sadly underperforms to be enjoyable for a long period of time.
