Mostroscopy
Developer: Oribe Ware Games
Publisher: Seashell Studio
Platforms: PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S (Reviewed), PC
Release Date: Available Now (PC, Xbox Series X, Xbox One) May 16, 2025 (Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5)
Price: $12.49 – Available Here
Overview
Back in the ’90s for every fighting game that managed to pull in enough of a fan-base to survive through the generations, there were five or more that did not. In fact, even spin-offs of popular franchises still failed to take off at the time but this time allowed developers to experiment with strange and unique ideas. This led to game’s from popular publishers like Capcom’s Darkstalkers being fondly remembered but sadly abandoned and even some real strange creations such as ClayFighter from Interplay.
With a focus on absurdity and unique styling, ClayFighter never had a chance in the long run but that doesn’t mean it should be the end of experimentation. Now, Mexican development team Oribe Ware Games is looking to make their own mark with a Mostroscopy, a fighting game that looks to mimic the horror and Luchador films from the ’50s in a simple but stylish package. Is this unique presentation enough to pull off a victory or will Mostroscopy be shamefully unmasked?
Story
Mostroscopy appears to have a fairly interesting storyline to tell, especially since every fighter in the current roster, sixteen in total at the time of this writing, is made up of all manner of creatures and beings, but it just lacks any form of coherence. This is partially due to the fact that the only story mode that players actually can enjoy featuring these characters happens to be Arcade mode and even this lacks cohesion as we will go into momentarily, with each character having a starting comic-book style intro about their situation or why they are fighting, various winning dialogues against specific opponents, and then an ending comic-book style outro. The only issue is, almost all of the context for the scenarios are missing, with only one character, La Mujer Vampiro, having a note in her intro that players should read the comic first for context. The only problem is, the comic is not included in the game anywhere and is only available online for an extra $2.
This is an annoying limitation topped onto the already lacking cohesion of character stories. One character will start their storyline stating that they need to track down a book to seal a demon they made a deal with in order to get themselves out of that deal, only to end up teaming up with a “superhero” from space in the end instead. Or not solve anything at all, with a female werewolf Kitty hunting for someone to end her curse only to skip ahead to her descendants talking about her in front of a family painting with only two panels. Or even in the oddest of cases, a demon being told to “fix” a deal she made only to end her story burning down a party full of rich people.
That isn’t to say it is all bad, Mostroscopy is a real delight when it comes to seeing such an eclectic cast of characters coming together and fighting or making quips at one another, and once players complete enough arcade storylines, players can get the general gist of what is going on, but unfortunately even this is kept rather minimal and doesn’t make the best use of what the cast has to offer, especially since many of the introduction scenes do feature short visual novel style interactions as well, leaving us to wonder why most endings were kept so barebones.
Gameplay
Mostroscopy is a very simple 2D fighter that offers a roster of sixteen characters currently available for use. The developers have kept the game’s control mechanics as basic as possible to keep things accessible, but it might be a bit too basic even for those only vaguely familiar with the genre. Nowadays, many mainstay fighting games have implemented various easier controls for newcomers or those who want to pull off flashy combos without too much extra input under the guise of “Modern,” “Smart,” or “Simple” controls but Mostroscopy goes a step further by only having a basic attack button, special attack button, taunt, and a dedicated block button.
Despite the simple controls and standard attacks needing to connect to trigger auto-combos, there is actually quite a bit of depth still here for those who really want to master some characters. It is also worth noting though that some are absolutely busted balance wise, making them far superior to other characters. This includes a personal favorite, Luzbelle, whose fast movements and chargeable supers can not only fire off near undodgeable fireballs but even has a fully neutral charged special that can eliminate a third of an enemy’s health if landed, even if they are guarding or in the air. As mentioned, charging special attacks is something players can do, with each direction having a special that is unique to it and two levels of charge. Some are simply enhanced versions of the same attack while others will vary depending on the character. If a move is fully charged it will automatically go off and can deal devastating damage to the opponent.
The “Monstro” gauge that players build up during matches carries over between rounds and has a few uses though its best use is for triggering “Monstro Mode.” While in this mode all specials immediately are activated to their highest level, allowing players to dish out tons of damage with ease and some characters can even stunlock an enemy to the point of annihilating an entire round’s worth of health with a properly executed Monstro Mode and super use. Kitty’s ice-breath being the best example. Players can also expend portions of their gauge to guard-counter an enemy attack or push through an attacking opponent to attack from behind, using either two or one portion respectively to do so.
There are some variations and little mechanics that players can learn through the limited training mode, but unfortunately no actual training is really offered. No character combo strings are available to look at or even a proper input screen to the point that it took me looking through Steam, to find the aforementioned comic, to even learn how to perform a grab as was never stated anywhere within the game itself. Why taunt is given a button of its own when it only seemingly boosts the player’s Monstro gauge when completed twice instead of grab is anyone’s guess, let alone the numerous buttons that go unused on the Xbox’s controller. Anyways, as mentioned before, training mode is barebones and simply has players beating down a dummy enemy of their choosing and there is some more extensive training in the form of combo challenges.
Unfortunately some of these combo challenges seem to have incredibly poor tracking to the point that even nailing the full string of combos, which can still be quite varied despite the game’s simplistic nature, can lead to some hits not registering properly or not at all. It is also unfortunate that all combo challenges have to be completed in one go, no chance to stop and come back later to mix things up or take a break without starting from the first combo. Outside of this unfortunately, and the aforementioned arcade mode, the only other game mode available at the time of this writing is local versus mode where players can fight against one of their friends locally, against the computer, or watch two computers duke it out. There is no time attack mode or survival mode of any kind nor is online currently available, though it might be sometime in the future.
Audio & Visuals
One thing that Mostroscopy has in spades is style. By drawing inspiration from horror films from the ’50s and old luchador films the eclectic cast of characters is everything someone could hope for when it comes to bringing monsters and putting them up against masked men and women pulling off wrestling moves with style. There are countless stages to battle on, though some appear to be a bit smaller than others, and every stage has at least two variants. These include a technicolor style that is filled with grainy but effective coloration mimicking an old television while the other is a black and white presentation that is stylish but kind of detracts a bit from some character designs and special moves.
Mostroscopy does not feature any kind of voice work and instead only offers visual novel style or comic-book style dialogue depending on the sequence. Unfortunately, the English version of the dialogue has more than its fair share of spelling and grammar errors as well as missing punctuation. The soundtrack is incredible, offering a vast array of tracks that vary depending on the fighters as well as the stages they are battling on and if players happen to like a specific song they can access it at any time via the Jukebox in the main menu.
Overall
Mostroscopy has a lot of style and flourish, making the most of what it can with its insane sounding premise of pitting everything from undead, monsters, aliens, and more against luchadors in a 2D fighter but even though this is a fairly cheap fighter, it is also one that is rather lacking. While fun in short bursts, lack of any real modes outside of arcade and combo challenges at the moment means that even playing against a friend locally can lose its charm quickly. Combine this with a lacking storyline, no online play, and combat that, while a bit deeper than it seems, isn’t too hard to master, and Mostroscopy taps out far too quickly.
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