Watching World Cup soccer isn’t much fun. Who wants to see players running up and down a field for three scoreless hours? The fun comes after the games end. When the mischievous soccer fans hit the streets, throwing cars through bus windows and torching fire hydrants. The mascots, however, stay at the arena and compete against each other in a friendly game of violent drubbing.

World Cup Smackdown is a walloping game of mascot brutality. The stated objective of the game is to beat the opposing character senseless as quickly as you can. However, since you don’t really benefit from speedily defeating your opponent, you might as well take as much time as you like. As long as you win in the end, you’re free to savor the battle. You begin by choosing an opponent and then the character that you want to play as.

World Cup Smackdown really isn’t any different from countless other Flash fighting games. It’s the same thing with a different skin. But it’s a clean and well-rendered skin that’s pleasant to look at. The gameplay isn’t very challenging and the entertainment value passes as the novelty wears off. But for now, while the World Cup is on, World Cup Smackdown is a timely novelty game good for a few bouts of mascot hooliganism.

We liked playing as Italian pizza. You can’t lose with pizza.

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