Well, technically, it begins with the cartoon. How did they do it, and what can this most unlikely of fighting games tell us about the genre? That story begins with a few silly pictures. Add in the fact that some of them were balancing full-time jobs, and all of them were paying for this out of pocket, and it becomes a wonder this game made it past a week. Between them they had precious little experience developing a game of any sort. This was a group of fans first, and creators second. Of course, reaching that level has not been easy. And…did that pony just bust out an off-the-ground combo? In one and a half years, MANE6 has managed to execute a level of quality far exceeding any reasonable expectations. The animations were smooth and full of personality. Each fighter had her own distinct fighting style. Part 1: Fighting is MagicĪ few months later, after a second (and more open-minded) viewing, it all clicked. Pinkie Pie (left) readies her party cannon to counter Rainbow Dash's (right) hoof dive. MANE6, the team behind Fighting Is Magic, was very serious: about ponies, and about building a quality game. Through my facial expressions alone, you could have charted my reactions all the way from 'What!?' to 'They can't be serious.' But I was wrong.

I remember walking the floor at last year's Evolution Championship Series and spying Fighting Is Magic for the first time. It is also an easy game to pass up if you, like me, are distracted by the all-pony cast. Fighting Is Magic, an independently developed fighting game inspired by the cartoon series My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, is real, and through the sheer determination of its developers, it's getting better every day.

But the crazy thing is that against all odds, reason, and expectation, the game does exist. Perhaps there is some truth to those sentiments. It must be the work of an overactive fan base with too much free time. The concept is just too absurd: ponies, in a fighting game? And not just any ponies, but cartoon ponies whose sole purpose is looking cute and teaching viewers about cooperation and friendship? Making them fight is a blatant contradiction that completely undermines the spirit of the show.

My Little Pony Fighting Is Magic