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ARCADE
Polygon Brawl Masters Review: A Free Fighter That's Actually Worth Your Download (I'm Shocked Too)
I opened this expecting another lazy Unity asset flip with 'retro' slapped on as an excuse for bad graphics. What I got was a genuinely competent arcade brawler that respects both my time and the classics it's aping. Carbon Copycat Games, you've earned your suspicious name.
Paul
January 25, 2026
7.2
Overall Score
"I went into Polygon Brawl Masters expecting another forgettable itch.io fighter that would waste fifteen minutes of my life before I uninstalled it and questioned my choices."
First Impressions (Or: When Free Doesn't Mean Garbage)
I've been hurt before. You see 'FREE 3D fantasy fighting game' on itch.io and your brain immediately translates that to 'unfinished student project with two characters and controls mapped to the numpad.' So when Polygon Brawl Masters loaded up with an actual menu system, character select screen, and what appeared to be deliberate art direction, I literally checked the page again to make sure I hadn't accidentally paid for something. Carbon Copycat Games—and yes, that developer name is either incredibly self-aware or the most honest thing I've seen all year—has delivered something that feels like an actual game. Not a prototype. Not a demo. An ACTUAL GAME. The low-poly art style immediately screams PlayStation 1 nostalgia, which normally makes me roll my eyes, but here it's executed with enough confidence that I didn't immediately close the tab. The character roster preview showed seven distinct fighters, and I genuinely wanted to unlock them. When was the last time a free indie fighter made me feel ANYTHING besides regret?
Combat: Where Button-Mashing Goes to Die
Here's where Polygon Brawl Masters earned my grudging respect. The combat system has actual depth. I started doing what I always do—mashing buttons like a caffeinated chimp—and got absolutely destroyed in Mission mode. The game punished me. It made me LEARN. Each character has distinct movesets with different ranges, speeds, and combo potential. There's a block system that matters. Timing is crucial. Strategic decisions in boss battles actually affect the outcome. This is the kind of stuff I remember from actual arcade fighters, not the floaty nonsense most indie devs throw together and call 'combat.' The hit detection is solid, the animations have weight, and when you land a combo, it FEELS satisfying. My only real complaint is that the tutorial is basically nonexistent—you're expected to figure out the systems through trial and error like we did in 1997, which I actually respect but will absolutely frustrate modern players who need seventeen pop-up tooltips before they can throw a punch. The difficulty curve in Arcade mode ramps up quickly, forcing you to master the mechanics rather than coast through on reflexes alone.
Game Modes: More Than I Expected, Less Than I Wanted
Four modes sounds generous until you realize Mission mode is basically 'here's a single fight, good luck,' which is fine for learning but hardly revolutionary. Story mode is where things get interesting—there's an actual narrative threading through the battles, and those strategic boss decisions genuinely change how fights play out. I found myself restarting battles to try different approaches, which is something I haven't done in a fighter since... honestly, I can't remember. Arcade mode is your standard 'fight progressively harder opponents until you hate yourself' setup, executed competently with a difficulty spike around match five that made me question my life choices. VS mode lets you pick any matchup, which is useful for practice but feels lonely without local multiplayer—and yes, I KNOW implementing netcode is hard, but the lack of any versus option against another human being feels like a missed opportunity. These modes provide solid content for a free game, but I kept wishing for a survival mode or something with randomized modifiers to add more variety. Still, I got several hours out of what's here, which is more than I can say for most paid indie fighters.
Visuals and Audio: Retro-Inspired or Just Retro?
The low-poly aesthetic walks a fine line between 'deliberate throwback' and 'we couldn't afford an artist,' but Polygon Brawl Masters mostly lands on the right side. The character designs are distinct enough that you can identify fighters at a glance, the arenas have personality without being distracting, and the animations—especially the impact frames on heavy hits—show actual attention to detail. It's not going to win any beauty contests, but it has STYLE, which matters more than fidelity when you're working with limited resources. The color palette is vibrant without being garish, and the UI is clean and functional. Where things falter is the audio. The sound effects are serviceable—punches sound punchy, blocks sound blocky—but the music is aggressively generic synth-wave that sounds like every other indie game trying to capture that retro vibe. I ended up muting it and playing my own soundtrack after an hour. The lack of voice work is fine for a free game, but some character-specific sound bites would've added personality. Overall, the presentation is competent and cohesive, which is genuinely impressive for this tier of indie development.
