Line #34 VideoGame/LethalLeague


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lethal_league.png]]
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3	''Lethal League'' is an indie PlatformFighter created by Dutch developer Team Reptile. It was originally a flash game, but it developed over time into what it is today. The game was released on Steam on August 27, 2014. The object of the game involves up to four players hitting the ball back and forth against one another in order to knock the opponents out of the arena. As the ball gets more hits, it will fly at faster speeds. The game launched with five characters: Raptor, Switch, Candyman, Sonata, and Latch. A new character, Dice, was added on November 8, 2014. The game's site can be found [[http://lethalleague.reptile-games.com/ here]].
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5	In September 2017, a sequel, ''[[http://www.lethalleagueblaze.com/ Lethal League Blaze]]'', was announced for release on October 24, 2018, the teaser for which can be found [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGj8lPwOeKg here]]. This game added six newcomers (four were included at launch, with the other two being added in later updates): Nitro, an ex-cop; Grid, a colorful mafioso; Jet, a freewheeling skater; Toxic, an enigmatic graffiti artist; Dust, an undead prisoner with a LivingShadow, and the now-[[PromotedToPlayable fully playable]] Doombox, bringing the total playable cast to eleven. It iterates on the formula of the prior game by adding throws to compliment bunts, hits, and specials, a new health meter to avert one-hit kills early in a burst, added a number of new game options including items, and has a tremendous improvement in visuals. The single player has also been developed into a full-fledged story mode that sheds light on the setting. Set in Shine City, a city ruled by the Tri-Government, the story sees several characters as they prepare to square off with each other in the upcoming underground sport, the titular Lethal League, while a shadowy conspiracy devoted to shutting it down for good evolves amongst them.
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7	!This game provides examples of:
8	* TwoPointFiveD: While the first game uses sprites on a 2D background, the sequel ditches that in favour of 3D models on a 2D plane, complete with fancy camera angles whenever someone gets hit with a particularly powerful attack à la ''[[VideoGame/GuiltyGear Guilty Gear Xrd]]''.
9	* AbsurdlySpaciousSewer: The sewer stage, naturally. It returns for the sequel.
10	* AlliterativeTitle: '''L'''ethal '''L'''eague.
11	* AllThereInTheManual: The bios for each character can be found on the game's website.
12	* ArtEvolution: The models, animations and backgrounds in ''Blaze'' are considerably improved over the first game, with the characters moving more fluidly and the backgrounds being fully realized 3D assets with moving props as opposed to just being semi-static sprites.
13	* BackStab: A swing only hits in front of you, so sending the ball past the opponent and bouncing into his back is an effective way to score.
14	* BadassNormal: Raptor, Sonata, and Dice.
15	** The sequel adds in Jet, Nitro, and Toxic for good measure.
16	* BarefootCartoonAnimal: Latch is modestly-dressed for a crocodile, bearing a hoodie, some sweatpants, and a beanie cap, but leaves his hands and feet bare. {{Justified\|Trope}} in that he then uses his exposed sharp claws to hang onto walls.
17	* BatterUp: Raptor uses his baseball bat to hit the ball.
18	* BattleAmongstTheFlames: Paradise Field is set on fire if the ball's speed gets high enough or if it's the final battle in Arcade/Story Mode.
19	* BattleInTheRain: The pool stage becomes this when the ball reaches ridiculous speeds.
20	* BeatingADeadPlayer: Players can strike opponents out of the arena after they have been knocked out. Some characters can use their specials on them too, such as Raptor, Grid, and Latch. Latch is a special case in that he can actually ''swallow'' a defeated opponent. It gets especially hilarious if the player bunts the opponent, which will send them flying ''upwards'' into the air.
21	* BewareTheSillyOnes: Candyman may be a bit wacky, but he can be quite tricky and powerful as the other players.
22	* BloodSport: The titular Lethal League itself. With balls going at speeds of Mach 1, it's no wonder that the entire sport was banned. In fact, someone was even ''killed'' during one game, causing the ban in the first place and sending it underground.
23	* BoringButPractical: Bunting, which strikes the ball back into its neutral phase and temporarily slows it down a bit. While it doesn't really add any power to the ball, it will come in handy when it's going at near the speed of sound and you need to slow it down unless you want to get KO'd. And in ''Blaze'', it will also tag it into your color, making it your own.
24	* BrainwashedAndCrazy: In ''Blaze'''s story mode, [[spoiler:Latch puts a mind-control mixtape into Doombox, unwittingly at the behest of the [[NebulousEvilOrganization Safety League]], that turns him into a mindless specter of violence]].
