Windjammers review: Jamming until the end of the summer

DotEmu has brought Dave Lang’s nightmares to life by resurrecting the 1994 cult hit Windjammers, but does it still hold up ove 20 years later?

Developers: DotEmu
Publisher: DotEmu
Platform: PS4 (version reviewed), PS Vita
Release Date: August 29, 2017

There’s likely no worse feeling than having your words come back to haunt you years later. Such is the case with half meme/half man Dave Lang, who once told the Internet at GDC 2014 that they would “never get another Windjammers.”

It’s been a little over three years since that day, and things have definitely changed. Lang has presumably left our world for the ethereal plane and even got an arena that hosted Devolver Digital’s 2017 E3 event named in his honor, while the SNK arcade cult hit Windjammers has returned on the PS4 and Vita. It’s a labor of love from DotEmu, a French team who claimed the long-lost rights to the game and got the blessing from SNK themselves on the project.

For the uninitiated, think of Windjammers as an evolution of Pong with a bit of a fighting game twist. Two players pick from two of six playable characters ripped straight out of a late 80s/early 90s beach movie and battle it out for disc-based supremacy through quick, high-octane gameplay. Anywhere from 3-5 points can be scored after each service, with most games going to 12 and matches being in a best two-out-of three format under a 90-second time limit to keep things short and sweet. Things never really feel like they drag out, and the constant worry of letting the disc get to one’s own goal can certainly keep even the best players on their toes.

Bright and vibrant menus…fantastically replicate that coastal vibe from 25-30 years ago.

The fighting game twist comes in how the game actually controls. Windjammers has a simple control scheme consisting of two face buttons and either the analog stick or D-pad for movement. One face button (either square or cross) will throw the disc normally or make the character slide around when empty-handed, while the other button (circle or triangle) allows for lobs to throw opponents off their game. “Simple to pick up, difficult to master” is a pretty easy way to sum up the basic gameplay experience.

More slightly advanced techniques, such as a perfectly-timed throw that makes the disc travel at supersonic speeds or curved shots that have inputs like a fighting game, take a little bit of time to get adjusted to. The characters to choose from also have particular stats and traits to look out for. Two of them are more agile but don’t throw the disc as hard, while another two are more powerful and painfully slow, and another pair are a healthy balance of speed and power.

Each also has a custom super throw that can be used when standing under a lob or after knocking the disc up into the air before throwing it back either really fast or in such a way that it’s difficult to react. Each is different and can be hard to strategize for, much less predict where they’re going. The super move can also be used for a faster lob shot or a throw that bounces off the wall several times in an attempt to score in the corner. It can be difficult at times to keep up with if paired with an opponent that has an idea of how to do those techniques, but the rewarding feeling of taking a point in a situation like that is pretty damn satisfying.

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One thing the game definitely gets points for is the visual style. The colorful, 16-bit graphics really pop off the screen, along with bright and vibrant menus that fantastically replicate that coastal vibe from 25-30 years ago. The music is also pretty well-done and represents the time period well, with synth riffs and drum machines leading the charge of in-game action.

Despite being sprites, the competitors themselves also have distinct looks and features and show off an international flair that remains intact from the original release. There’s also a nice little stage selection here, ranging from just an ordinary beach to a concrete court with bumpers, along with other stages each with their own gimmick and personality. It really adds more depth to the on-your-feet strategy of the game when having to adapt to different settings and having to figure out new ways to outsmart an opponent.

For this review in progress, online play wasn’t that busy quite yet (we’ll update with a final score once it is); but Windjammers does offer a slice, albeit very small, of offline modes as well. Arcade mode is a traditional ladder of sorts, pitting a chosen character against the other five to determine who is the real world champion of flying discs. However, after three losses it’s time to start all over again, leaving behind that feeling of wanting to put more quarters in the cabinet (or in this case just pressing continue with no need for pocket change). A wrinkle to this is the “Infinite” option, which gets rid of those credits in favor of just trying over and over again; infinitely, if you will.

That said, the biggest issue of this mode is just playing against the AI itself. Though there are the three standard settings of easy, medium and hard, there isn’t much of a difference between the first two. The AI opponent wouldn’t try to throw back the disc right away most of the time, opting to hold onto it before throwing it back at a slower speed that takes some of the fun out of things. Thankfully, the hard difficulty is much more akin to what online matches are and can be some good practice or even a warm up before taking on the rest of the world.

While lag wasn’t necessarily an issue, the thought of games getting disconnected because of someone’s poor Internet is pretty concerning.

There are also a pair of mini-games that break up the action in the single-player mode, including disc bowling and what is essentially a game of fetch with a very ambitious dog jumping over sunbathers and weirdos buried in the sand. While both are certainly welcome and playable outside of the arcade mode, they move by so quickly that they don’t feel very memorable by today’s standards. While a sometimes fun and short distraction from the traditional game, the mini-games don’t offer much to Windjammers as a package.

Online play wasn’t heavily populated at launch, and after a couple of days it certainly has some room for improvement. Ranked and unranked modes are primary options in searching for a game, with the former having several tiered leagues depending on how well one does against opponents using a points system. Unranked mode is pretty self-explanatory for those just wanting a different challenge than the AI.

Where the room for improvement comes is in the matchmaking and netplay. In ranked there will be points where someone a much higher rank will actually be matched up with you, creating an uphill battle from the start. Just as bad are the extremely high pings that were noticed throughout several games, which would cause matches to not even get started and kick players out. This wasn’t something that happened every so often either, and it was to the point where it’s a clear issue that needs to be fixed. While lag wasn’t necessarily an issue, the thought of games getting disconnected because of someone’s poor Internet is pretty concerning.

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It’s also very possible to get matched up with the same players on consecutive occasions, leaving one to wonder if these issues have anything to do with geographical matchmaking or if it has anything to do with a low player base at launch. Issues with the Vita version have also been reported, and a fix for that appears to be on the way. Custom matches are also an option for friends to enjoy the game online, and local versus is around for some local competitive action. Mutliplayer is a pretty mixed bag with Windjammers due to the online issues, and it shouldn’t be. It really holds things back from otherwise being excellent at launch, but one can only hope for a patch to smooth things out as more people get their hands on the game.

A copy of this game was provided to App Trigger for the purpose of this review. All scores are ranked out of 10, with .5 increments. Click here to learn more about our Review Policy.