Unlockables and Progression: Actually Earning Your Roster
Remember when you had to EARN characters in fighting games by actually being good at them? Polygon Brawl Masters does. Seven fighters total, with only a few available at start, and you unlock the rest through actual progression in Story and Arcade modes. No premium currency. No battle pass. No paying to skip the grind. You play, you improve, you unlock new options. It's refreshingly old-school and made me genuinely invested in pushing through the harder fights. There are also skins to unlock, which adds another layer of goals without feeling like they're withholding content to sell later. The leaderboards and achievements provide additional long-term objectives for the completionists among us, though I wish there were more detailed stats tracking. The progression system hits that sweet spot between respecting your time and requiring genuine effort—something modern gaming has completely forgotten how to balance. My only frustration is that some unlocks feel slightly too grindy, requiring perfect runs through Arcade mode that took me embarrassingly many attempts.
What This Game Needs (And What It Gets Right)
Let's be clear about what Polygon Brawl Masters ISN'T—it's not a competitive esports title, it's not going to replace your main fighting game, and it's not going to revolutionize the genre. What it IS is a remarkably solid free arcade brawler that understands what made classic fighters fun. It needs local multiplayer desperately—even if online is impossible, give me couch versus. It needs more varied music and maybe some character voice lines for personality. A proper training mode with move lists would help new players immensely. But here's what it gets RIGHT: responsive controls, meaningful combat, actual progression, and respect for the player's intelligence. It doesn't hold your hand, it doesn't beg for your wallet, and it doesn't waste your time with content padding. Carbon Copycat Games built a focused, complete experience and released it for free. In 2025, that's practically radical. The fact that it's also genuinely fun to play? That's the part that shocked me most.
Rating Breakdown
Quality
7.2
Shockingly polished for a free itch.io fighter—no crashes, clean menus, and actual working hitboxes, which apparently makes it better than half the Steam releases I've suffered through lately.
Innovation
5.8
It's Tekken meets Streets of Rage with a PlayStation 1 filter—not exactly revolutionary, but at least they're copying the RIGHT games for once.
Value
9.1
It's completely free with seven characters, four modes, and unlockables that actually require skill—I keep waiting for the paywall that never comes and frankly it's unsettling.
Gameplay
7.4
The combat has genuine weight and timing requirements that punished my button-mashing instincts, forcing me to actually learn combos like it's 1998 again.
Audio/Visual
6.9
The low-poly aesthetic is deliberate rather than lazy, with decent attack animations and serviceable sound effects, though the music could use less generic synth and more personality.
Replayability
6.7
Four modes and character unlocks kept me coming back for three evenings, which is three more than most indie fighters manage before I uninstall them forever.
What Didn't Annoy Me
Completely free with zero monetization schemes, which feels like finding a unicorn in modern indie gaming
Combat system has actual depth and punishes mindless button-mashing—finally, a fighter that respects the classics
Seven unlockable characters with distinct playstyles that require genuine skill to earn, not credit cards
Surprisingly polished for an itch.io release, with solid hit detection and responsive controls that work
Four game modes provide legitimate content variety, with Story mode offering actual narrative context for the punching
What Made Me Sigh
Zero multiplayer options—no local versus, no online, just you and the AI having philosophical debates with fists
Music is generic retro synth that I've heard in fifty other indie games and contributes nothing memorable
Tutorial is basically nonexistent, expecting you to figure out mechanics through old-school trial and error that will frustrate modern players
Some unlock requirements feel slightly too grindy, demanding near-perfect Arcade runs that took me way too many attempts
Final Verdict
I went into Polygon Brawl Masters expecting another forgettable itch.io fighter that would waste fifteen minutes of my life before I uninstalled it and questioned my choices. Instead, I found a genuinely competent arcade brawler that understands what made classic fighters compelling. It's not revolutionary—the name Carbon Copycat Games isn't ironic—but it copies the RIGHT things with enough polish and care that it stands as a legitimate recommendation. The combat has weight, the progression feels earned, and the complete lack of monetization in 2025 is practically heroic. Yes, it desperately needs multiplayer, better music, and a proper tutorial, but for a FREE game that I can download right now and enjoy for several evenings? This is the rare indie fighter that actually delivers on its promises. Seven point two out of ten, and that's a score I don't give lightly to free itch.io releases. Carbon Copycat Games, you've earned a follower. Now add local multiplayer before I change my mind.
Polygon Brawl Masters
Tags
fighting
arcade
3d-brawler
retro-inspired
free-to-play
single-player
unlockables
itch-io
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