Shitty games are like Christmas cracker jokes. Hear me out. The theory behind why Christmas cracker jokes should always be bad is to elicit a common response which everybody around the table can feel a part of. Were the joke decent, some may not get it, others may dislike it or get offended thus creating a divide. Shitty games are like Christmas cracker jokes.

I’m fortunate to live in a part of the world with no need for social restrictions and ended up having an impromptu gathering of friends around my house last night which turned into a full-on games night. Sports games & kart racers suited parts of the room, but not all, either due to personal taste or difficulty curve, but what turned the night into a cracker (sorry), was pulling out the shitty games. Race with Ryan and Panda Hero all brought the cracker joke groan as we took in their shoddiness, but the absolute star of the show was undoubtedly Fight of Gods.

I am not a fighting game aficionado, far from it. It is the one blind spot I have in gaming. I can play just about anything else, but give me Street Fighter or Mortal Kombat and after half an hour, I’m bored and moving on. By that standard, Fight of Gods did extremely well. As a group we ended up putting in a good hour first go and two more after another guest arrived, taking us well into the early hours.

The roster is obviously all kinds of weird, comprising mythical figures from around the world. One of the best parts of the experience is genuinely just taking it all in as the load screen prepares you for: Anubis Vs. Jesus or Santa Vs. Buddha. The stages are suitably on-theme: the garden of Eden, Asgard, the parted Red Sea and Santa’s grotto amongst others. Visually, everything is surprisingly well- realized considering this is a budget title and we noticed no performance issues whatsoever.

It plays much like any other fighting game: each character has a unique light, medium, heavy and grab attack with your typical fighting game combos. There is also a passive boost and special attack, though we never quite worked out how to reliably trigger them. Character moves are often chuckle-worthy as various combos fit well with the deity’s in-game design. Moses beats you up with the stone tablets, Zeus fires thunderbolts and Sif... attacks you with wheat.

There is no story to talk of. Arcade mode is the pitiful single player option where you’re treated to a single screen of text explaining how all these deities and beings got dragged into a parallel universe to fight it out. After winning the necessary number of fights, you then face the final boss, Boss. I guess the creativity well had run dry by this point and a final fight with an omniscient, nameless creator was beyond them.

It should be noted, that despite controversy around the game, there was nothing here really worthy of offense (other than Dead or Alive-like jiggle physics). 4 nationalities were represented in the group, 2 different religions and a couple of non-believers. It’s irreverent and clearly not designed to be taken as serious depictions of, well anything, anywhere or anyone.

The game is available on a physical cartridge on switch in Asia, but be aware there is no English on the cartridge. I shan’t hold that against the game as I was aware going in. English is pretty unnecessary considering it’s a basic 2D fighter, but for those concerned, the digital release does have English available.

Fight of Gods is a novelty, but there’s a surprisingly solid fighter underneath. It’s cheap ($13 digital), and though the single player offering is worthless I definitely recommend getting this for the next time (whenever that may be) you’re able to have a games night.

Is Fight of Gods a great game? Not really, but it’s definitely fun.