Skullgirls Encore, the revamp of the hit downloadable 2D tournament fighter from Lab Zero Games, originally launched bundled with the first of several new fighters, that being Squigly. Now, another newcomer, who goes by the name of Big Band, will be made available this coming week. He’s an interesting character, too, due to both his unique appearance and the notable fact that he’s the game’s first male fighter.
Big Band will be one of, if not the largest playable character in Skullgirls Encore, and he will likely have plenty of brawn to back up his imposing size. In a PlayStation Blog post confirming his arrival, Lab Zero CEO Peter Bartholow describes him as “a high risk / high reward sort of character,” as he has a powerful and versatile set of attacks, but can be left momentarily vulnerable if players don’t time them right. Going further, another notable feature for Big Band is his unique ability to parry enemy attacks, then retaliate with a move of his own.
The blog post confirms that the download for Big Band — which will also contain a new stage and Arcade Mode campaign for the character — will be completely free for a limited time, likely due to the fact that he, Squigly, and other upcoming DLC characters came about through a very successful crowdfunding campaign. Also, while a release of Tuesday, April 22 for both PlayStation 3 and PC has been confirmed for Big Band, there’s no specific release date for the Xbox 360 version just yet, as it is apparently still going through Microsoft’s certification process.
Two more downloadable characters are also hinted at in the blog post, namely Fukua, a revamped clone of existing fighter Filia, and Eliza, an Egyptian-themed lounge singer. Following in the tradition of Squigly and Big Band, both characters will also be free at first.
Check out Big Band’s Skullgirls Encore debut trailer below and listen for the random Simpsons reference towards the end of it.