Food Fight: Culinary Combat

[Sabertooth]

Welcome to the official topic for
Food Fight: Culinary Combat

 

Edited December 15, 2023 by Sabertooth

[Sabertooth]

Release Date: December 15, 2023

Retail: $14.99

Developer(s): Mega Cat Studios

Publisher: Atari

Official Site

Synopsis:

"Dodge! Dip! Dinner Roll! Food Fight unleashes all manner of food-based frenzy upon players looking to take control of the food court! Featuring single-player, co-op, and online multiplayer modes, the reimagined new game offers a plethora of potential gameplay scenarios, further supported by procedurally generated environments to ensure the food fighting fun never goes stale. Players can collect and choose from over 30 individual weapons, items, and special pick-ups, each with their own kitchen characteristics, such as “slippery” or “sticky.”

Inspired by the original game which debuted in arcades in 1983, and then followed on the Atari 7800 in 1986, Food Fight sees players take on the role of Charley Chuck, a boy whose desire for ice cream sees him fall into trouble with a gang of mischievous chefs — Angelo, Oscar, and Zorba. Players must utilize speed and cunning to avoid enemies, or choose a different route and engage in intense open combat where the food does all the work! It’s a satisfying battle of condiment splats, entree explosions, and succulent shrapnel."

Edited December 15, 2023 by Sabertooth

[Sabertooth]

Not a lot is known about the Food Fight remake.  What we do know is that it is planned for release this quarter and will be coming to the Atari VCS first as a timed exclusive. Mega Cat Studios has a reputation for quality output in the retro-modern space so that can only be a good thing!  I'm a huge fan of the original and I'm hopeful that this iteration - which is the first time the game has been revisited - will satisfy fans of the arcade classic. 

Are you excited about the Food Fight remake? What are you hoping to see from the game? 

See the full announcement here.

 

Edited January 22, 2022 by Sabertooth

[Sabertooth]

From the Official VCS Discord Server:

"Food Fight has been put on hold."

This comes from Patrick Schroeder of VCS Connect, a contract employee of Atari. No other information was made available regarding the status of the game.

 

Edited August 21, 2022 by Sabertooth

[Sabertooth]

An additional clarification was issued today saying the game is in "active development" and not "on hold." This comes from an Atari employee.

[Justin]

Is there any update on Food Fight? This was the game I was looking forward to most and I worry it will become vaporware and the holy grail of this renascence era of Atari.

[Sabertooth]

@Justin- There haven't been any meaningful updates on Food Fight. During their November Discord chat to discuss the delay of Atari 50 for the VCS, Food Fight came up in the open Q&A. Atari's marketing head said it was still in development and he hopes it comes out in 2023. I guess we will see.

 

[Justin]

4 hours ago, Sabertooth said:

@Justin- There haven't been any meaningful updates on Food Fight. During their November Discord chat to discuss the delay of Atari 50 for the VCS, Food Fight came up in the open Q&A. Atari's marketing head said it was still in development and he hopes it comes out in 2023. I guess we will see.

Thanks for the info @Sabertooth! This always ends up being the case. I remember Sky Fox was one of the games I was most looking forward to on Atari 7800 when it was new, and much later on was hoping for ElectroCop. Of course those are two to become infamously "lost." Even Impossible Mission, another one of my favorites and most wanted games, which was of course released and pulled, became "impossible" for me to find back in the day. Here's to hoping Food Fight doesn't become SwordQuest: Air World.

In fact, if Atari is out there reading this, I want to thank them for likely taking the time they need to make the new Food Fight perfect, and get things just right, rather than rush a game out the door that could've benefitted from a little more dev time. It's possible they play tested the game and found it undercooked. I'm happy to wait, but let's not let it fall forever into the abyss. 

[Portaro]

Nice game I Aldo read that is developed by Mega Cat is a good new have this Studios work on games for Atari. I like. They have some games for MD that are great and if they can port the games for VCS Will be amazing. 

[Sabertooth]

After more than 2 years in development hell, the Food Fight remake is out now!

 

Edited December 15, 2023 by Sabertooth

[Sabertooth]

Food Fight: Culinary Combat is a third-person shooter based on the classic Atari game Food Fight.

Charlie Chuck is back, and this time the world is bigger and better than ever before.  Enter the Atariverse, where you’ll meet developers of the original Food Fight, as well as characters from classic Atari games like Centipede, Yars’ Revenge, and more! You can also practice your skills at the shooting range, check out Atari artifacts in the museum, or head over to Antonio’s for a slice.  The real meat of this feast is the combat. Fill your fork with multiple game modes, like the winner takes all Buffet Brawl, or the floor-destroying Crumbling mode. 

That’s not all! Find circuit boards to unlock fully playable Atari arcades. Get new outfits for your characters and customize their look. Climb your way to the top of the leaderboards to prove you’re the head chef in the kitchen!  This is Food Fight like you’ve never seen it before! 