25	* BreathWeapon: Latch's special shot, sort of. He basically eats the ball and then spits it back out from a location of his choice.
26	* CaneFu: Candyman uses his cane to hit the ball.
27	* ChargedAttack: Holding down the swing button charges up the player's attack. Successfully hitting the ball with a fully charged swing doubles the speed of the ball and drastically reduces the time before the ball fires out of your hands. You can release the swing early for a lesser effect.
28	* ChargeMeter: The twin meters you see beside the MPH counter determines when a hit ball will move after a time-stopping hit happens; when they fill, the ball fires. This is ''very'' important to pay attention to, [[spoiler:especially against Doombox]], since the ball can become so fast that it's otherwise impossible to hit on purpose.
29	* ColourCodedTimestop: When hitting the ball at ludicrous speeds, the stage's colors will invert while it gains its momentum again. Then, if you hit the ball at ''really'' ludicrous speeds (as in ''one million'' MPH), the stage blacks out, leaving only the players and the ball.
30	* CoolBoard: Switch's main weapon and also his means of movement. He can skate up the walls and the top screen.
31	* {{Cyberpunk}}: The whole setting.
32	** CyberpunkWithAChanceOfRain: A thunderstorm will begin at the Abandoned Pool once the ball reaches a high enough speed.
33	* DeathThrows: Any knockout results in this for the knocked-out character.
34	* DoubleJump: Sonata. Nearly everyone[[note]]except for Doombox, who uses rocket boosters to temporarily fly[[/note]] can double jump in ''Blaze'', but Sonata is given a triple jump to maintain this unique trait.
35	* DoubleUnlock: When you unlock something in the sequel [[spoiler:(like Switch's Workerbot skin for instance)]], you still need to pay up for it with in-game credits in order to actually use it, the sole exception being [[spoiler:Dice's Domino the Cursed skin, due to the rather... ''unique'' way of unlocking it[[note]]basically, you have to rapidly cycle through all of Dice's current skins on the character select screen until you unlock it[[/note]]]].
36	* DownTheDrain: The aforementioned sewer.
37	* EternalEngine: The first game had the State Manufacturing Factory. The sequel has a similar one [[spoiler:where Switch used to work before getting his circuits scrambled]].
38	* EveryoneHasASpecialMove: Each one of the characters possess a unique special ability that allows them to change the properties and flight pattern of the ball, and some of them also have different [[JumpPhysics jumps]].
39	* FloatingLimbs: [[spoiler:Doombox]]'s arms aren't attached to his body.
40	* HeWasRightThereAllAlong: [[spoiler:The final boss, Doombox, is in fact the boombox displaying the ball's speed and current song that's on the bottom of every stage. It's actually his head.]]
41	* HitStop: A major mechanic is how, as the ball racks up speed, there's more hitstop when someone hits it. The visualizer bars on the boombox show when the hit stop is going to end, bunting the ball allows the player to hit it much faster, and several of the characters' abilities let them send the ball flying instantly.
42	* HyperDestructiveBouncingBall: The game's M.O. The only way to take damage/die is to be hit by the ball, and hitting it with [[ChargedAttack Charged Attacks]] increases its speed, making it harder to avoid (in both games) and increasing the damage it deals (in ''Lethal League Blaze''; every hit in the original ''Lethal League'' is a OneHitKill).
43	** The sequel takes this up to eleven with some power-ups, such as the American football[[note]]which goes all over the place instead of in set directions[[/note]] and the twin balls.[[note]]two hyper destructive bouncing balls for the price of one![[/note]]
44	* ImprobableWeaponUser: Given that the game revolves around a sport that basically is dodgeball and baseball crammed together, Dice's ping pong paddle probably would get a few glances over.
45	** Switch and Candyman also apply, using respectively a skateboard and a cane. Just a regular cane.
46	* InASingleBound: Candyman and Dice are capable of performing high jumps, although Dice needs to crouch first.
47	* LivingShadow: Dust's shadow, Ashes, manifests as his weapon.
48	* LocomotiveLevel: The Hammer Express stage. The sequel has an underground variant in the Shine City metro stage.
49	* LudicrousSpeed: The ball's maximum speed is '''''1,000,000 MPH'''''. Yes, that's six zeroes.
50	* {{Mutant}}: Candyman, according to his bio on the website.
51	* NeverSmileAtACrocodile: Latch is a cyborg crocodile who has a mechanical tail and tremendous physical as well as mental strength, according to his bio.
