Platform: Xbox Indie Games (Xbox 360)
Price: 80 MSP / $1 USD

From the developer of Herman comes an odd but amusing multiplayer-only game that supports up to 4 players.

Gameplay:
If you've played Herman before, you'll find the controls and mechanics of the game to be pretty much the same with the exception of a few new things. There are now two new forms of ammo, baseballs and potatoes which were not present before. The object of the game is quite simple, eliminate the other players before they eliminate you AKA "deathmatch". To do this, a player must bring down their opponent's health meter all the way to zero by either kicking the crap out of them and/or throwing tangerines/baseballs/potatoes at them. These forms of ammo are scattered throughout the playfield (consists of 4 platforms) and respawn as the match progresses. While this sounds easy, it's not always the case as it often becomes a race to see who can pick up the stronger ammo first and then it turns into a game of hit & run if only certain players have ammo since they have to avoid being hit. Luckily, the game offers a fair amount of customization to balance player skill and implement a bit of strategy as well. It's possible to disable/enable things like ladders, cabinets, and power-ups (health/ammo) as well as to increase/decrease shoe speed amongst other things affecting the player's performance. The spawning of items as well as the background image is also automatically randomized.

These customization options also help keep Four Player Tangerine Fight interesting but in the end the fun sort of wears thin after a couple of matches especially if you're only playing against one other person. It would have been nice if the game would have had some sort of AI bots as well to help you practice by yourself or to possibly make the match more interesting when playing with only one other person. On the more positive side, the learning curve didn't seem to be too bad as the other person I played with (Bowdellt) got the gist of the game rather quickly despite them not being familiar with Herman nor the Xbox 360 controller. Both of us got several good laughs out of the game as well so there is a bit of humor in there. The best way to summarize the overall gameplay is "stupid fun" as I'm sure it would take a lot of tangerines to the face to kill someone in real life.

Graphics & Audio:
The graphics aren't stunning but they are appropriate due to the odd feel of the game. The audio is a bit more impressive, some of the sound effects are pretty cool especially the "Fight" announcement that is heard when a match begins as it parodies Mortal Kombat. The music is nice as well as it uses songs from the Herman soundtrack and if you find that the sound effects are annoying, you can always lower them in the settings, the same goes with the music.

Replay value:
Due to the nature of the game, it has high replay value but that's assuming you actually enjoyed it. As stated before, after a couple of matches it's not as fun anymore but as long as you take a significant break and then come back to it later, it seems like a reasonable investment. The customization also helps boost replay value as you can try out several scenarios to make the matches more interesting such as having no ladders or having a bunch of file cabinets to serve as obstacles and so on.

Overall:
For only a dollar, it's a decent purchase despite there being better games for that price range. Assuming you don't mind the graphics and are fond of deathmatch games, you should get a good kick out of the game if you have some friends to play with. Unfortunately, if you don't have anyone to face off, then this game will be rather pointless as there's no AI nor online play. Four Player Tangerine Fight, as the name states, is basically just that but with baseballs, potatoes, shields, fedoras, and turkeys as well. As long as you're just expecting to be entertained for a couple of matches rather than hours, you probably won't regret purchasing it. It's also kid friendly to a certain extent as there is no gore and the "violence" present is not very brutal, when a player dies their angel descends to heaven, no heads or spines are ripped off. There aren't any real weapons either, although throwing a baseball at someone several times might actually kill them so you might want to explain that to your kids before they try that outside of the game.

Pros:
+Fun for short sessions
+High replay value
+Humorous at times
+Several customization options
+Enjoyable music & sound effects
+Fair price

Cons:
-Lacks AI players (can't practice alone nor face bots with friends)
-No team-based mode, just a straight-up deathmatch
-Online play would have made this much more enjoyable, could have even persuaded some friends to purchase it as well to play when bored
-Only fun for a couple of matches as it becomes rather dull after a while
-Some neutral AI enemies would have been nice, such as those RC airplanes from Herman, would have definitely made the game much more interesting
-The game's odd presentation might put off some of your friends who you're trying to play with

Four Player Tangerine Fight gets a 6/10 and despite the not so great score, it still gets a recommendation from me assuming you can find others to play with and want to try something a bit "different". I'd recommend getting the trial first and seeing if it appeals to your usual gaming crew, if it doesn't then save your points and grab something else. It's a shame that it lacked effective AI bots and online play as at least one of those things could have probably made the game's experience a whole lot better.

This game was obtained from the developer rather than purchased, for review purposes.