FEATURES

Explore the Atariverse in the game’s hub world!

Museum of Atari artifacts

Arcade  

Shooting Range

Splat it up in online multiplayer, including cross-platform online multiplayer!

Go from the kitchen to the couch with local multiplayer for up to 4 players

Choose from 8 playable characters, including chefs, kids, and cone enthusiasts

Meet Atari and video game superstars, like developers of the original Food Fight or the classic game’s world record holder!

Get messy on 6 different maps

Fill your fork with 4 game modes

Customize your character with over 145 different clothing items

Blast your way to the top of the leaderboards

Earn achievements to show you are the head chef

In-game awards and titles do the trash-talking for you  

GAME MODES

KING OF THE CONE

Most Cones collected wins! - Grab the cone and return it to your base to score! 

COOKIE COLLECTOR

- Player with the most cookies wins!  - Splatted players drop their collected cookies. - Break crates for hidden cookies and new food-flingers.

CRUMBLING

- Last player standing wins.

- Time crunch battle as the world crumbles around you.

BUFFET BRAWL

- All-out food-flinging competition. - Splat and avoid being splatted to win.

[Sabertooth]

Here's the trailer. It's cool that this is an early release on the VCS.

 

Edited December 15, 2023 by Sabertooth

[TrekMD]

Hmm, that looks interesting.  I think I'll get this one!

[7800 Pro Gamer]

I'm getting ready to dive back into this one.  So far I completed the tutorial.  So this game seems to be following the mold of Atari 50th and Atari Mania more than say the recharged series.  I'll have more thoughts in a little bit and probably a "special" first impressions video one day soon.

[7800 Pro Gamer]

So I've invested about 2 and 1/2 hours into this one and it's pretty good.  Has anybody else tried it?  What do you think?

[Smell Dawg]

Bought and downloaded it, but have only been able to put in a few short minutes - I like what I've seen so far, and am looking forward to playing more!!

[MScottson]

It's decent but needs more polish and content. For the price though it's a must have on the VCS.

[Sabertooth]

I think it feels unfocused and bloated.  Like, let's make a really good multiplayer third-person shooter instead of being distracted by the Atari-verse and dizzying Quest for the Cone single-player game.

I also don't know that we need another game with so much general Atari history included. It's OK, but the Atari-verse is a little sparse and gets boring pretty quickly.

Lastly, most of the recreations of Atari games are terrible. The Yars' is atrocious. Why recreate these games if you're not going to properly emulate them?

It's OK for what it is. And it's cheap. I just wish they would tighten up and expand on the core game.

That's just my take. A lot of folks are having fun with it. And, FWIW, people with young kids report that their children are really having fun with it. Maybe that's who it's for?

Edited December 18, 2023 by Sabertooth

[7800 Pro Gamer]

9 hours ago, MScottson said:

It's decent but needs more polish and content. For the price though it's a must have on the VCS.

Pretty good assessment.  This is where I'm at. I like what's here but it needs expanded in a lot of ways. 

4 hours ago, Sabertooth said:

I think it feels unfocused and bloated.  Like, let's make a really good multiplayer third-person shooter instead of being distracted by the Atari-verse and dizzying Quest for the Cone single-player game.

I can understand your point of view but I disagree.  I think they focused on the shooting action and made a very enjoyable shooter.  But everything else feels tacked on and none of the additional content is fleshed out enough.  I'm fine with having Atari icons both real and fictional but they should do more than say one phrase over and over.  Give me missions, objectives and other direction for some unlockables or something. 

4 hours ago, Sabertooth said:

also don't know that we need another game with so much general Atari history included. It's OK, but the Atari-verse is a little sparse and gets boring pretty quickly.

I agree with this 100 percent. Not enough content outside of the core game. If your going to offer this Atari erse make it worth checking out.  I think it can be saved with some updates but right now it serves little purpose other than get you to say "hey I remember that"

4 hours ago, Sabertooth said:

Lastly, most of the recreations of Atari games are terrible. The Yars' is atrocious. Why recreate these games if you're not going to properly emulate them?

The reason I can think for this is not to take away from sales of the Atari 50th.  Again I agree 100% that these are lesser games but they should provide some purpose to the main experience.  Like if you get the high score you get some themed clothing for your character or something.  Otherwise I see no reason to play these rather than just enjoying the originals elsewhere. 

I just put out a video on this game and I won't bog down the thread by linking it (search Atari Network food fight on YouTube if your interested) but I like the main 3rd person component. Everything else needs fleshed out but I could see it becoming a great experience with the proper updates and added content.  I want to see how it plays with 8 real people and to that end I want to host a food fight culinary combat gameplay night.  Where we all log in and play together.  If anybody is interested let me know and I'll set up a date and time so we can really stress test this baby

[Sabertooth]

Atari quietly dropped Food Fight: Culinary Combat on Steam today for $14.99. It doesn't look like there were any formal press announcements or advance reviews, though they did mention it on socials.