52	* NostalgiaLevel: [[spoiler:The original seven stages from the first Lethal League make a return in ''Blaze'', although unlocking them is a different matter.[[note]]You need to play a maximum of ''6000'' online matches to get all of them. Thankfully, you don't have to actually buy them from the Showcase, and a patch cut the number of matches required down to (a still lengthy) 3500 and can be done offline as well.[[/note]]]]
53	* OneHitPointWonder: Everyone gets thrown off the stage in one hit. [[spoiler:Except Doombox at the end of Challenge Mode, who doesn't bite it until his stocks are fully emptied.]] ''Blaze'' zig-zags with this, as the game gives all characters a health bar in addition to stocks, with damage being based on the ball's speed, so a sufficiently fast ball can be a OneHitKill by emptying a player's health bar in one hit.
54	* PlayerGuidedMissile: One of the powerups in ''Blaze'' lets the player control the ball directly, with the player movement keys now controlling the ball while the player stands still.
55	* PrecisionFStrike: ''Lethal League Blaze'' is pretty PG rated at most with its dialogue, [[spoiler:until the very last line of its story mode, "And no weak shit."]]
56	* PromotedToPlayable: [[spoiler:Doombox]] is now playable in ''Blaze'' [[LateArrivalSpoiler according to its Steam page]], although he, like Grid and Nitro, will have to be unlocked first.
57	** And now [[spoiler:the Queen, a.k.a. Toxic]] is set to join him in a later update after originally being an [=NPC=] in story mode.
58	* PunBasedTitle: On "Little League."
59	* [[RidiculouslyHumanRobots Ridiculously Human Robot]]: Switch.
60	* RoarBeforeBeating: [[spoiler:Doombox in-between bursts in his boss fight.]]
61	* ShoutOut: Jet in her entirety is one huge shoutout to ''VideoGame/JetSetRadio'', from her skating animation, to her aesthetic, to even her name. It doesn't help that Hideki Namanuma, who did the soundtrack for ''JSR'', also provided some tracks for ''Blaze''.
62	* SlippySlideyIceWorld: Lethal League's 2014 winter holiday update gave all of the stages a makeover which included snow, lights, and changed the ball into a festive tree ornament. However, the Abandoned Pool was the only stage that changed the floor into slippery ice. In a game where precise and effective positioning is a key factor in whether the ball flies by harmlessly or slams into your face, this change caused a lot of annoying accidental deaths.
63	* SpinAttack: Raptor's special ability, which allows him to spin around quickly and hit the ball two times in a row.
64	* TheSyndicate: System, a criminal orginization from out of town, although we don't really get to see much of them outside of their representative Grid and being involved in construction sites.
65	* TailSlap: Latch's go-to method for hitting the ball.
66	* TauntButton: Each character's unique taunt animation can be activated by pressing the assigned taunt key on the keyboard.
67	* TeleportSpam: Candyman's special strike allows him to make the ball travel all around the stage in a single direction, wrapping around the screen when it would hit a wall.
68	** Grid also has this as his special, though it's he who does the teleporting rather than the ball.
69	* TennisBoss: Possible to invoke by having 2 characters repeatedly bat the ball to each other. [[spoiler:A more literal example is Doombox. Moreso if you're using Dice.]] Heck, the sequel even gives you an achievement for doing it ten times with your opponent!
70	* TotallyRadical: The game. [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools Not that there's anything wrong with that.]]
71	* TwoGirlsToATeam: Played straight in ''Blaze'', which has Sonata and Jet as the female representatives. [[spoiler:Coincidentally, they used to be on the same team in the story before their gang got busted by the police.]] This is no longer the case now, with Toxic joining the fray as a playable character.
72	* UnlockableContent: You can unlock different character skins (and different ball types) by gaining experience and leveling up through single player or online play.
73	** In the sequel, unlocking extra characters/stages/skins/ball types/songs requires spending in-game credits that are earned through gameplay. Some, however, require going through various modes like Story Mode to actually unlock [[spoiler:like Doombox's Safety Weapon skin]].
74	* WallCrawl: Latch.
75	* WallJump: Raptor.
76	* YetAnotherStupidDeath: Turning off Ball Tagging allows the possibility of you getting yourself KO'd by the ball you just hit. It's a very easy thing to do, considering the ball could be flying at 519462 MPH or so.
77	* {{Zipperiffic}}: Lethal League's resident crocodile, Latch, sports a giant zipper pull on the front of his jacket.

Context VideoGame / LethalLeague