The arena fighting genre has long been dominated by the Super Smash Bros. franchise. This doesn’t mean there haven’t been attempts to recreate the formula Nintendo has perfected, but none of these attempts have ever quite reached the same heights.

Tilt Pack feels like somewhat of a simplified version of Super Smash Bros. — easy to control, all that’s required of you is to move the analog stick to direct your fighter. Everything you do is by tilting left or right, and that’s all there is to it. These simple controls make Tilt Pack the perfect game to play with family.

Tilt Pack features eight characters for you to choose from, all of which are some kind of rectangle harbouring their own aesthetic personality. Tilt Pack’s couch co-op is the game’s strongest feature. This mode doesn’t offer anything particularly unique, but in a time when less and less games have this feature, it’s a very welcome addition.

Tilt Pack also features a fun, but ultimately shallow, single player mode. Essentially, you choose one of the four worlds and have to beat each of the other characters to get the cup for that world. Unfortunately, however, Tilt Pack’s versus mode is all that’s worthwhile.

The only reason you may wish to complete all of the single player worlds is to experience the variation between stages. While your goal never changes, some stages will launch bombs at you or crumble away around you, making your task slightly more challenging. Each of the four worlds are also unique in design, sporting their own soundtracks and obstacles. In a bid to help you defeat your opponents, certain items are also dropped into the arena during your fight, but you have to get to them first. While these items can be helpful, there’s little choice among these in comparison to the amount of obstacles you face within your chosen world.

Tilt Pack’s ease of play prevents it from having the level of depth that other fighting games often have. All too often a win can feel undeserved because it was unintentional. The simplicity that allows anyone to play Tilt Pack equals a hefty sacrifice of skill and growth, preventing the game’s longevity.

Tilt Pack offers a good time, and is the perfect icebreaker at parties, but it doesn’t offer much more than that if you’re playing solo. The gameplay is incredibly simple at the cost of complexities often found in other arena brawlers. Unless you have people to play this game with, it’s difficult to recommend it, but much like many multiplayer games there’s a lot of fun to be had with the right people.